Sacrifices

by Kimberly_T

Summary:

Takes place post-canon series. The war is over, and everyone’s doing just fine… Until tragedy strikes, it is revealed that in fact things are far from fine, and people have to make hard choices. Starts with canon relationships, but not all of them will last and others will evolve.

Chapter 1: Back in Ba Sing Se

Notes:

I've written a few ATLA one-shots and drabbles series, and the following stories & series can be considered prequels to this fic:
Operational Risk Management
Avatar Drabbles: Missing Moments
Facing Up to It
Drinking Tea and Waiting
New Dai Li

Also, I’m told that the show creators, when asked how Appa got around so much faster in the latter half of the third season, said that he “flies at the speed of plot.” Yup, really cute. But cute’s just not good enough when there are incurable nerds like me in the audience! So… my ‘headcanon’ stretches out the timeline considerably from Boiling Rock onwards. Zuko and Katara’s ‘field trip’ in ‘The Southern Raiders’ took six days instead of just two, with Aang doing ‘more homework’ for his firebending under Toph’s supervision—you know she wouldn’t let him slack off—while they were gone. And Zuko told the GAang about what Ozai planned to do to the Earth Kingdom a full eight days before the Comet, not just three days; a lot more time to go galloping across the Earth Kingdom chasing a shirshu, and clear back to the Fire Nation capital. But even with that stretching out of timeline, Appa flew a lot faster for those last few events than he ever had before; a possible explanation is included in this first chapter.

(There are many, many flashbacks in this first chapter to set the scene; please bear with the near-constant use of past perfect tense for several pages.)

The midday sun shone down on two teenagers as they stepped out of an Earth Kingdom government building in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, stretching and groaning with relief. With them came a dozen more people, four of them trailing a respectful distance behind while the rest fanned out, alertly scanning the streets for trouble; each keeping to their roles as servants and bodyguards for the Fire Lord and the Avatar.

"Ohh, thank you Agni for this glorious sunshine," Zuko sighed, tipping his head back as he soaked in the golden rays. "I was afraid we’d be stuck inside that building ‘til nightfall again."

"Fresh air…" Aang sighed, stretching his arms out to feel the slightest breeze. "I am soooo glad that’s over. I mean, now it’s really over. Finally!"

The battle to defeat Zuko’s father, the former Fire Lord and self-proclaimed Phoenix King Ozai, had taken place nearly eighteen months ago. With Ozai defeated by Aang, and Zuko and Katara defeating Azula so Zuko could claim the mantle of Fire Lord, many had thought that the war was over.

And the war had been over, for many people. Hakoda had hugged his children and obtained promises from them that they’d be home soon, then took his cheering Southern Water Tribe warriors home in their newly liberated warships. The Mechanist had been given a war balloon, one quickly painted green and decorated with Earth Kingdom insignia, to return the captured Earth Kingdom warriors to their scattered homes. The citizens of Ba Sing Se had held a massive celebration for the liberation of their city from the Fire Nation; the festivities lasted a solid week (and took nearly two weeks to clean up afterwards.)

The festivities had included a small party to celebrate Iroh’s reopening of the Jasmine Dragon, that was attended by all the Avatar’s companions (and Mai; she’d never actually traveled anywhere with Aang, but she was Zuko’s girlfriend and she proved to play a good game of pai sho). A quietly wonderful time had been had by all, especially Aang when Katara had kissed him for the very first time. But when all the partying had died down, everyone realized that there was still a very large stretch of former Earth Kingdom lands that had long since been claimed as Fire Nation territory and colonized. What was to be done about that?

Aang’s initial shrug and suggestion to "Just give the land back to the Earth Kingdom," had made Zuko close his eyes and count to ten, while all the oil lamps in the room had flared sun-bright. Then the Fire Lord and his uncle together had to educate the Avatar and his friends:

The issue didn’t involve just the land; it was also about the people living on the land. Some of those regions had been conquered by the Fire Nation nearly a hundred years ago, near the start of the war. Most of the people living in those Fire Nation colonies considered themselves Fire Nation citizens; not only had they been born there, but their fathers and grandfathers had been born there. They were Fire Nation, and they were at home right where they were. For anyone, even the Avatar, to come sailing in and say "This is Earth Kingdom land now; love it or leave it!" would… not sit well with the people, to put it mildly. There were already riots starting up in those colonies, from the fear/anticipation that someone would do just that.

There was also the issue of all the Fire Nation people who didn’t think that the war was over at all; that they were just regrouping after the loss of Ba Sing Se and the airship fleet, and would resume conquering the rest of the world as soon as they got that disgraced, ungrateful and usurping son of Ozai off the throne.

The first assassination attempt came only four days after Zuko’s coronation speech, just before everyone left for Ba Sing Se and the reunion party at the Jasmine Dragon. Sokka had stopped that one, by tripping a palace guard with his crutch just before that guard could bury a dagger in Zuko’s back. It had been entirely by accident, but Sokka always claimed afterwards that his instincts had told him of the guard’s real intentions, and his cat-like reflexes had saved the day.

After the party at the Jasmine Dragon, which had reassured Zuko that his uncle would be just fine staying in Ba Sing Se (instead of being surrounded by mobs calling for the execution of the city’s old nemesis, the Dragon of the West, Iroh’s teashop had been surrounded by eager customers hoping to try the proprietor’s new jasmine blend), everyone in Team Avatar had returned to the Fire Nation to make sure Zuko would be just fine on the Fire Throne.

Mai and Toph had immediately started verifying the personal loyalties of everyone in the royal palace. Toph had stood nearby as Mai had interviewed each one, listening to their responses, and together they’d advised Zuko on which servants and guardsmen could be trusted and which of them he needed to dismiss before they conspired to kill him. And since that had resulted in the dismissal of over half of the palace staff, Toph and Mai had spent another few weeks interviewing replacements for essential positions.

While the loyalty interviews had still been going on, Suki had stopped the second assassination attempt, bringing the man down with her fans before he could get within twenty feet of the new Fire Lord. But the third one, just a few days later, had come much closer; when Mai buried a dagger in that assassin’s throat, the blood had spattered onto Zuko’s robes of office.

Aang and Katara had taken a trip to the colonies, hoping to quell the rioting going on by reassuring the people there that they wouldn’t just be abandoned by the new Fire Lord. When they flew back to the capital and Aang found out that there had been three attempts on Zuko’s life in less than three weeks, he’d insisted worriedly, "Something has to be done! How can you negotiate with the Earth Kingdom over the Fire Nation colonies when you’re too busy just staying alive?"

"Well, short of ‘disappearing’ the nobles who disagree with me, like my father did…" Zuko had sighed. "If you think of anything, let me know."

"Disappearing? Ozai did magic tricks?" Aang had scratched his bald head for a moment, missing the almost pitying looks Zuko, Mai, Toph and even Sokka were giving him. Then he’d paled. "Oh… No, you can’t do that! But, uh… What if I made a few speeches here on your behalf?"

"The Avatar, known for a hundred years as the sworn enemy of the Fire Nation, giving his endorsement of the new Fire Lord. I’m sure that will help a lot," Mai had intoned, with such dry sarcasm that Katara had flinched.

"We need someone that the Fire Nation nobles already respect," Sokka had said, drumming his fingers on the table in thought. "Master Piandao?"

Mai had shaken her head. "He’s only a minor noble; his rank isn’t high enough to command real respect at court. Also, not a firebender; too many nobles think that firebending is everything."

Then Aang had brightened. "I’ve got an idea!" And he’d left that afternoon, flying out on Appa at top speed.

During Aang’s absence, Katara had gone back to work on Sokka’s broken leg to heal it faster, while quietly cursing herself for not staying in Yugoda’s healing school in the Northern Water Tribe long enough to learn how they healed broken bones. She had an instinctive talent for water-healing that Yugoda had said was rare and precious, but instincts could only go so far. She had also put more work into healing Zuko’s lightning burn, whenever she could corner the Fire Lord long enough for him to admit it still pained him and slowed him down (though he still stubbornly refused to take a day off and actually rest).

The day before Aang had returned, the few guards that had vowed true loyalty to Zuko had stopped the fourth assassination attempt; Zuko made the man that had actually brought the assassin down his new captain of the guard. (It had actually been the fifth assassination attempt; Toph had stopped the fourth one by herself. But Mai and Toph had together agreed to not say anything to Zuko about the fourth attempt, out of concern that he’d develop a fear of toilets as a result.)

Then Aang had returned on Appa; the sky bison had been tired from nonstop flying but the Avatar had been grinning from ear to ear when he’d told everyone who he’d been to see and what was about to happen. The next day, two giant, sinuous shapes had come flowing across the sky. For the first time in over eighty years, dragons were seen over the Fire Nation capital!

An astonished crowd had gathered as the dragons Ran and Shao had danced in the sky above the palace, spouting multicolored rivers of flame. People had wondered aloud what this return of the revered and original firebenders meant for their nation; was it a reminder that Fire was indeed the superior element? Would this signal a return to the old ways and a restarting of the war? Several of the watching nobles had dared to speculate aloud that the dragons were there to oust that disgraced brat from the throne, and put a true leader of the nation in his place.

Then the new Fire Lord had appeared on the palace steps, in full regalia. As if that had been what they’d been waiting for, the red dragon Ran had descended from the sky in a spiraling dance that ended in a graceful landing before the palace steps. The dragon had faced the Fire Lord, while everyone held their breaths (except for the few people buried in the crowd that were quietly chanting "Eat him! Roast him!")

Then the Fire Lord had given a short but respectful bow. In response, Ran had bowed and twisted that long and sinuous neck to put his head next to Zuko’s feet, in clear invitation. Unable to suppress his grin any longer, Zuko had climbed aboard, while the assembled crowd gasped in shock and awe. Beating his massive wings, Ran had leaped into the sky to spiral around the capital city, then headed out over the water. Shortly after the red dragon had ascended, the blue dragon had descended in another spiral, to land where the Fire Lord had been only moments before.

While the dragons had danced with fire in the sky, Aang and the rest of Team Avatar had been watching from a palace balcony. As Ran and Zuko had flown away, Aang had cheered, "Have fun, Zuko!" Then he’d blinked and asked, "Hey, what’s Shao doing? I thought she’d go flying with her mate… Maybe she’s waiting for you to ride her, Mai!"

"I doubt it," Mai had said flatly. "Dragons have never let non-firebenders ride them, in all our nation’s history. It used to be a last-resort test of latent ability, to…" she’d stopped, blinked, then grabbed Aang’s shoulder in one hand and Katara’s in the other. "You two, inside. You’re needed to… check the palace plumbing. Toph heard a rumor that someone’s going to poison our water supply. Find out where the poison could be added; whether they mean to kill just Zuko, or everyone in the palace."

Aang and Katara had hurried to check out the palace’s ingenious plumbing system; Sokka had hobbled after them on his crutch, declaring that his inventive genius could help determine where the water supply might be sabotaged. But Toph had remained on the balcony, as did Suki, who’d glanced at the frowning earthbender and then whispered to Mai, "Why did you really want them to go inside?"

"Because they’d probably try to stop what’s about to happen," Mai had whispered back, keeping her eyes on the blue dragon at the palace steps. Shao hadn’t been facing the palace; instead, she’d faced the assembled crowd, slowly and gradually extending that long neck to bring her massive head down to almost within reach of a cluster of several nobles, including a few high-ranking military officers. They’d all gulped or trembled but stood their ground as the blue dragon’s prehensile whiskers had slowly come forward, to gently touch each man and woman on the forehead. Mai had continued, "The history scrolls stated that when someone failed a dragon’s test of either firebending ability or character…"

There had been a sudden lunge, a shriek abruptly cut off, and then a screaming, panicked crowd fleeing the scene as fast as they could while Shao lifted her head and swallowed.

Suki had gasped and drawn back, clutching her fans in a futile gesture of self-defense. Toph had gone almost as pale as Suki’s Kyoshi Warrior makeup, but said with an attempt at nonchalance, "Somebody just got eaten, huh? Who was it?"

"General Mung, I think," Mai had said, trembling but keeping her voice steady as she kept her eyes on the fleeing nobles. "And since he was a firebending master, he obviously failed the test of character."

While Mai had still been speaking, Shao had pounced on someone else in the fleeing mob. Moments later, Mai had added, "General Bujing has also failed. Good riddance; he’s the one Zuko first spoke out against, in the war room three years ago…"

By the time Aang and Katara had come running back out to the balcony, having heard the screams of the crowd, Shao had spread her massive wings and leaped back into the air, to begin sky-dancing over the palace again. Aang had gasped, "What happened?"

"The blue dragon scared the crowd," Mai had said blandly. "Some people just weren’t ready to face dragons up close. Have you finished checking the water supply already?"

The next day, Zuko had returned from his tour of every island in the Fire Nation, exhausted but still smiling. Ran had done close flybys of every major city and even a few of the minor towns along the way, so his people could see that their new Fire Lord was riding dragonback, the first monarch to do so since Sozin.

The dragons had left immediately after returning Zuko to the palace, but their unmistakable approval of the new Fire Lord—and their unmistakable disapproval of two men who’d been among Zuko’s most vocal detractors—had a lasting effect on the Fire Nation populace. Before sunset on the day of Zuko’s return, another crowd had spontaneously gathered before the palace, everyone there loudly expressing support of Fire Lord Zuko and wishing him a long and successful reign. And there had been no more assassination attempts from that day on through the end of winter; Aang had said cheerfully, "Told you it would work!"

But while the Fire Nation’s home islands had quieted down, the rest of the world had still been in an uproar, particularly the Fire Nation colonies on what had once been Earth Kingdom land. So both governments had begun the long and complex negotiations over what would happen to the disputed colonies, as well as what reparations the Fire Nation owed the Earth Kingdom as a whole for all the damage wrought over a hundred years of war.

Officials for the Fire Lord, and occasionally the Fire Lord himself, had sat down at the table with Earth Kingdom officials in Ba Sing Se to negotiate reparations and the fate of the colonies. The Avatar had often been present in his role as Keeper of the Balance, to mediate when the arguing got out of hand… which happened a lot. And not just between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom officials; at the beginning there had been days when Zuko and/or his appointed representatives had just sat back, bemused, while the Earth Kingdom officials shouted at each other.

In theory, the vast Earth Kingdom continent was governed from shore to shore by one monarch, the Earth King that traditionally resided in Ba Sing Se. But since the downfall of Chin the Conqueror, in practice the kingdom had been divided up into city-states and their surrounding territories, each city-state having its own king, such as King Bumi of Omashu. Until someone invented some form of instant long-range communication, the kingdom was just too vast to be centrally governed for day-to-day or even month-to-month affairs. If the situation was dire or one city-state had issues with another, each city-state’s king was accountable to the high king, the Earth King in Ba Sing Se. But otherwise, they had pretty much run themselves

When the Fire Nation had begun the war 100 years ago, the city-state and king of Taku had been the first to fall, just a few years after the initial attack that had wiped out the Air Nomads. In the century between the start of the war and Ozai’s defeat by the Avatar, five of the eight city-states of Earth Kingdom had been conquered. (King Bumi had insisted firmly that Omashu didn’t count as one of the conquered, because he’d only let the Fire Nation forces in until the right moment came to drive them out for good. No one chose to argue the point.) And five (not six!) kings had lost their thrones; one had been taken to safety—Kuei—and two had been kept alive as puppets of Fire Nation governors, but the other two had refused to bow down, and their royal lines had come to sudden and violent ends.

Now, IF the Fire Nation even agreed to return all the conquered lands to the Earth Kingdom, who would govern them? And who would govern all the lesser kings? The 52nd Earth King, Kuei, was still missing. There had been rumors of sightings, but he’d officially vanished after the fall of Ba Sing Se. A full month after the city had been liberated and the war had been declared officially over, there had still been no sign of him.

"For starters, we gotta find Kuei," Aang had said decisively. "Sokka, your leg is healed now, and you’re good at tracking…"

"And I was probably the last one to see him off, at Chameleon Bay," Sokka had nodded. "Tracking him down shouldn’t be hard, if he’s still got Bosco with him; that bear of his really stands out in a crowd. See you in a few days!"

Except that when the Earth Kingdom officials had found out that Sokka the Brave, the famed warrior and companion to the Avatar, was going to begin tracking down the Earth King himself, some of them had insisted on accompanying him. There had actually been arguments between officials about who was going to go look for the Earth King! It had been easy to see why; the officials figured that whoever found the Earth King and brought him in triumph back to his rightful throne in Ba Sing Se would thereafter have some influence with him, though surely not as much as Long Feng had exerted.

So the officials had bickered back and forth, while Sokka had fretted about wasting time and muttered that they should just give him an ostrich-horse and get out of his way. Zuko had come to Ba Sing Se again at Aang’s request, in hopes that the Fire Lord’s presence would inspire the Earth Kingdom officials to quit their arguing and just get on with what needed to be done; when that didn’t happen, he’d shaken his head at them all and announced he had better things to do than sit around waiting, and he intended to run an errand or two while he was in the Earth Kingdom. Then he’d left Ba Sing Se, with his uncle Iroh along for company.

The Earth Kingdom officials had finally gotten the matter settled of who would accompany Sokka, though by that time Sokka was almost ready to bite somebody out of sheer frustration. Then he had flat-out thrown a fit at how long it took the three chosen officials to finally get their mounds of luggage packed for the trip; they ended up requiring an entire caravan of ostrich-horses, as well as a large covered wagon. But just as the expedition had been getting ready to leave, a messenger hawk from Zuko’s ship had arrived at the palace.

The message had informed them that the Fire Lord had found the Earth King himself, and that the Dragon of the West had organized a royal procession for the Earth King to travel back to Ba Sing Se. The message included a helpful map outlining the route the Earth King would take. Sokka had shoved the map in the officials’ dismayed faces, told them that if they wanted to go meet their king halfway they’d better get a move on, then yanked the saddlebags off his own ostrich-horse and stomped away.

Instead of actually joining the Earth King and his Uncle Iroh in the royal procession to Ba Sing Se, Zuko had taken his royal yacht back to the Fire Nation; he’d promised Mai that he wouldn’t leave her in charge as regent / acting Fire Lady for any longer than strictly necessary. (Mai wouldn’t have minded the job so much if she’d been allowed to use her daggers and shuriken on a few of the Fire Nation nobles that were still resisting Zuko’s changes and making life difficult, but…) He’d sent a message asking Aang to come fetch him on Appa when the Earth King was back on his throne and they were ready to resume negotiations.

A full month after the Earth King’s return—which had included an absolutely unprecedented and shockingly fast royal wedding for Kuei and his chosen Queen, a peasant girl named Song that he’d met while living as a commoner—the Avatar had brought the Fire Lord back to Ba Sing Se. On the way there, Aang had told Zuko, "I think Sokka’s still a little mad at you for stealing his thunder that way, by finding Kuei first. How’d you find him so fast, anyway?"

"How’d I find you all those times back during the war, Aang?" Zuko had said with a mysterious smile. "You could say I have a knack for finding people." And that was all he’d said on the subject.

(Author’s note: for those curious as to just how Zuko did it, read my short story ‘Facing Up To It.')

The first meeting between the Earth King, the Avatar, and the Fire Lord together had taken place in the Jasmine Dragon, with the Dragon of the West serving tea. The four of them had discussed the overall problem and very broad strokes of possible solutions, and agreed between them on what appeared to be the best solution:

All Earth Kingdom cities that had been occupied for five years or less would be vacated immediately. Mazu, a primarily agricultural colony on the western coast of the Earth Kingdom and isolated from the rest of the continent by a steep mountain range, would remain Fire Nation territory in perpetuity. Using the terraced farming techniques developed in their own nation, the Fire Nation colonists had done more to develop that land in the last 95 years than the Earth Kingdom natives ever had, and it was now the Fire Nation’s leading supplier of grain. Losing that colony would lead to serious food shortages in the Fire Nation, and inevitably a civil war and overthrow of Zuko’s reign. All in the Jasmine Dragon were agreed that the Fire Nation needed that strip of land, and the Earth Kingdom could spare it.

All the colonies except Mazu that had been settled for more than five years would continue to be ruled by the Fire Nation for the next ten years, though half of the tax revenue and other income from the colonies would be turned over to the Earth Kingdom, as part of the reparations due. And at the five-year mark the Earth Kingdom would start taking those colonies over in gradual stages, one governing duty at a time, until the official transfer of sovereignty when the ten years were up.

The colonists would be given the option of staying where they were and becoming Earth Kingdom citizens in ten years, or of moving back to the Fire Nation in the meantime. The Fire Nation would provide free transportation back to the homeland (a use found for at least a few of the warships sitting idle) and, upon arrival, ten gold pieces per adult/thirty per family to help defray the costs of resettling, but no other incentive to return; the Fire Lord was already having difficulties just finding work and housing for all the soldiers no longer at war. And Earth Kingdom citizens were welcome to start moving into the colonies immediately, if they signed documents agreeing that they would be treated as Fire Nation citizens and live peaceably under Fire Nation rule and laws for the first ten years. Earth Kingdom citizens were also welcome to move into Mazu, with the understanding that they would then become Fire Nation citizens for good. Kuei and Zuko both hoped that within the ten years’ time, the people of two different countries would learn to coexist in peace, instead of the riots that nearly every colony was currently experiencing.

After the meeting in the Jasmine Dragon, the Fire Lord had returned to his country, leaving representatives behind to actually draw up the documents formalizing and detailing their agreement for both monarchs to sign. It was all the polite (and occasionally not so polite) arguing back and forth between the Earth King’s officials and the Fire Lord’s officials, over every minor detail and all the possible ramifications of those details, that had taken another sixteen months to get to the point of having a treaty ready to sign.

There had been other things going on besides negotiations over the Fire Nation colonies, of course. Everyone had been attacked by the Fire Nation in the war, and parties in nearly every nation had made it clear that they felt reparations were in order.

Actually, the last living member of the Air Nomads said he didn’t need anything, even though the Fire Lord insisted reparations were due. "I told you before, I forgave your people for what they did to mine. Nobody who was involved in the massacres is still alive to face justice, so there’s no sense dwelling on what happened a hundred years ago, especially since there’s so much stuff right here and now to deal with. And what would I do with a huge pile of money, anyway?" Aang had shrugged when Zuko had tried to press the issue. "Air Nomads never kept a lot of possessions; we don’t like to be weighed down."

"What about restoring all the Air Temples?" Zuko had suggested. "The Western Air Temple’s probably going to need the most money to restore, after Azula’s attack; it’s going to cost serious money to hire earthbenders to go all the way there to restore the damaged upside-down buildings, at the very least."

To which Aang had looked away before saying slowly, "There’s not much point in restoring all the temples. The Northern one belongs to the Mechanist’s family now; I’m not going to boot them out of their home. The Southern one… it hurts too much to go back there. And I wouldn’t go back to the Western Air Temple now without you guys along; it would be too lonely. …But yeah, I wouldn’t mind going back to the Eastern Air Temple someday; Guru Pathik’s still there, and he’s probably got more Avatar stuff to teach me. Okay, you can, um, set some funds aside for rebuilding that temple later."

"It’s going to take some careful budgeting over the next several years, but I’ll set aside funds for rebuilding at least three out of four of them," Zuko had said firmly. "It’s possible there are other airbenders out there, even utterly untrained airbenders who will need someplace to go for training someday. Think about it, Aang; everyone thought the Avatar was gone forever—and Katara found you. Everyone thought the dragons had been wiped out forever—and we found Ran and Shao. Don’t give up hope for the airbenders, because I won’t."

Aang had stared at him before muttering, "I never would have figured you for being such an optimist."

"Are you kidding? Hope is all that kept me alive after I was burned and banished," Zuko had retorted before setting his ink brush to parchment, to set aside sums for rebuilding the Air Temples someday.

Reparations for Kyoshi Island were handled separately from reparations for the rest of the Earth Kingdom, since the island considered itself more of an ally to the Earth Kingdom than actually part of it. And to the Fire Lord’s personal relief, reparations were handled quite easily. "Nobody died when you came hunting Aang, and the last letter I got from my uncle the headman said that most of the burned buildings have been repaired already," Suki had told Zuko. "Two of my girls will need to leave the Warriors after being crippled while fighting Azula and not treated properly while in prison, but we’ve gained Ty Lee, and she’s agreed to teach us all her chi-blocking techniques; those will be invaluable. So we’ll take enough money to pay for two full apprenticeships for the two warriors in whatever they want to do next, another hundred gold pieces on top of that to finish rebuilding, and a personal letter of apology from you, suitable for framing. That’ll do."

Arnook, Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, had demanded reparations in the form of a staggering amount of gold, for the damage done to their capital city during the failed invasion. But instead of dozens of barrels full of gold pieces, the Fire Lord sent them a ship loaded with one huge sack of gold coins as well as several ornate statues, fancy paintings, lavish furniture and rugs, and other items fit for a wealthy mansion. Sokka had been aboard the ship, and handed a message directly to Arnook, one written by the Fire Lord himself:

The gold coins are from the sale of the home of Admiral Zhao, the man whose insane ambition to go down in history as a Spirit-slayer was the driving force behind the invasion, which resulted in the deaths of six times more Fire Nation troops than Water Tribe warriors. All the furnishings were taken from his estate, before it was sold to be converted into a home for war orphans, and are yours to sell for more money or do with as you wish. Please accept these as a down payment for reparations.

After Arnook had read the letter, Sokka had said with a sober expression, "Chief, I’m really hoping that you’ll send back a letter agreeing this ‘down payment’ is enough. I snuck through most of Fire Nation before the Day of Black Sun, and Ozai left a lot of it in pretty bad shape; Zuko’s got to rebuild his own country in addition to repaying everyone else. Besides—can I be blunt, here? If you don’t say this is enough, you’re going to look like greedy bastards to the rest of the world, compared to what the Southern Water Tribe is asking for..."

Hakoda, Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, had made his position clear, simple and heartbreakingly poignant. His scroll had read, "Money can not replace what your people took from us. We lost all our waterbenders, many of our warriors and my wife, Kya, in decades of raids. Most of them were killed, and no amount of money can bring them back to us. But many of those waterbenders were taken prisoner instead of killed, and my daughter told me that at least one of them survived. If any others have survived all these years…"

The Fire Lord had ordered an immediate search of all the prisons, but only one living waterbender prisoner had been found: Hama, an old woman who had escaped prison thirty years ago but been recently recaptured, just before the war’s end. Upon receiving word of her existence, Zuko had waved aside the prison warden’s concerns and ordered her immediate release. And later deeply regretted that decision, cursing himself for not remembering to always be sure of the current lunar phase when dealing with waterbenders. No one had paid attention to the fact that the moon was full…

Two days later, the Fire Lord had sent a message to the Southern Water Chief saying that regrettably, Hama could not be freed at this time. When her chains had been removed, she’d attacked everyone around her in a bending spree that had ended in two men dead and another eight wounded, in body and mind. She’d had to be knocked out and chained up again, for everyone’s safety. But if the Water Tribe was willing to send some of their warriors to the Fire Nation, to escort her out of prison, perhaps she wouldn’t attack her own people.

Katara had been traveling with Aang in the colonies, helping to keep the Avatar’s Peace and heal the wounds of war, when she’d heard about the disastrous attempt to repatriate Hama. She’d immediately had Aang fly her straight to the Fire Lord’s palace, and had told Zuko in no uncertain terms, "You can’t let her go. She’s a monster!"

"My country made her a monster, Katara," Zuko had said with his eyes lowered. "Perhaps once she’s at home with her people…"

"Zuko, I faced her—I trained with her!—and I can tell you right now that if I’d told my father all the details of what she did, and what she can do, his next letter would say ‘Thanks but no thanks!’ We don’t want her down there! Once upon a time we would have, but now we… Zuko, she could…" After silently fuming and then thinking hard for a few minutes, Katara came to a decision. "I’m going to send my father a message, that you’re releasing Hama into my care. And then I’m going to go to her cell, drug her to sleep, and keep her that way while I take her up to the Northern Water Tribe. Yugoda’s a master healer; maybe, just maybe, she can do something about the way Hama’s mind has been twisted over the years. If not, then… you won’t have to worry about her anymore, Zuko; she’s my responsibility."

The announcement had startled everyone, but they had all seen the look in her face and known better than to argue. Aang had tried to get her to explain exactly what she’d meant by Hama being her responsibility, but she’d just said it was a Water Tribe thing and he’d reluctantly subsided. Zuko had given her a ship and an escort, and a grim-faced Katara had gone to the prison where Hama was being held, personally drugged her and taken her aboard the ship. But before leaving, she’d tried to help the eight people Hama had horribly wounded but left alive in the wake of her bending spree.

After seeing all eight of the victims, her face had been even grimmer as she’d told her friends, "When I leave, don’t expect to see me back here for a long time. I never learned more than the very basics of water-healing, and I can’t fix most of what Hama did. Three of those people will never walk again and two more are probably not going to survive the winter, unless I can persuade them to come with me to the Northern healers. And whether they come with me or not, when I get up there I’m going to beg Yugoda’s forgiveness for scorning her healing lessons last winter in favor of warrior waterbending, and ask her to take me on as a student again. Now that the war is over, healing is more important than fighting."

But just as Katara had been preparing to depart with Hama for the Northern Water Tribe, Sokka’s ship had returned from there on the same day that Hakoda’s ship arrived from the south with the intention of taking custody of Hama; Hakoda had received Zuko’s last message but Katara’s had passed him in transit. Their little family had met on the docks with surprised delight, which had turned to dismay on Sokka and Hakoda’s parts when they’d found out what Katara intended. But after hearing out her compelling arguments, both father and brother had reluctantly agreed with her decision. They’d shared heartfelt hugs on the docks and promises to write each other often; then Hakoda and Sokka had waved goodbye as Katara’s ship departed.

The next day Hakoda had headed south again, without Hama but with a very large sack of gold that Zuko had insisted he take for reparations. And with Sokka and Suki aboard, Suki in possession of a much smaller bag of gold and the requested letter of apology from Zuko (already framed, too.) Sokka had a new messenger hawk, which he had promptly named Hawky II, and a scroll on its care and feeding. They intended to make port on Kyoshi Island for a week, staying there long enough for a party or two and for Suki to officially hand command of her warriors over to a lieutenant for a year; then they would continue on to the Southern Water Tribe. Suki had agreed to give living at the South Pole a try, for Sokka’s sake, while he helped his dad in rebuilding their home.

After the dragons’ appearance and approval of the new Fire Lord had apparently put an end to the assassination attempts, Toph had traveled to Gaoling at her friends’ repeated urging, to reunite with her parents. No one knew exactly what had happened there, because she’d flat-out refused to talk about it afterwards. Instead, three weeks later she’d shown up in Omashu announcing her intention to have a showdown with King Bumi, to determine who was really the greatest earthbender in the world.

Bumi had accepted the challenge with delight and started selling tickets, but two days before the great Earth Rumble had been scheduled to go down, Toph had abruptly cancelled the event and told Aang to get her the hell out of the city right away. She’d explained with her blind eyes wide, "I just found out that if I beat Bumi in the Rumble, I’ll be the next Queen of Omashu!"

"Really? That’s cool!" Aang had cheered. "…Isn’t it?"

"Are you kidding? Day after day after week after month of boring meetings with officials and fancy court functions and—guuuhh!" as Toph had shuddered. "Get me out of here, quick! There’s gotta be a fight going on somewhere in the colonies!"

So Toph had taken Katara’s place in traveling with Aang, helping to quell fighting in the colonies and keep the Avatar’s Peace. Then on one of their frequent visits to the Fire Nation capital, they’d found Zuko almost beating his head against a wall in frustration over his country’s financial state. Trying to restructure his country’s war-based economy into a peace-and-trade based economy was hopeless when none of the other countries would buy anything from them!

"There’s so much that I thought we could sell to the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes, but I can’t even get a trade delegation to come here, and the two that we’ve sent out were turned back at port instead of allowed to dock!" Zuko had ranted. "I thought about just giving away all the goods as part of the reparations, but--"

"Bad idea in the long run," Toph had said bluntly. "If you just give everything away now, people won’t appreciate the real value of the goods and you’ll have an even harder time selling them for what they’re worth later."

"That’s what Uncle said in his last message," Zuko had gloomily agreed. "I can make special deals for a few items for incentives to buy the rest, but first I’ve got to get the merchants in Omashu and Ba Sing Se to talk to my merchants, and they’re not! They’re just flat-out refusing to deal with us. I’m doing my best to stimulate my peacetime industries; I’ve used nearly half the money in the palace treasury to buy goods from craftsmen and non-weapons manufacturers, and filled up every spare room of the palace with their stuff! But I can’t keep it up; someone else has got to buy our goods! Toph, your parents are rich merchants; can you help somehow?"

"By asking them for help in setting up contacts and trade agreements?" The frown on Toph’s face had been grim. "Sparky, you picked a really bad time to ask that. If I set foot on my parents’ estate right now… there’d be an earthquake bad enough to wreck most of Gaoling! Forget it."

"But Toph, Zuko really needs help, and you’re the most qualified of us all to do it!" Aang had pleaded, making his puppy-cub eyes at Toph even though he knew they wouldn’t help in her case. "Can’t you at least try to talk to them?"

Moments after Aang had spoken, Momo had gotten hungry and decided to help himself to some of the food that had been sitting untouched on Zuko’s desk (it was normally unheard of for the Fire Lord to eat his meals in his office, but since he was in there from sunrise to well past sundown most days, his servants were getting desperate.) As the lemur had hopped onto the lacquered wooden desk, it had knocked a small metal sculpture off the corner and onto the floor, alarmingly close to Toph’s foot. Toph had reflexively earthbent some of the marble flooring in response, which had knocked six more small sculptures of metal and glass set around the office off their wooden stands and bases.

While helping to tidy up the office, Toph had fingered the small metal statue of a dragon and said with her eyebrows rising up behind her bangs, "Is this one of the trade goods you were talking about?"

"Yeah, and so is everything else that was knocked down. Don’t move; the glass tiger-dillo figure shattered, and there are pieces everywhere," Zuko had said resignedly as he summoned servants to bring a broom and dustpan.

"This feels… like the way you guys described the dragons to me," Toph had said wonderingly, caressing the statue’s sleek body and wings.

"Yeah, it looks a lot like Ran and Shao looked. You should have seen the tiger-dillo; it was awesome, like looking at a spirit of one," Aang had said regretfully, looking at the shattered pieces on the floor.

"So you’ve got a lot of art you want to sell, huh?" Toph had pursed her lips in thought… then smiled, an expression that slowly morphed into a wicked grin. "I know how to get this stuff sold…"

Over the next few months, the same scene played itself out in Ba Sing Se, in Omashu and in nearly every major city in the Earth Kingdom: Rich merchants riding ostrich-horses and nobles inside palanquins had converged on auction houses, gone inside and taken their seats. They had all received discrete invitations to a very special auction, one that they had been warned to not let anyone from the Fire Nation colonies know about.

Once everyone had found their seats, the auctioneer ‘Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis’ and his blind granddaughter assistant had started the art auction; art in the form of beautiful paintings, wood and glass figurines, and metal sculptures. All of the art had been found in the homes of colony governors and the tents of high-ranking Fire Nation officers, and (ahem) ‘confiscated’ when those governors and officers had been pulled back to the Fire Nation by the new regime. Art that those Fire Nation scum wanted back, but who in the room thought that they deserved to get their pretties back, after what they’d done to the Earth Kingdom?! So what would be the starting bid for this fine glass work of art in the shape of a snarling lion-dog?

Bidding had been fast and furious for the most spectacular works, and even the less beautiful pieces of art had fetched good prices. And after each auction had been wrapped up, Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis and his assistant stripped off their disguises, and Aang and Toph flew Appa back to the Fire Nation for more goods to auction off in another city.

When Toph had handed over the sack of gold that contained the proceeds from the first auction (less twenty-five percent for their cut), Zuko had been astonished at the amount. "That’s at least three times what I thought we could get for that art in fair trading!"

"Sparky, those fat cats aren’t coming to the auctions for the art; they’re coming to get their piece of revenge against the Fire Nation," Toph had said with a twisted grin. "Anyone can tell you that the biggest money is made on the black market. But give those nobles a month or two of showing their latest acquisitions off to their friends and rivals, and you’ll be able to sell other pieces of the same quality. And at the original prices you asked for; after seeing how much those works went for at auction, the merchants will think they’re getting a real bargain!"

The auctions had been so popular that Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis and his assistant went back to Ba Sing Se for a total of three times, until Toph had said wryly that there was a limit to how long they could keep this con running; people were starting to get suspicious, and it was time to stop while the bidding was still good. The day after the auction had been the start of the Earth Kingdom’s New Year celebration, so Toph and Aang stopped in at the Jasmine Dragon for the festivities and some excellent tea, and to catch up on the latest gossip about their friends; everybody wrote to Iroh.

After some excellent jasmine tea and cookies, Iroh had approached Toph with a fascinating proposition. The Dai Li under Long Feng had been corrupt to the point of evil, but they’d done a lot of the dirty work that was necessary to keep the peace in a city the size of Ba Sing Se. Besides forcefully quelling all talk of war, they’d also fought political corruption that was too hot for the City Watch to handle, taken down assassins and the occasional serial killer, and fought foes the city guard was utterly untrained for and basically helpless against: artifact spirits, and other malevolent or mischievous spirit entities. Iroh and the Earth King had both thought that Toph Bei Fong was the perfect candidate to organize, train and lead the New Dai Li.

To Aang’s considerable surprise, Toph had readily agreed to Iroh’s proposal. He’d protested, "But Toph, you turned down a chance to rule Omashu; I thought you didn’t want to be tied down!"

"That was different; being Queen and having to do royal duties day in and day out would be incredibly boring. I’d go as mad as Bumi from sheer boredom! But this… this is a challenge!" as Toph had cracked her knuckles. "Wanna help me train guys to fight spirits, Twinkletoes?"

Toph had scoured all of Ba Sing Se for suitable candidates for the New Dai Li, and in five weeks had found forty candidates; earthbenders who knew how to listen and wait for the opportunity to strike. Then she’d begun training them in her style of earthbending, and trying to instill at least a rudimentary version of the tremor-sense she used to ‘see’ the world. While Toph had yelled at her new students as they stumbled blindfolded through obstacles courses, Aang had spent hours in the Ba Sing Se library reading dozens of dusty scrolls, then made a trip to Guru Pathik to get his advice as well; then he had helped Toph train her people in how to fight artifact-spirits.

When not helping Toph with her New Dai Li or mediating the treaty negotiations in Ba Sing Se, Aang had frequently been found in the still turbulent colonies, or visiting Bumi in Omashu and Zuko in the Fire Nation. He had made a trip down to the South Pole in the late spring to see Sokka and Suki and all the progress they were making in rebuilding the Southern Water Tribe, but it hadn’t been as much fun as he’d hoped without Katara there.

Aang had gone up to the Northern Water Tribe to visit Katara once, during a lull in negotiations, but hadn’t stayed long. Not that he’d been made to feel unwelcome there; far from it! Even if Katara had been given only two full days off from her studies to walk around the city with him, there had been plenty of other people there nearly lining up for the chance to see and talk with the Avatar. But the tribesmen had kept bringing up what they considered his greatest achievement: merging with the Ocean Spirit to wipe out an entire Fire Nation invasion fleet and kill several thousand Fire Nation troops in less than an hour. And even after Katara had made it very clear to everyone that they’d better find something else to talk about, there were displays here and there throughout the city of war trophies: tattered red banners, empty red-and-black helmets, other flotsam retrieved from the drowned ships and men… After three nights filled with resurfacing nightmares, Aang had left four days after arriving, regretfully telling Katara that he’d see her again when she came back south.

Not quite eleven months after Sozin’s Comet and the end of the war, the Fire Nation had another, happier event of national significance: the wedding of Fire Lord Zuko to Lady Mai, celebrated as soon as both parties were officially old enough to marry.

Iroh and all of Team Avatar had come together again in the Fire Nation for the happy occasion. Zuko had said that instead of a typical guys-only bachelor party on the night before the wedding, he’d much rather have a get-together of all his friends, and they’d stayed up half the night just telling stories about what they’d been up to for the last year, reviving old jokes and memories of what they had all been through together.

In addition to the happy reunion between friends, there was one more reunion that was possibly more joyous than any other, between Sokka and his weapons! Zuko had sent hundreds of his people to the Wulong Forest in a reforestation project, planting new trees and shrubs to replace what had been burned down in the war’s last great battle, and spread the word among his workers that he would pay a hundred gold pieces to whoever found either a metal Water Tribe boomerang or a black-bladed sword that had fallen there. At the same time, Toph had quietly spread word throughout the merchants of Ba Sing Se that she wished to personally inspect any unusual swords or Water Tribe weapons brought into the city for sale, and she would pay top coin to the merchant who brought her exactly what she was looking for.

In the palace’s dining room the night before the wedding, Zuko had told Sokka to close his eyes and hold out his hands, and then laid a slightly scorched but still recognizable boomerang across his palms. After opening his eyes Sokka had whooped for joy, kissed his boomerang, kissed Zuko, kissed a serving girl standing nearby, and danced with his weapon all around the dining room. When he’d passed by Toph’s chair she’d grabbed him and told him to hold still, it wasn’t over yet! Then when she’d pulled his Space Sword out from under the table and handed it to him, he had whooped even louder, kissed Toph a half-dozen times and then started dancing around the room again.

"What, no presents for us?" Katara had pretended to pout, though she couldn’t help smiling at Sokka’s obvious joy.

"Well, there was that time you received the Spirit Oasis Water from Pakku, I got a bunch of waterbending scrolls and all Sokka got was a ‘good luck’," Aang had reminded Katara, while looking at Toph with a little concern; she’d just sagged back in her seat after Sokka let her go, and was sprawled there with a weird look on her face. "Maybe the universe decided to give Sokka some good karma for once."

Watching the way Sokka had kept kissing and fondling his weapons the rest of the evening, Mai had said dryly to Suki, "My sympathies; you’ll probably find it crowded in bed tonight."

Suki had just shrugged and said that weapons went under the pillows, while Zuko, overhearing, had turned to his fiancée and said with his lone eyebrow raised, "Excuse me? Who’s offering sympathies, here? Fourteen, Mai!"

She’d looked coolly back at him as she responded, "They’re much smaller, and all kept in their holsters."

"Fourteen!" he’d insisted. But when Aang had overheard and asked Zuko ‘fourteen what?’ he’d blushed and said it wasn’t important. And when Mai, examining her fingernails, had commented that tomorrow night she might go down to two, he’d blushed even redder and had to remain seated for the next toast.

The wedding the next day had been beautiful, if incredibly extravagant… and, in a few parts, incredibly boring. The five Fire Sages conducting the ceremony together had droned on and on and on, until Sokka had actually fallen asleep sitting up and been poked hard by Suki when he’d started snoring. Other than that, it had all been beautiful; as they’d sat together holding hands and watching Zuko and Mai pledge their lives to each other, Katara had smiled and whispered to Aang, "Someday."

After the wedding ceremony, Mai had been officially crowned the Fire Lady; Zuko had placed the minor flame crown in her hair himself. An extravagant wedding reception had followed both ceremonies, lasting well into the night; Iroh had kept it going with bending displays and musical rounds even after the happy couple had left in the royal yacht for their honeymoon on Ember Island. The next day the rest of Team Avatar had gone their separate ways, by boat or by sky bison.

Six weeks after the wedding came the anniversary of the end of the war. Aang had sent out letters to everyone, saying that he hoped to see them at the Jasmine Dragon that day. But when Appa had spiraled in for a landing on the terrace behind the Jasmine Dragon, only Iroh and Toph were there waiting for him. "Where is everyone?" he’d asked.

"Busy," Toph had shrugged while handing over a small stack of messages, and began reciting what someone else had read to her. "Katara sent a letter saying they’re dealing with an epidemic of ostrich-horse pox in the Northern Water Tribe; some merchant must have brought more than trade goods with him. Suki’s letter said she and Sokka are about to participate in the Southern Water Tribe’s first big whale hunt of the season; Chief Hakoda gave Suki special permission to go on the hunt even though it’s traditionally men-only, so they can’t refuse it just to come up here. Sokka’s letter says he’s sorry they’ll both miss it but the tribe is having its own end-of-the-war party, and he’ll mutilate an ash-banana in your honor."

"…He’ll what?" as Aang had blinked at her, then stared at the letter with Sokka’s atrocious handwriting.

Toph had shrugged, "That was Iroh’s best guess at what Sokka wrote, anyway. He, Longshot and Smellerbee were staring at that letter for nearly an hour trying to figure it out. Anyway, Zuko’s letter said that Mai hasn’t been feeling well lately, and she’s not up to traveling here. Betcha it’s morning sickness, but they’re not ready to announce yet that they’ve got a royal heir on the way… Anyway, that’s why it’s just you, me and Uncle. But my schedule’s free for the day; wanna start with some sparring? I haven’t given you a good butt-whipping in months; you’re way overdue!"

But Iroh had handed Aang an engraved invitation to a much larger party; the Earth King and Queen were also hosting a celebration for the anniversary of the end of the war, and were hoping the Avatar would attend. Aang had sighed, because he didn’t like going to fancy court functions any more than Toph did. But he liked Kuei and Song, and Iroh and Toph had agreed to go with him.

It had turned out to be a great party after all, if a little weird for Aang. He was used to being the center of attention at any party he wasn’t sneaking into, but at the Earth King’s feast Iroh, the Dragon of the West who had spearheaded the battle to liberate Ba Sing Se, was clearly the greater guest of honor. But the food had been great, and Toph had been surprisingly pretty in her fancy party clothes; he’d found himself actually thinking of her as a girl instead of a girl-shaped best buddy, which had been a little unsettling. Song had brought out her and Kuei’s two-month-old baby Qingshan in his very first court appearance, to general delight and cooing from everyone. And Bosco had gotten up on his hind legs and danced with Aang! So even though he’d still missed seeing Katara and the rest of his friends, he’d had a really good time.

Over the next six months there had been plenty of other letters sent back and forth, both personal and official, as the negotiations over the colonies proceeded slowly to a final resolution. Zuko and Mai had announced to everyone that they were expecting their first child, due in late spring (and no, they didn’t need any suggestions for baby names, thanks anyway.) After the big whale hunt and after spending most of a year in the Southern Water Tribe, Sokka and Suki had left to spend the next year on Kyoshi Island, where it was Suki’s turn to try to convince Sokka to resettle. The two of them were clearly in love and both old enough to marry but not officially engaged yet; not until they agreed between themselves on where they’d spend the rest of their lives together.

Katara had continued to send letters from the Northern Water Tribe telling Aang of her progress in becoming a master healer (not nearly as quick as her mastery of combative waterbending, though she was reportedly the quickest study Yugoda had ever taught), and everything else that was going on in her life. Her last letter had complained that so far in her stay she’d whipped the butts of forty-three men of varying ages, all men who had told her it was good that she’d turned from combat waterbending to healing because she had finally ‘recognized her place’, and if the count reached fifty she would ask Zuko to send Azula up there. Aang had stared at the letter, said out loud that obviously Katara was just kidding, and wrote a cautionary note to Chief Arnook just to be on the safe side.

Now the farmers’ fruit trees in the Outer Ring of Ba Sing Se were blossoming, heralding the approaching Spring Equinox. Two days ago, the Fire Lord’s royal yacht had arrived in the harbor below the city, so the two monarchs could sign the final treaty documents together. Aang had glided down to the harbor to welcome Zuko and Mai, who had decided to accompany her husband on the trip. It had been a few months since he’d been to the Fire Nation to see them, and his eyes had bugged out as he’d taken a good look at the Fire Lady. "Wow, Mai, you’re huge!"

At officially seven-and-a-half months pregnant, her belly great with child, Mai had rolled her eyes and muttered, "Thanks for the compliment. Now, you can go thank Zuko."

"Huh?"

"Zuko made me promise that I wouldn’t kill the first person in Ba Sing Se to comment on my size now. Lucky you, you’re it."

Wincing at the exchange, Zuko had pulled Aang aside and muttered that after the trip up to the Earth King’s palace, he would have to brief the Avatar on all his hard-earned lessons of the do’s and don’ts for dealing with pregnant Fire Ladies.

The stately palanquin ride up to the train station, the private train to the Upper Ring, another stately palanquin ride up to the Earth King’s palace, getting the Fire Lord and Fire Lady settled into the guest wing, an finally an official state dinner to welcome them to the Fire Nation, had all taken so long that Zuko never did get that chance to privately tell Aang what not to do or say around Mai. So Aang had just decided to discreetly avoid her, which had actually been pretty easy; the Fire Lady had spent most of her time with Toph and Queen Song while Aang had stayed in his official Avatar role as mediator for the treaty finalization.

But now the documents were signed, and inside the building they had just left, fifty scribes were busy duplicating the treaty word-for-word so copies of it could be taken back to the Fire Nation capital and to every colony. The Earth King Kuei came out of the building a few paces behind them, scratching behind the ears of his pet bear Bosco, who had been present for the signing (but had not contributed with a pawprint on the documents, despite Kuei’s wistful request. Aang had been okay with the idea, but Zuko had firmly refused to allow it, saying he’d been waiting 18 months already and he wasn’t going to risk waiting even a few hours more if Bosco accidentally tore the parchment.)

Aang flipped out his glider and prepared to take to the skies, but was stopped by Zuko abruptly clearing his throat. "Forgetting something?" the Fire Lord said pointedly.

Aang glanced at Zuko in surprise, then looked around at the four men scanning the crowds who were wearing yellow sashes over their green uniforms, and gave a little chagrined shrug. "Sorry," he muttered, before tapping the end of his staff three times on the ground. That was the signal that had been agreed upon with the Avatar’s assigned bodyguards; it meant ‘I’m going for a glide, you’re dismissed for now, see you at the Jasmine Dragon.’

Four taps would have the same meaning but a different destination; the guest wing of the Earth King’s royal palace, where the Avatar had permanent guest quarters. Aang glided all over Ba Sing Se and landed wherever he felt the whim, but he was seen most frequently at the Jasmine Dragon and the royal palace, so Kuei and Zuko had both insisted he have bodyguards around him at those places. Today, Iroh had told him that if the treaty documents were signed in time, then he’d like Aang to come by the Jasmine Dragon in the late afternoon. Iroh was working with a local baker to add a few baked goodies to his menu, and the baker claimed to have recreated the fruit-filled cakes that the Air Nomads used to bake; Iroh wanted the opinion of the only living Air Nomad on how close the baker had come before adding them to his menu.

"Have fun out there; I’ll see if Mai’s feeling up to visiting Uncle," Zuko said cordially to Aang, as he headed for one of the two palanquins waiting at the bottom of the steps, waiting to take the royals back to the palace.

"If she’s not, will you come to the Dragon anyway? I bet your uncle would love it if you came to see him while the tea shop’s open," Aang wheedled.

Zuko snorted. "Yeah, so he can put the serving apron back on me for the general public to see! He knows better than to even suggest it when Mai’s with me, but if she’s not…" he shook his head. "I’ve told him I don’t know how many times that I’ll only serve tea for friends and family, but he thinks I should be friends with all of Ba Sing Se."

"I’ve actually found it a valuable learning experience, serving tea to my subjects," Kuei said as he walked alongside Zuko to the palanquins. "Though I do it anonymously, of course. It’s surprising how few people recognize me if I take off the royal robes and put on a fake mustache."

"I have a harder time being anonymous, even outside my own country," Zuko said wryly, gesturing to the scar on his face. "Between the coronation portraits, the wedding portraits and the old wanted posters…"

Aang snickered as he left the ground behind, and went on a glide over Ba Sing Se. The weather was perfect for gliding; the sky clear, the air warm for spring, the breezes gentle and easy to bend the way he wanted… the only thing that would have made it better would be the sight of another glider in the sky with him.

He sighed longingly, and hoped that now that the treaty was signed and everyone in the colonies knew they were going to be treated as fairly as possible, the rioting and other troubles would go away and he could finally, finally take a good long vacation. A really long one, so he and Appa could go around the world looking for other airbenders, or wild sky bison as companions for Appa.

Appa was nearly a full adult bison now; he’d started getting his adolescent ‘speed boost’ in the last month or so of the war, flying four times faster than he had when he was just a calf—and showing ‘interest’ in female creatures that hardly resembled sky bison at all, except for having big broad tails. After the final battle, when his friends had told him about how Appa had been nuzzling the lady bounty hunter’s shirshu, Aang had blushed and been silently thankful that Appa hadn’t started humping her on the spot. Not just because mating sky bison were really loud and really embarrassing; the thought of blind, meat-eating sky bison hybrids flying around zapping innocents with their paralyzing tongues was not an appealing one.

Aang had never seen wild sky bison back when he’d been traveling the world with Monk Gyatso, but he’d heard from other Air Nomads that they existed; much smaller than the bison that were born at the Eastern and Western Air Temples, not bred over the millennia for size and endurance of flight, but they were supposed to be a lot faster at short distances. He’d heard that catching a wild sky bison was the ultimate challenge and riding one was the ultimate thrill, but that you couldn’t do it if your own bison was nearby, because they’d get jealous and start fighting.

After having seen the ruins at all four Air Temples and seeing just how far the Fire Nation’s burning grasp had spread across the world, Aang had sadly accepted the fact that Appa was the last domesticated sky bison in existence… but he still held out hope that a few wild bison existed, living on mountains he hadn’t explored yet. If the wild sky bison really had been able to outfly messenger hawks, like the stories said they could, then surely they could escape from even Fire Nation troops and find wilderness big enough to hide in. And it was possible that some of his people had also fled into those remote wildernesses to escape the Fire Nation, hiding so far from civilization that they didn’t even know the war was over yet.

But Aang couldn’t take Appa on that long sky bison-hunting, airbender-seeking vacation just yet; not until he was sure that the worst of their post-war troubles were over and the Avatar wouldn’t be needed to enforce or restore the peace again anytime soon. So he determinedly pushed the thought away again, just as he’d been doing for the last couple of years, and started looking for something on the ground to distract him. Ah-ha, there was the zoo he’d helped relocate! He spiraled down to land there, and had fun playing with the panda cubs and rabbaroo joeys for a while.

After that he flew back up to the palace, to check on Appa and Momo in the royal stable; they always enjoyed visiting Ba Sing Se because the royal stable hands always pampered them silly. In the stable, Appa grunted contentedly to him while four young men gave him a thorough brushing, and Momo napped on a pillow with a visibly full belly and the remains of his latest meal scattered on a plate in front of him. "I’ll be back tonight, guys," he promised, before leaving for the Jasmine Dragon.

While spiraling in for a landing, he noticed the street outside the tea shop was occupied by a royal palanquin, its bearers and a contingent of Zuko’s guards, all standing about relaxed but alert for trouble. That meant Zuko and Mai were inside the Jasmine Dragon! Aang grinned as he privately bet that what had persuaded Mai to come was the mention of fruit-filled cakes; Mai had a real fondness for fruit tarts.

A couple of the palanquin guards were looking up as well as all around; when they saw him, they waved at him in a friendly fashion. That surprised him a little, because they usually insisted on being so professional all the time (though he still didn’t understand what was unprofessional about saying ‘hi’ to people you knew while you were on duty,) but he waved back agreeably before spiraling down further.

.

To be continued...

Chapter 2: Party Time

All the fidgeting, giggling and last-minute adjustments inside the Jasmine Dragon came to an abrupt end when Sokka looked out the window into the street. “The guards are waving; that’s our signal! Quick, everybody, to your positions before Aang lands and sees us!” Sokka nearly shouted, as he dove for his chosen hiding spot. Other people in the room started scrambling for their prearranged hiding places, but Mai and Zuko didn’t move an inch from the table they were sitting comfortably at. Sokka poked his head out a few seconds later and whined at them, “You’re supposed to be hiding!”

Zuko snorted while gesturing out the window. “That’s our palanquin out there, Sokka; Aang knows we’re here! He’ll be more suspicious if he doesn’t see us out in plain sight.”

Sokka still looked like he was on the verge of pouting, as Suki’s hand came out to yank him back into their hiding spot. Peeking out from her own hiding place, Katara thought to herself that it was just as well for Mai that Aang was expecting them here; being so hugely pregnant, Mai would have had a hard time hiding anywhere.

Except for Aang himself, Katara had been the last to arrive. Her ship had been delayed and docked in the harbor only three hours ago, and she hadn’t taken the time to drop off her luggage in her guest room in the palace; she’d just hurried to the Jasmine Dragon as fast as the stone railways could take her. When she’d gotten there twenty minutes ago, she’d been astonished to see Mai sitting beside Zuko, so pregnant that she had to sit far back from the table to make room for her belly. Why had the new Fire Lady traveled to the Earth Kingdom in her condition? But Katara hadn’t had time to ask any questions; as soon as she’d arrived she’d been caught up in the preparations for Aang’s surprise party.

While waiting for Aang to land and come in through the Jasmine Dragon’s front door, she glanced again at Mai and Zuko. Mai was dressed in heavy formal robes and had the Fire Lady’s royal headpiece up in her hair, but Zuko’s Fire Crown and formal robes had been taken off and tossed over a stand in the corner; he wore a red tunic a lot like what he’d worn most of the time he’d been Aang’s firebending teacher, with his hair unbound and hanging down past his shoulders. Shoulders that Katara could swear were broader now than they had been at the end of the war; he’d put on more muscle since then, regaining all he’d lost in those months of starvation and never-enough-to-eat he’d endured as a refugee in the Earth Kingdom (and as a victim of Katara’s own vindictiveness; she shamefacedly remembered how she’d fed him nothing but the burnt scraps of the meals she’d made for the group, for weeks after he’d joined them.)

Zuko and Mai weren’t the only two who’d changed in the last eighteen months. Suki had grown a little taller and even more confident, every move filled with deadly grace; Toph had shot up at least two inches, and now sported a modest but quite definite bustline. Sokka was also taller than he had been before, and broader in the chest and shoulders, too; with the slim ruff of beard lining his chin now, he looked more like their father than ever before.

Katara was drawn out of her musings on how much her friends and family had grown by the sound of the door opening. There was Aang, the Avatar—her boyfriend—and taller than ever! When she’d broken him out of that iceberg nearly three years ago, he’d been at least four inches shorter than her and a full head shorter than Zuko. Now, as Zuko stood up to greet Aang, the two of them were nearly the same height; Zuko was still taller by a few inches, but Aang would probably catch up to him in height before long. Though he had a long, long way to go before matching the Fire Lord in muscles; Aang’s growth was all straight up instead of filling out—

“Surprise!” Sokka whooped as he sprung out from his hiding place with a flying leap, tackling a startled and squawking Aang around the waist; the two of them rolled around on the floor together like polar-dogs at play, whooping and pounding good-naturedly on each other. That was everyone’s cue to come jumping out of their hiding places; Katara, Suki, Toph and Ty Lee came running up and laughingly joined in the Aang-pile.

Happy Un-Birthday, buddy!” Sokka said laughingly as he got Aang in a headlock, rubbing at the head-arrow as if trying to give a noogie to hair that wasn’t there.

“Un-Birthday?” Aang blurted out as he tried to wriggle free.

“Yup. Because you never told us when your birthday is, but Iroh said this was your party!” as Sokka gave his scalp one last knuckle-rub before letting him go.

“To make up for the party that everyone had to miss last autumn,” Iroh explained with a wide smile as he came out of the kitchen with a laden tea tray in hand. “When Zuko told me he would be coming to Ba Sing Se for the treaty signing this week, I contacted your friends and asked them if they could come as well.”

“The timing was perfect for me to come; Yugoda finished my training early last week and declared me a healing master!” Katara said, beaming as she threw her arms open wide for a hug from her boyfriend.

“Congratulations, and it’s so great to see you again!” Aang said as he hugged her. Reaching in for a kiss, too, but Katara was okay with that; he was her boyfriend, after all. When they ended the kiss, he grinned cheekily down at her as he announced, “I’m even taller now.”

“No doubt about that,” she agreed with a smile. He’d already grown taller than her when they’d seen each other last year at Zuko and Mai’s wedding; it seemed he’d shot up at least another inch since then. She knew she’d grown taller over the past year and a half because she’d had to get new clothing for the trip to Ba Sing Se, but compared to Aang it was as if she’d shrunk instead. Not that she minded his increased height at all! Maybe now she’d be more comfortable with the thought of—

“My turn!” Ty Lee announced with a wide grin, as she bounded up and threw her arms out. Katara was a little startled, but immediately let go of Aang and backed off so Ty Lee could swoop in and give him a hug. Aang almost flinched away from Ty Lee at first—probably remembering her talent for chi-blocking and paralyzing people with just a quick jab or two—but then held still and let her hug him, and when he didn’t end up paralyzed from it he happily hugged her back.

After Ty Lee, it was Iroh’s turn to give Aang a hug. Katara started to back up another step to give them even more space, but halted when she heard Zuko’s voice behind her, saying with mild amusement, “Careful; hot tea.” Katara turned to find him right behind her with the tea tray; he’d gotten up to take it from his uncle, and was now putting teacups on the tables. It was the first time she’d stood next to him since her arrival, and looking up at him now, she realized that he was not just broader in the shoulders but significantly taller too. He added with a smile, “And congratulations on becoming a master healer.”

“Thank you,” as she smiled back and accepted the teacup he was holding out for her.

“This is great!” Aang said happily, even though he was wincing and rubbing his arm at the moment; Toph had just given him her usual friendly slug instead of a hug. “If I’d known birthday parties were like this, I’d have told you guys when my birthday is a long time ago!”

“What, you’ve never had a birthday party before? And when is your birthday, anyway?” Sokka asked Aang while accepting a teacup from Zuko.

“Two weeks ago, wasn’t it?” Zuko asked Aang over his shoulder, while handing a teacup to Suki; then the young Fire Lord immediately looked like he wished he’d kept his mouth shut.

“Yup; how’d you know?” Aang asked curiously. Then he gave a wry grimace. “Oh, right; the Avatar Cycle. I was born the day Avatar Roku died. Guess you learned about Avatar Roku back when you were hunting me, huh?”

“Um, yeah,” Zuko said, looking embarrassed. “And I read a little about Air Nomad culture back then, too; there weren’t a lot of scrolls to go on, but one mentioned that they didn’t really celebrate birthdays.”

Aang shrugged, “We do special meditations on those days, thinking about what we’ve learned over the past year, but that’s about it. Having a party with friends sounds like a lot more fun!”

As he said that, he went over to where Mai was sitting with his arms out wide, obviously expecting a hug from her too. Mai rolled her eyes and resignedly held her arms open; Aang stooped to give her a hug, then gave her pregnant belly a friendly rub as well. With an oddly anxious expression, Zuko tapped his friend’s shoulder to get his attention, then opened his arms for a hug as soon as Aang turned around.

Aang gladly hugged Zuko, then accepted the teacup that the Fire Lord deftly placed in his hands and the gentle nudge to go take a seat. Aang went over to the table Katara was just sitting down at, while Zuko sat down next to Mai again. Ty Lee happily perched in the chair on Mai’s other side, probably to start gossiping with her oldest friend. Even as she gave a welcoming gesture towards a seat for Aang, Katara felt compelled by her healer training to ask, “How are you feeling, Mai?”

“Like a bloated komodo-rhino, thanks for asking,” Mai said dryly.

“Aw, Mai, you look great!” Ty Lee protested. “Doesn’t she look great, Zuko?”

“She’s the most beautiful woman in the history of the world,” Zuko said promptly. “But for some reason she doesn’t believe me.”

“Now that is a pity, for she is truly a vision of loveliness,” Iroh said grandly as he raised his teacup to her. “Though I will admit I am surprised to find such beauty gracing my humble teashop. Not that I’m not most grateful to see you here with Zuko, my dear, but was it really wise to travel so far in your advanced condition?”

“No kidding,” Sokka chimed in. “You look like you’re about to pop!” Which earned him a swat upside the head from Suki; he yelped in protest and gave her an aggrieved look.

“Seven-and-a-half months pregnant is not ‘about to pop’, Sokka,” Ty Lee said with a faint trace of irritation in her normally cheerful voice. But she was looking past Mai at Zuko as she spoke; Zuko had tensed slightly at his uncle’s words, though his face betrayed nothing.

“I came because I’d have been bored silly if I’d stayed back in the Fire Nation, while Zuko came here and had fun without me,” Mai said in her usual flat tone. “Travel is interesting. Besides, it’s not like I came the whole way on foot; between the royal yacht, the palanquins and the stone railway system here in Ba Sing Se, the only real walking I’ve done is inside the Earth King’s palace.”

“We’ll be heading back to the Fire Nation soon; we plan to be back home long before the baby’s due,” Zuko said as he laid a gentle hand over the swell of her stomach and the child within. “Even though we brought along the nurse who’ll be her midwife, as a just-in-case.”

“But you’ll be staying here a few more days, right?” Katara asked hopefully. “My last letter from my dad said that his trade expedition will be arriving in Ba Sing Se either tomorrow or the next day. I told him about our reunion here, so he’s bringing a special talisman that our Gran-Gran made for you, to put in the birthing room and help keep evil spirits away.”

Mai gave an almost imperceptible grimace. “The midwifery suite back at the palace has already been blessed twice by Fire Sages, thanks to this worrywart here,” as she gestured to her husband.

“But any other blessings we can get will be gratefully accepted,” Zuko said firmly, giving Mai a look of don’t argue before turning to Katara. “We plan to stay two more days, so if your father’s ship arrives on time we’ll be glad to meet him and accept your family’s gift. If we miss him, then perhaps he can send it to us via messenger hawk; the Earth King’s palace has its own hawk tower now.”

“So, have you decided on names yet?” Sokka asked.

Mai nodded. “Zuko picked them out, but I think they’re all right.”

Smiling, Zuko lightly laid his hand on Mai’s belly again. “If it’s a girl, we’re naming her Ursa, after my mother. And if it’s a boy…”

Sokka winced as he interrupted, “Oh, please tell me you’re not going to name him after your father!”

Zuko gave him a dirty look. “Absolutely not. And we’re not naming anyone after Azulon either, or Sozin. But if it’s a boy, he will be named after somebody pretty important… Roku.”

All eyes went from Zuko to Aang, who stared in surprised delight. “After my former life? I’m honored!”

“I thought you’d like that; call it an un-birthday present. But it’s a good Fire Nation name, too,” Zuko said with a smile.

“And it’s a family name,” Iroh added with a twinkle in his eye. “That should please those traditionalist Fire Sages.”

“Family name? You mean someone in your family was also named Roku?” Katara asked Mai.

“Not mine; his,” as Mai gestured to her husband.

Zuko gave both his wife and his uncle a milder version of the dirty look that he’d given Sokka, one softened by the affection shining through. “Thanks for spilling the rice, you two…” He turned to the others and said, “Uncle told me this years ago, just before I renounced my father and joined you all at the Western Air Temple. It turns out Roku was my great-grandfather, on my mother’s side of the family.”

“He’s what?” Aang blurted out, staring. Then his eyes unfocused as he looked inwards, into memory. “That’s right, Roku told me he’d gotten married and had children…” He focused on Zuko again. “Why didn’t you tell us before?”

“Because I know you, Aang. If I’d told you before about this, you would have started bugging me to call you ‘Great-Grandfather’, or ‘Great-Grampy,’ or something like that. And I don’t care if you’re the Avatar; I am not calling a kid four years younger than me, ‘Great-Grandfather’!” Zuko said firmly, as everyone else chuckled.

Then Toph spoke up. “If you don’t mind me changing the subject… Sweetness, what’s this I’ve heard about you coming up with a whole new waterbending technique? The last group of fur traders coming to Ba Sing Se said something about the whole Northern Water Tribe being excited by it, but I didn’t get the details.”

Katara smiled, glad that someone had heard about it and wanted details; she hadn’t put her discovery into letters, because she’d wanted to show all her friends instead of just talking about it. But on the way down from the North Pole she’d also realized that if she brought the new technique up herself, she’d sound like a terrible braggart. “I did come up with a new technique. Here, let me show you,” as she pulled the water out of one of the flower vases Iroh had put in each corner of the tea shop, to form a globe in midair. She focused on the water, bracketed by her hands, for a few seconds.

Sokka asked curiously, “What’re you doing? Your hands are kinda vibrating, sis.”

“Sshhh.” When she finally had it just the way she wanted, she gestured and moved the globe over to Toph. “Feel,” as she made it encircle one of Toph’s hands.

Toph shrugged. “It just feels like water to me, sorry.”

Katara grimaced; Toph just didn’t understand. “Sokka?” as she moved the water from Toph to in front of her brother.

Sokka stuck his hand in the globe, then yelped in surprise. “This is warm water! Suki, c’mere, you gotta feel this; it’s warm!” as he grinned from ear to ear.

Suki came over and put her hand in the globe of water, while Katara pulled the water out of another vase and made a second globe by the first, so she could feel the difference. “It’s a lot warmer than it was before,” Suki said with raised eyebrows and a hand in each globe. “So nobody’s ever done this before with waterbending?”

“Nope. We can turn ice back into water, but usually it stays pretty cold, near freezing temperatures,” Katara explained, as people started lining up to dip their hands in the globes of water and feel the difference. “I worked on this for the better part of a year, to get the technique right. And I probably wouldn’t have come up with it at all, if I hadn’t spent so much time around benders of other elements,” as she smiled at Aang, Zuko, Toph and Iroh in turn.

“Just as I came up with the technique to redirect lightning, from studying waterbenders,” Iroh said with a smile, as he took his turn at feeling the water. “How do you do it?”

“It’s a matter of focusing on the individual particles of water,” Katara explained. “They’re actually too small to see with your own eyes—they’re something like a thousand times smaller than one grain of sand!—and it’s really hard to work on particles that small, but you can do it if you meditate and focus long and hard enough. The healers up north caught on to this technique a lot faster than the warriors, because they’re already used to focusing on water in tiny amounts, and on healing what they can’t see with their own eyes. Anyway, every particle moves a lot when it’s water, but doesn’t move much at all when it’s frozen into ice. At that level of focus, I start making the particles move faster, vibrating them, bouncing them off each other… and the water heats up.”

“How hot can you make it?” Zuko asked curiously. “Hot enough to boil?”

“That would be so very useful for making tea!” Iroh chimed in with a grin.

Katara laughed, and ruefully shook her head. “No, my limit is to heat it up to just a little more than body temperature. The faster I make the particles go while focusing at that level, the more of a headache I get. If I try to make it any warmer than what it is right now, I’ll end up with a horrible migraine.”

“Still, this is great!” Sokka insisted, grinning. “Normally when someone falls through the ice, the most a waterbender can do for them is suck the water out of their clothes, so they don’t have to strip to dry off; then someone’s got to build a fire for them, big enough to warm them back up before they die of hypothermia. But with this technique, a waterbender could use some seawater or even those same soaking-wet clothes to warm the guy up again! They won’t have to wait for a fire to get big enough to provide the heat! This is fantastic; it could be a real life-saver! Gran-Pakku’s gonna be so proud of you, Sis!”

“Do you really think so?” Katara said modestly, though she couldn’t hide her ear-to-ear grin.

“Here, let me try it,” Aang said as he gestured and pulled the cool globe of water over to him, to focus on it between his hands. “I focus on the individual particles, you said?”

Since everyone who was interested in doing so had felt the water, Katara streamed the globe of warm water back into a flower vase while Aang was concentrating. After he had been frowning at the water for nearly a minute, she said soothingly, “Don’t get frustrated if you don’t get it right today; like I said, it took me several months to work this out.” Several months and a few hundred pots of water, all set over the warming fire to heat up and then taken off to cool down, over and over and over again while she focused and meditated and strove to understand.

Katara continued, “And when I began teaching the technique, even the cleverest healer in the Northern Water Tribe took five full days of practice to get it right. So don’t--”

“No, I can—hey, it’s working!” Aang said happily as he held the globe out between his hands… and they all saw tiny wisps of steam rising from it. The water was near boiling!

And for a few moments Katara was back on that riverbank, nearly three years ago, trying to teach Aang what little she’d known about waterbending… and watching in dismay and growing jealousy as Aang got perfectly, on the first try, the moves she’d struggled for years to come up with on her own. And then getting the water whip right the very first time, after she’d tried and tried without success! Yes, he was the Avatar, but it still wasn’t fair…

Then Zuko reached out and whapped Aang on the back of his tattooed head. Aang yelped and dropped the water to splash on the floor as Zuko said sternly, “No cheating.”

“Cheating?” Sokka asked with eyebrow raised.

“I could feel the fire stirring in him. You were using firebending on that water, Aang, not waterbending; that’s cheating!” As Zuko folded his arms and glared at Aang. And so did everyone else in the room; even Ty Lee was frowning a little.

“Aw, come on, it was just a joke; I was going to show everyone the fire in a minute…” Aang gave up, blushing clear to his ears, and ducked his head to avoid looking at anyone as he gathered the water back up from the floor, cooled it down with a puff of ice breath, and streamed it back into the vase.

Katara had to wonder if Aang had really been intending to show everyone it was a joke, or let them continue to think he’d mastered another new technique within seconds. She almost asked Toph if he’d been lying, then decided it didn’t matter; either way, she was mad at him. He couldn’t let her have everyone’s attention and praise for all her hard work, for even five minutes?! No, he had to be the one to show off; some things never changed…

But she had to be honest with herself; she had been showing off, too. And at Aang’s own ‘unbirthday party’, that was supposed to make up for how everyone had disappointed him by missing last year’s party celebrating the end of the war; that hadn’t been really nice of her, either.

Iroh cleared his throat and said loudly, “So, who is ready for cake and custard?”

Sokka raised both hands in the air and said “Meeeeee!” as Suki laughed.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

The cake turned out to be a dozen small cakes, actually, with four different fruit fillings to choose from. Aang was delighted with them, declaring them to be “Almost as good as Monk Gyatso used to make!” Everyone had two or three pieces from different flavors, except for Aang (who had four pieces, one of each) and Sokka (who had six).

The custard Iroh provided as an additional treat was even better than the cake; positively divine, especially when Iroh, Zuko and Aang used gentle puffs of fire breath to caramelize the surface of each small dish for their friends. Katara closed her eyes and sighed blissfully as she savored each warm, sweet and lightly spiced mouthful of her custard, finally licking her spoon clean and having to restrain herself from licking the dish clean as well. It had been sooo good, and she was so tempted to ask if there was any more…

She opened her eyes, then blinked as she realized that someone had set a second dish down in front of her without her even asking for it. The surface was already caramelized, too; she looked around, and saw Zuko carefully blowing fire across the top of another custard dish before quietly setting it down in front of Toph, who was still eating her first custard. “Fanks, Shparky!” Toph cheerfully responded, talking with her mouth full. Zuko nodded to Toph, then picked up another dish for himself and sat back down with Mai, who had already started on her second dish of custard with more gusto than Katara had ever seen in the reserved woman before.

Now there’s a good husband, Katara thought to herself with a smile. After making sure his wife had plenty of what she was craving, Zuko had probably set up seconds for other ladies just to draw attention away from Mai’s overindulgence.

After the cake and custard came the un-birthday presents for Aang. Zuko and Mai went first; they presented him with a set of four ancient-looking scrolls that were about the life and adventures of Avatar Yangchen, the previous airbending Avatar who’d lived nearly a thousand years ago.

Sokka and Suki gave Aang a bulky contraption that Sokka had invented himself, an automatic nut-cracker, along with a specially-sewn sack for keeping the device in while traveling on Appa, and a big sack of hybrazi nuts. Hybrazi nuts were usually sold shelled and at four times the price of any other nut, because their tough shells were such a pain to crack open, but the new invention proved able to shell each nut in seconds instead of the usual time of nearly two minutes per. In just a few minutes, Aang had happily shelled enough nuts to pass them around to the entire room; Zuko watched the device at work, rubbing his chin in thought, and told Sokka he’d like to talk to him later about making more of them.

Toph gave Aang a stone statue she’d crafted herself, a foot-tall version of Appa with a saddle and miniatures of every member of Team Avatar aboard. Aang set the statue on a table so everyone could gather around and admire the incredible attention to detail; even tiny Sokka’s wolftail was perfect. “That’s from me and Uncle together,” Toph said, blushing slightly. “He helped me get right the stuff that I couldn’t tell just from tremor sense.”

Ty Lee wasn’t really a friend of Aang’s; they’d only met as enemies before the end of the war, and afterwards he’d only seen her in passing. But she’d come to the party too, even if she was mainly there to spend time with her best friend after hearing that Mai was coming with Zuko, so she’d brought a present for Aang as well; a pair of war fans, with the Air Nomad symbol painted on each one. “When I became a Kyoshi Warrior, I found out that Avatar Kyoshi learned to use fans as weapons from airbending nuns at the Eastern Air Temple!” Ty Lee explained cheerfully. “So I thought, why not make them an airbender’s weapons again?”

“You were pretty handy with the borrowed fans that day two years ago, in Chin Village,” Sokka reminisced with a smile. Aang agreed with a similar grin, as he waved one of the fans in the direction of the front door, which abruptly pulled open; he waved again, and the door closed not quite hard enough to slam. Then he held a fan up to his face and comically simpered a little, which made everyone chuckle (except Suki, who frowned.)

Finally it was Katara’s turn to give Aang a gift; she went into the back room where she’d stashed all her luggage upon arrival, and pulled out the carefully wrapped bundle she’d brought with her from the North Pole. Trying not to beam with pride in her work, she presented Aang with a parka and thick pants that she’d sewn herself, after working with the best dyer in the Northern Water Tribe to dye the furs and skins, instead of the usual shades of blue, the traditional yellow and orange colors of the Air Nomads. She’d painstakingly decorated the parka with beads in Air Nomad patterns, too, based on what she’d seen on the walls of the Western and Southern Air Temples.

At first Aang just stared wide-eyed when she laid the clothes out on a table for him to see, but Sokka had plenty to say as he jumped up to take a closer look; he fingered the beadwork on the front of the parka with a whistle of appreciation, saying, “You did all this yourself, Sis? Gran-Gran’s going to be impressed!”

Suki stepped up for a closer look as well, smiling widely. “This is really good work, Katara! I tried my hand at sewing leather and furs while I was down in the Southern Water Tribe, but it took me hours just to mend a torn sleeve; all this must have taken you weeks to make!”

“About two months of work, every evening after my healer training was done for the day,” Katara said modestly. Then she looked hopefully at Aang. “Would you like to try them on? After your letter about how much you’ve been growing lately, I made them large enough for you to grow into--”

She cut herself off when she heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen, and Iroh’s pained cry. Grabbing her waterskin, she ran through the door to the kitchen, to find the shards of a teapot scattered all over the floor and Iroh grimacing while clutching a hand both bloodied and mildly scalded. “It broke apart in my hand!” he complained as he held the hand out for her to look over and heal, after making sure there were no ceramic slivers in the wound. “It must have had a weak spot that fractured when the hot water was poured in.”

“You’re lucky that I was here when it happened,” she scolded him affectionately as she gloved her hand in glowing water and healed the scald burn and minor gash.

“I’m very lucky indeed that you are here, dear Katara,” the retired general agreed, smiling as she eased his pain.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Military hand signals, and years of working closely together, made Zuko and his uncle a formidable team. In bare seconds and in utter silence they’d both assessed the situation, agreed that something must be done immediately, and come up with the basic tactics; Uncle Iroh would provide a distraction, while Zuko would attack from the flank. Then Iroh had quickly slipped into the kitchen, while Zuko had poised himself to strike.

The second that Katara ran into the kitchen, Zuko struck; he flung an arm around Aang’s shoulders to yank him close as he muttered, “Listen, I know what you’re thinking right now, but if you want to keep Katara as a girlfriend, then you’re going to praise all the work she put into that outfit, try it on and smile.”

Aang half-whispered back, conscious of the way both Sokka and Suki were glaring at him right then, “But—but I can’t wear that! It’s made of--”

“Dead animal skins, I know! That’s what people wear at the poles, airhead!” as he gave the Avatar a little shake for emphasis. “Your girlfriend put a lot of work into that outfit for you, but you’re too busy being appalled to realize how important this gift is to your future with her! I’m sure Sokka will be happy to explain it to you later and in great detail, but for now I’m telling you to compliment her work and wear it with a smile, or else!”

When Katara came out of the kitchen, Aang was already trying the parka on over his regular clothes, grinning as if he’d been wanting one just like it for years. “Wow, look at all these beads, huh? What are they made of? Oh, out of bone… Well, they sure are dyed a great color! And you must have spent hours and hours getting them sewn in the patterns just right!” he said earnestly to Katara, who beamed with pride while Zuko silently sighed with relief; another crisis averted.

Still smiling, Katara suggested to Aang, “When my father’s ships leave here to go back home, why don’t we go with them to see the South Pole again? I haven’t been home since the day after Sokka and I found you, and I really want to see all the changes he and Dad have been talking about in their letters. We could go penguin-sledding again, too!”

“I’d love to!” Aang said with a grin; this time a genuine one, though Katara thankfully didn’t seem to notice the difference. “And after that, there are so many other places I want to show you, with fun things we just didn’t have time to do while fighting in the war; now that the treaty has been signed, the colonies should settle down, and we’ll be able to relax and have fun!”

“A vacation does sound like a nice idea, after over a year of studying healing,” Katara agreed. “In fact, I was hoping that while we’re together in Ba Sing Se, we ladies could indulge in a spa day… How about it, Toph, Suki, Mai, Ty Lee?” as she twisted in her seat to look at them in turn. “While we’re all here, how about a ladies’ spa day?”

“Sure!” Toph said with a grin. “So long as they swear not to touch my feet this time.”

“I haven’t had a spa day in years; why not?” Suki agreed happily.

“You bet!” Ty Lee chimed in with joy.

Mai actually smiled at how his friends so readily included her in their ‘girl time’. On anyone else it would have been considered barely a smile at all, but for his wife it was practically a grin, and Zuko rejoiced to see it. Mai told Katara, “I’m not allowed in saunas right now, but I’m up for a little pampering.”

“You deserve every moment of pampering you can get,” Zuko said lovingly, kissing her hand. “Tomorrow, then? I’m sure we men can find something to occupy our time while you ladies are off to the spa.”

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Iroh had closed his tea shop to all but Team Avatar that afternoon, and given all his employees time off for the occasion. After Aang’s un-birthday party wound down, the youngsters headed up to the Earth King’s palace by glider, palanquin or the city railway, Iroh waving a genial farewell to them before closing the front doors. King Kuei was hosting a party as well, celebrating the signing of the treaty, and all the members of Team Avatar had been invited once he’d heard they were coming to his city. Iroh was invited too, of course, but before heading up there he wanted to take a little time for himself… and for White Lotus business.

Sokka, Zuko and Toph were all novice members of the White Lotus Society now; Iroh had sponsored his nephew for initiation, Piandao had sponsored Sokka and Bumi had sponsored Toph. Iroh was certain that Pakku would ask Katara if she was interested in joining and sponsor her for initiation as soon as they saw each other again, when Katara returned to the South Pole. Piandao had already suggested Suki could be initiated, though formally sponsoring her would wait until after she and Sokka had resolved their relationship issues one way or another (the masters who had been married before assured the others that they did not want to get asked to take sides in that mess.)

Sokka, Zuko and Toph had been initiated into the organization at different times, and in different ways. Sokka had been initiated before traveling as an emissary to the Northern Water Tribe, but only after going through a weeklong, grueling series of tasks to prove his worthiness. He’d roped and rode a wild komodo-rhino to prove his fierceness and toughness, tracked a single copper coin through the markets of a small town to prove his cleverness and attention to detail, and proven his ingenuity by scaling the highest mountain in the Earth Kingdom without using Appa’s help--instead, he’d used a war balloon to take him up close to the summit, and climbed the last 200 feet on his own to place a lotus tile on the highest point. Sokka had been so proud of himself for accomplishing all that, that no one had quite had the heart to tell him that Piandao had only made up all those tasks for him because he’d refused to believe the initiation could be easy.

Zuko had undertaken no grueling tasks for his initiation, even after hearing about everything Sokka had done. He’d pointed to the huge pile of scrolls on his desk, all the documents waiting for his review and approval or veto, and at his schedule of meetings and speeches for the next three weeks; it was quietly agreed that roping rhinos and scaling mountains would be easier than his regular job. Instead, for his initiation Zuko had taken a day away from his Fire Lord duties to make and serve tea to the old masters; it had been a ceremony of the utmost solemnity, conducted with all the care and reverence that the Fire Sages had shown during his coronation a few months earlier.

Toph had walked in on a White Lotus meeting and demanded “Am I in or not?” After being told she was in, she spent the rest of the evening in a contest with Bumi to see who could make the most disgusting noises and/or make Pakku crack first.

But even though most of the party attendees had been either full members or potential members already aware of the White Lotus Society’s existence, no organizational news could have been discussed at the party with uninformed non-members present. Ty Lee had never been informed of the existence of the White Lotus Society at all, and all the old masters were agreed that Aang would not be invited to join for a few years yet; not until the impulsive youngster had learned to truly keep secrets and stop blurting out the first thing on his mind so often.

Just a few hours before the party, Iroh had received a messenger hawk from Jeong Jeong, who had returned to the Fire Nation after Zuko’s coronation; Zuko had ordered all charges of desertion against the old master dropped, and had reinstated his military rank. General Jeong Jeong had been put in command of all the garrisons guarding Fire Nation colonies, and had worked with Aang and other members of Team Avatar to keep the colonists’ unrest to a minimum.

Iroh hadn’t taken the time to read the hawk’s message before the party, but now he retrieved the scroll from its hiding place, poured himself another cup of tea and sat down to read it over. Iroh hoped the letter would contain news of the rogue Dai Li agents. When Azula had conquered Ba Sing Se and later returned to the Fire Nation, she’d taken seven Dai Li agents with her, and all seven were still at large.

The Dai Li agents that had remained in Ba Sing Se for the Fire Nation occupation, had all been taken prisoner during its re-conquering by the White Lotus. Bumi had personally overwhelmed them all with his earthbending mastery, and when they were all wrapped up in their own chains, asked them if they thought his White Lotus outfit would look better in bright purple. But they had never found the other agents; rumors from the Fire Nation indicated that Azula had banished them at the same time that she’d banished all the palace staff and the imperial firebenders that had formed the palace guard. After Azula had been defeated and Zuko had declared all of his insane sister’s recent decisions null and void, the palace staff and guards had returned, but the Dai Li had not.

It was worrisome, the thought of seven earthbenders highly trained in spying, combat and brainwashing on the loose. Between her White Lotus initiation and her organizing the New Dai Li, Toph had spent a lot of time quietly searching the Fire Nation home islands and the colonies for any sign of them. Since settling in Ba Sing Se, she’d settled for just making sure they didn’t come back to cause more trouble there. Bumi took frequent mini-vacations from Omashu to go to other Earth Kingdom cities, ostensibly to stimulate sales of Omashu’s gennamite rock candy but also to do his own searching for the missing agents. Every other member of the White Lotus, earthbender or not, was also on the lookout for them, and had orders to pass on any word of the agents to the Grand Lotus.

To Iroh’s disappointment, Jeong Jeong’s letter had no news about sightings or signs of the rogue Dai Li. Instead… Iroh’s brow furrowed as he read. Jeong Jeong was asking Iroh if the Grand Lotus could either confirm or put to rest the rumors that he had heard about other troubles in the home islands; specifically in the capital city. Rumors that there had recently been another assassination attempt on Fire Lord Zuko, perhaps even more than one…

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

In direct contrast to the small but convivial party that Iroh had hosted for Team Avatar, the Earth King’s party to celebrate the signing of the treaty was large, with hundreds of nobles attending, and largely boring too. But the food was great, and with hundreds of nobles milling around making small talk and trying to socially one-up each other, it was easy for Sokka to draw Aang to one side soon after it started, with a quiet but firm “We need to talk.”

Aang willingly followed him out to a balcony, while Suki did her part by keeping Katara preoccupied with talk about where they would be going tomorrow for their spa day. Once they were alone, Sokka said, “You really dodged a boulder earlier, thanks to Zuko and his uncle. Because if you’d rejected all of Katara’s efforts right to her face, I’d have just had to beat you to death with Boomerang.”

“But—I don’t understand why she made that for me!” Aang protested. “She knows I don’t eat meat, or wear dead animal skins, or anything like that!”

“No, Aang, all Katara knows is that you don’t eat meat. The whole business of not wearing their skins either, never came up while we were traveling together and fighting the war. But you wore Appa’s shed fur for disguises or just to be silly, plenty of times. And back when we met Bato and he took me ice-dodging, you tried on the ceremonial headdress made from a raccoon-bear head that he had hanging on the wall, remember?”

“Oh yeah, I did…” Aang shuffled his feet. “Well, I was kinda bored and upset right then, not really thinking about what I was doing…”

“Right. Anyway, I dunno how Zuko knew your rule about animal skins, probably from reading some scrolls about airbenders back when he was still hunting you, but the only reason I know is because of what happened when you came down to the South Pole to see me and Suki last year. Remember when you were clowning around and fell into that ice-fishing hole, then waterbent yourself out but were shivering all over, and I gave you the parka right off my own back to warm you up? And when you realized what I’d just put on you, you freaked like I was dressing you in raw meat instead.”

Sokka frowned as he spoke to Aang, still remembering how that rejection had stung; the more so because anybody else would have given him heartfelt thanks for helping them warm up at the sacrifice of his own comfort and well-being. He’d stood there open-mouthed with astonished indignation at how quickly the still-shivering Aang had shrugged off a perfectly good parka, before the fool airbender had finally remembered that he could firebend too and warmed himself that way.

Aang huffed and looked frustrated. “Well, doesn’t it just stand to reason that if I don’t eat meat, I won’t wear dead skins, either?”

“Maybe it does stand to reason, but Reason can go stand somewhere else for a while. When you go with Dad and Katara down to the South Pole, you are going to wear that outfit at least once, where everyone can see it,” Sokka ordered, poking a finger in Aang’s chest for emphasis. “Katara made clothes for you! Don’t you know what that means?”

Aang looked uncertain. “Um… She wants me to stay warm?”

Sokka felt the impulse to beat his head against the nearest hard surface… but head-butting the Avatar probably wasn’t good party etiquette. “Katara’s sixteen now, and going to be seventeen in two months; she’s already of marrying age! And even I have to admit that she’s pretty, and filling out well! When she goes home with Dad, there’s a real good chance that some of the men down there will start thinking about courting her!”

That thought made Sokka want to skip Kyoshi Island and head straight back to the South Pole with her, to make sure those guys who’d emigrated from the Northern Water Tribe know to keep their paws off his sister… but he and Suki had agreed to spend a full year in each other’s homes, and they’d already spent the full year at his home, dammit. He continued, “But women traditionally make clothes for their own family and loved ones. By spending all that time making clothes for you, Katara’s announcing to everyone who sees you in that outfit that she’s made her choice already, and none of the other guys down there have a chance with her!”

Aang’s eyes went wide with surprised delight. “Ohhh!”

Sokka nodded in satisfaction. “Now you get it! So yeah, you need to wear those clothes at least once where everyone can see them; the best time would be for the big welcome feast they’re sure to throw for you and her. After that, just tell everyone that the beading is so fancy that you want to save the outfit for a really special occasion, like your wedding. Katara will be flattered!” he finished as he turned to walk back into the party, and that nice big beautiful buffet table waiting for him to come back for seconds.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

After Sokka’s explanation of how important the clothes were, Aang decided he could wear them for Katara and her tribe just one more time, even if his skin was still crawling after he’d tried them on for everyone else’s benefit at the party.

Back when he’d been growing up in the Southern Air Temple, if someone had tried to present any of the monks with an outfit like that, they would have been coolly invited to leave and never come back, ever. The philosophy of the Air Nomads included reverence for every living thing, and they neither ate meat nor wore the skins of animals; it was as much a part of them as airbending. The monks knew that the enlightened way was not for everyone, and didn’t try to impose their philosophy on the ground-dwellers they met. But to see their colors and sacred symbols worked into the skins of dead animals, an outfit made to be worn, inviting one to derive warmth and comfort from their slaughter… it was a vicious parody of Air Nomad ways. Aang wondered how well Zuko would take it if Katara had made a copy of the Fire Throne out of ice, and left it to melt in the sun.

Aang still didn’t understand how that wasn’t blindingly obvious to Katara, his girlfriend; how could she not understand how offensive her gift was? And he mentally kicked himself again for wearing that stupid ceremonial headdress made from a raccoon-bear’s pelt, even for an instant. He’d been so upset that night already, from the way Sokka and Katara were talking to Bato and ignoring him, already fearing that they’d leave him and go back to their own people; just for a moment, he’d wondered if they would stay with him if he took up Water Tribe ways instead. Was he going to pay for that moment of weakness forever, with Katara bugging him to wear animal skins for the rest of his life?

No, it wouldn’t come to that. He’d already sat in prayer for a while after returning to the palace, apologizing and explaining his offense to the spirits of the monks who’d raised him. The animals had been slaughtered long ago, and he’d worn their skins not for his own comfort, but for the sake of harmony with his girlfriend and his other friends. He’d also promised that it was only that one time, never again… but surely the monks would understand if they were worn just one more time for harmony’s sake. Because it would definitely be disharmonious if other guys started trying to horn in on his girlfriend after they’d already chosen each other!

He nodded to himself as he determined what he’d do. He’d wear that horrible outfit just one more time, while he and Katara were visiting the Southern Water Tribe. Then after they left there and started traveling together, seeing all the wonders he’d never gotten to show her before while they searched for hidden sky bison and airbenders, he’d start actively teaching her all the Air Nomad philosophies. Once she really understood their ways, she’d understand the offense of her gift without his having to embarrass her by telling her. Then they’d give the skins a sky burial together, and never speak of it again.

Resolved and with a somewhat lighter heart, Aang looked around at the party and wondered how he could liven it up a little. The last party Aang had been to at the palace, the one for the anniversary of the end of the war, had been a lot better than this one; there’d been music and dancing going on until midnight, instead of just people standing around talking to each other. Aang thought about trying to liven it up by grabbing Katara and dancing with her, like he had done with On Ji and Katara to liven up that party with the schoolkids in the Fire Nation, but when he found her again she was talking with Queen Song about healing techniques and stuff. He knew better than to interrupt when two healers started talking to each other, so he backed off and let them be.

The party just dragged on, getting duller by the minute, until Bosco started chasing a waiter around to get at his tray of appetizers. The waiter must have been new to the palace and either hadn’t heard or hadn’t remembered the first rule of dealing with Bosco (never get between The Bear and any food he wants); he panicked and ran with the tray instead of setting it down for Bosco to indulge. Momo had excitedly hopped onto the back of Bosco’s neck during the chase and started riding him, which the bear didn’t mind because Momo hardly weighed anything; for a few moments the winged lemur’s chirps had sounded like a cheery “yip yip!”

Eventually the poor waiter tripped and the tray went flying out ahead of him, to splatter onto a squawking noble’s robes. Bosco ran right over the poor groaning waiter, then knocked down the noble and started sniffing and slurping him to get at the honey-glazed chicken—for two seconds until a voice cut across the pandemonium, barking, “Bosco, sit!”

Bosco flinched, hurriedly backed off from the noble and sat down on his haunches. Momo cheeped with his ears laid back and quickly scurried away, while a woman came hurrying up; a middle-aged woman with somewhat weathered features and brown hair tucked into a simple bun instead of one of the complex hairstyles favored by noble women. Aang recognized Lady Ping, Queen Song’s mother; pretty much the only one besides Kuei who could command the bear’s obedience. Lady Ping stood right in front of Bosco, scowling, and demanded, “Were you being uncivilized?”

The five-hundred-pound bear cringed, and a tiny whine came out of his muzzle. Now shivering in Aang’s arms, Momo cringed too, and Aang fervently agreed with his pet’s assessment. Lady Ping had been invited by King Kuei to live in the palace with him and her daughter, but preferred to have her own house in the Upper Ring and live a more frugal and simple lifestyle than royalty are accustomed to. Lady Ping had little tolerance for ‘foolish fripperies’, as she called them. She was also renowned for being kind-hearted, and generally patient and gentle with others as befitted a former village healer, but when she was angry…

“You are misbehaving, Bosco!” Ping said, her voice a whip-crack. “Your conduct was unbecoming of a royal companion!”

Bosco… Aang blinked, looked again and decided that yes, it was a kowtow, or as close to one as the bear could make it; crouched down with his belly on the ground and his front paws circling his downturned muzzle. Bosco whined again, and after a beat, Lady Ping gave a small smile and said, “Your apology is accepted. See that you behave more properly in the future.” The bear quickly lumbered to his feet, and Lady Ping scratched him fondly behind his right ear for a few moments before walking away again. After a few more moments of awed silence, conversation in the ballroom returned to normal levels.

“…Wow,” Aang finally said, while still stroking Momo.

“Yup,” Zuko said, standing next to him and looking amused. “No wonder Uncle keeps courting her.”

Startled, Aang turned and asked, “He is?!”

“Uh-huh. Look where she’s heading now,” as Zuko nodded after her. Aang looked at the direction that Ping was walking in, and saw Iroh standing there positively beaming with admiration. When Ping and Iroh were only a few steps apart, Iroh made a sweeping bow to her and said something that had Ping smiling even as she made a dismissive gesture. Zuko continued, “He told me he’s proposed and she’s turned him down once already, but he keeps trying.”

Materializing seemingly out of nowhere and looking disturbingly beautiful in her fancy dress, Toph added, “Ping won’t have anybody for a husband, until she has solid proof that her first husband is dead and gone. It’s a rotten shame, because they’d make a great couple, and Uncle really likes her; he keeps serenading her with singing and tsungi horn music.”

Zuko sighed, his smile of amusement fading. “I’ve gone over every record I can find of when her and Song’s home village was raided and all the men were taken for slave labor, but there aren’t any records of him alive or dead. And without definite proof, she just refuses to accept that he’s dead.”

Toph shook her head. “I’ve had every Earth Kingdom record checked too, but still nothing. It’s been nine years since then; you’d think that by now she’d just give up and accept that he’s not coming back…” Then she winced, and added, “Sorry, Sparky.”

“It’s all right,” Zuko murmured, looking even sadder. It took Aang a few moments to figure out what that exchange had been about, but when he did, he winced. Zuko’s mother, Lady Ursa, had disappeared nine years ago, and hadn’t been heard from since then. Ozai had taunted his son on the Day of Black Sun with the news that instead of being killed the night she’d disappeared, she had been banished. After Ozai had been defeated, deposed and imprisoned, Zuko had demanded that Ozai tell him where his mother was, but Ozai had refused to answer… and refused again every time the question had been asked in the last eighteen months. Zuko asked calmly, he yelled, he stormed, he threatened torture, he attempted to bribe with the offer of better living conditions; all to no avail. Ozai withheld what he knew, and no one doubted that it was because that was the only way he could still hurt his son. And though Zuko had ransacked all the palace records for information and set his nation’s finest investigators to the task, nobody could find any leads on where she’d been taken to.

Aang hated to see Zuko looking so down, especially at a party, and looked about for something to distract him. He found it a few moments later, and pointed across the room with an excited, “Hey, look! It’s Chong and his nomad band!”

“Oh yeah, those guys,” Toph commented with a twisted smile, as they all watched a band of eccentrically dressed musicians stroll casually into the room, accompanied by stares from the surrounding nobles all ranging from bemused to scandalized. “They’re here just for you, Twinkletoes; after you told Kuei about your adventures running into them on the way to Omashu, he thought you’d like to listen to their music again.” And indeed, Kuei could be seen looking straight at Aang while smiling proudly and making a see what I got for you? gesture in Chong’s direction.

“Hey, everybody,” Chong said with an amiable smile and wave to the crowd, “all you noble dudes and pretty ladies. The king said we should come and sing about peace and love for you guys, seeing as how them really important papers that were signed today were about making peace and stuff.”

“Hey, guys!” Aang said, waving excitedly to them and choosing to ignore how, standing next to the buffet table, Sokka facepalmed at the sight of the nomads and groaned out loud.

“Hey hey, Little Arrowhead!” Chong said as his smile widened, and his wife Lily held her arms out in welcome.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

While Aang zipped over to greet the musicians, Zuko sidled up to Toph, staring at the newcomers as he whispered, “Er… are they any good?”

“No idea,” Toph shrugged. “They only arrived in the city two days ago, and they haven’t done any rehearsing while I’ve been around. Chong, their leader, said something about the ‘energies of the crowd giving them inspiration’, and other dust like that. Whatever; I’ll be glad for anything that will stir up this party a little.”

After the greetings and a rather confused speech about peace and love through music, the nomads began playing their instruments and singing some song about a secret tunnel. Toph perked up at the first few chords, saying with a smile, “I know this one!”

Zuko was willing to wager that Toph knew the song better than the nomad band did. Because even though he’d never heard the song before, he’d bet his Fire Crown that the lyrics “Built a path to be together… And then there’s another line, I forget that bit, but then it goes…Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel!” were not how the first verse originally went.

Toph was too flabbergasted to say anything. She just stared, open-mouthed, in the direction of the nomad singers for at least a full minute. Then she began snarling under her breath as her fists clenched, “No burying, no boulders… made a deal… don’t want parents in the palace…”

“Here,” as Zuko shoved his drink under her nose, figuring a distraction was necessary. “Hot sake; heated it myself.”

Toph took the drink and slammed it back like it was water instead of potent rice wine. She coughed a couple times, thumping her chest—so she wasn’t used to strong drink yet; he was privately relieved—then said, “Thanks. I can’t believe… They totally left out the verses about the badger-moles!”

“The way they’re singing, you should be glad of that. Listen, can I borrow your Bei Fong business savvy for a moment? Since you were the genius behind those auctions of ‘confiscated’ art… for which I should thank you again, by the way. You and Aang single-handedly saved the livelihoods of hundreds of craftsmen.” A few more dollops of completely sincere yet flattering praise, and Toph was both distracted and smiling, ready to give her opinion of Zuko’s latest idea for improving his country’s economy.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Over in another corner of the ballroom, Katara was enjoying the party a lot more than she’d thought she would. Soon after it had started, she’d been approached by Queen Song herself; half a dozen exquisitely-dressed noblewomen had been trailing after the queen, probably hoping to engage her in conversation and somehow improve their social standing, but the queen had come up to Katara and said with a smile, “Master Katara, Master Toph told me that you’ve just finished your master healer training! It would be a delight to talk about healing with you.”

Katara had never met the Earth Queen before, having left for the North Pole before her and Kuei’s royal wedding; it turned out that before marrying the Earth King, Song had been a healer in a small village far from Ba Sing Se. After Katara had explained to Song just how healing waterbending worked and what its limitations were, they’d traded information on healing techniques that didn’t involve waterbending. And after the other noblewomen had gotten bored or bewildered enough to wander off and find other people to talk to, they’d grinned conspiratorially and started telling funny or outrageous stories about patients they’d treated.

Then Zuko had brought Mai over to their table, lovingly chiding his wife for being on her feet too long. Song had quickly invited Mai to come sit down with her and Katara, and Zuko had bowed and retreated to mingle some more. The Fire Lady and Earth Queen had apparently become well acquainted in the last few days, while their husbands were working on the treaty; rather than engage in the formal court talk full of double meanings and hidden barbs that Katara had heard Mai use on nobles before, the Fire Lady seemed happy to keep the discussion as light and informal as it had been before, so long as the other nobles stayed out of easy listening distance.

Given Mai’s advanced state, the talk quickly turned to pregnancy and babies in general. Katara asked with a smile, “Just between us, are you hoping for a boy or a girl?”

“A boy and a firebender, so there’ll be absolutely no question about succession,” Mai said promptly. “Though Zuko keeps saying he wouldn’t mind a girl, and doesn’t care if she bends fire or not; he just wants a baby to cuddle.” She glanced her husband’s way with amusement in her eyes, then confided, “He’s actually had our captain of the guard give him secret lessons on how to handle a baby. Agni knows where he got the life-sized baby doll, but for a full month he brought it out of the closet every night after dismissing the servants, and insisted we both practice carrying it around. I had to finally put my foot down to keep him from bringing it along on our trip here.”

“Awww, that’s so sweet!” Katara cooed, already wondering where she could get a doll like that for Aang to practice with, while Song concurred with a wide smile.

“You mean it’s so dorky,” Mai corrected with a tiny smile tugging at a corner of her mouth. “But that’s my Zuko.”

“All hail Zuko, the Fire Dork!” Katara giggled, though she still thought it was sweet.

“Kuei’s probably an even bigger dork, but I love him anyway,” Song confided with a twinkle in her eyes. “He’s such a scroll-worm; when he’s in the palace library and lost track of time again, I track him down by following the trail of empty scroll slots. He’ll pull one off the shelf, start reading it, find something inside that’ll reminded him of another scroll, and go off to find that scroll before even finishing the first one! He’s always got at least two scrolls tucked up his sleeves, and one of them is almost guaranteed to be an adventure story about Avatar Kyoshi or Moto the Monster-Slayer, or somebody else who’s been dust for centuries. In the evenings when he’s in the nursery with me and Qingshan, he’ll pull out the adventure scroll and read it aloud, even though Qingshan’s not old enough to understand a single word he’s saying! And the night before any important speech he has to give, he’ll be pacing the nursery trying out phrases and using our son as a sounding board. I wouldn’t be surprised if Qingshan’s first words turn out to be either ‘Moto triumphs!’ or ‘trade agreement’.”

Katara giggled at the thought, while Mai dryly conceded that Song had indeed won their little ‘dorky husband’ contest. Then Song asked Katara, “What sort of father do you think the Avatar will be, when he’s a little older and ready to think about settling down?”

Katara smiled, even though her stomach was doing flip-flops inside her. “I’m sure he’ll be a good father; the kind who takes the time to play with his children and listen to what they have to say every day.”

But Mai lost her tiny smile as she asked, “Settling down? Are you sure he’s even willing to do that someday? He is an Air Nomad, after all.”

Katara blinked at Mai in surprise that the question was even asked. “Of course he’ll want to settle down, though not for a while yet.” She had no idea what the marrying age for Air Nomads was, but was sure that it was at least sixteen; still a year away for Aang. “And I already know that even after we get married, there will be times when he’ll be away from home for weeks or even longer with his Avatar duties. But I also know he wants to see more airbenders gliding through the sky with him, and those airbenders aren’t going to just appear out of thin air; it’ll be up to him and me to start repopulating the race.”

Something in her expression must have given her away, because Song gave her a troubled look. “Pardon me, but you don’t look particularly happy about the idea… Would you rather not have children? Perhaps we could--”

“Oh, no, I want to have children!” Katara assured her. “I love children, and I’m looking forward to having a family of my own.” Then she sighed and admitted, “But I’m not looking forward to having as large a family as he probably wants us to have; I’d be happy with just two children, maybe three, but he’ll probably want at least a half-dozen.” Hopefully not a full dozen children; that would wear her body out years ahead of her time… “And I’m definitely not looking forward to raising the children by myself when he’s away on Avatar business. But if we have them at home in the Southern Water Tribe, then I’ll be able to get help when I need it from other tribeswomen, help with raising our brood of airbenders… and if I’m lucky, maybe one or two of them will be waterbenders too,” she finished wistfully.

Song nodded, then asked carefully, “But what if the children aren’t benders at all?”

Katara shrugged. “I’ll still love them, and so will Aang. And Sokka would probably be thrilled to have a non-bending nephew or niece to be an uncle to; someone who’ll look to him for lessons in hunting and fighting. Or to their grandfather; I’m sure my father would like that too. I already know he’s ready for grandchildren of any type; Sokka wrote to me in a panic late last year, after our dad hinted to him that he’s waiting for him and Suki to provide him with a grandchild.”

Song chuckled at that, then asked Mai, “What about your parents; are they happy to be grandparents soon?”

Mai shrugged. “I’m sure they are, especially since their grandchild will be royalty. But they’ve been in Omashu instead of in the Fire Nation for the last six months; Bumi insisted on Zuko appointing my father as the ambassador to Omashu. Not that Zuko objected to his choice at all; as far as we’re concerned, it was a better wedding present than the half-ton block of gennamite rock candy he sent.”

Katara eyed Mai in disbelief. “Bumi insisted? But… I thought your father had been the governor of Omashu when it was occupied? Why would Bumi want a reminder of the occupation looking right back at him at all his court functions?” Everyone knew Bumi was a mad genius, but there was crazy and then there was crazy.

Mai shrugged. “Bumi said he likes my father’s fashion sense. Personally, I think he wanted a reminder of the occupation because it’s also a reminder of the way he single-handedly took back his city on the Day of Black Sun. My parents had to flee that day with the common soldiers, so fast they left all their luggage behind them.” Not that this fact seemed to bother Mai overmuch. “Anyway, all our trade agreements with Omashu keep my father busy and my mother and brother with him, though I’m sure they’ll come to the capital for a visit after the baby is born.”

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After listening to Chong and his band make music for a while, Aang went looking for Katara again in hopes of dancing with her. But now she was talking not just with Queen Song but with Mai too, so he backed off again. Zuko was busy talking with one of Kuei’s stuffy old ministers, Toph was talking with the Commissioner of the City Guard, and he didn’t see Sokka and Suki at all (they’d probably sneaked off somewhere to make out, like they used to back before the end of the war), so he wandered out to a balcony. He thought about snapping out his glider and going for a quick spin over the palace to feel the breeze, but before he could do that he got startled by someone swinging upside-down right in front of him with a cheery grin.

Aang yelped as he jumped back in surprise, and Ty Lee grinned even wider before letting go of the roof’s edge to flip over and land on her feet in front of him. “Nice party, huh?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s nice… Sorry, I didn’t expect to see you out here,” he said a bit sheepishly. “Say, how come you’re wearing your Kyoshi Warrior outfit?” Suki wasn’t in her Kyoshi Warrior uniform; she was wearing an elegant Earth Kingdom party dress, though one of her war fans was tucked into her sash.

Ty Lee shrugged. “Fancy party dresses really restrict your movement; I don’t like feeling confined.”

“Boy, I can understand that,” he said with feeling.

“Besides,” Ty Lee continued with an impish grin, “if I wore a party dress I’d just be another partygoer in there, and I’d rather stand out than blend in.”

“You would?” Aang rubbed at his scalp as he pondered that. “But then… why’d you join the Kyoshi Warriors at all? I mean, when you’re all wearing the same uniform and makeup, people can hardly tell you guys apart from each other.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad, and anyway it sort-of makes up for what happened during the war,” Ty Lee said as she abruptly backflipped away from Aang, as if trying to distance herself from either Aang’s question or her answer. She came back upright with a smile as she added, “Besides, I do stand out among the Kyoshi Warriors; I’m their instructor in chi-blocking!” She made a feinting jab in Aang’s direction as she said that, and even though she was a good four feet out of reach at that moment, Aang couldn’t stop his flinch.

Ty Lee laughed at his response, then said abruptly, “Mai writes me letters all the time, but you’ve probably seen her more than I have since the wedding; do you think she’s doing okay?”

“Huh? Well, yeah, I guess so. I’ve only been back to the Fire Nation twice since the wedding, and I really haven’t been around that many pregnant women…” Heck, Aang had never even seen a pregnant woman until he was nine years old and traveling with Gyatso; the bearing nuns had stayed at the Eastern and Western Air Temples. “But when I’ve been there to talk with Zuko about treaty stuff, I’ve stayed for dinner too, and when I saw her she looked like she was doing okay. Why do you ask?”

“I dunno; her letters have said everything’s fine, but her aura’s had some purple swirls in it all day. And when I rode in their palanquin up to the palace, we talked just fine about lots of things. But a little while ago when I asked her about Shinin—he’s this really cute guard in the Fire Nation royal palace; nice muscles, and a butt you could bounce a silver piece off of!—anyway, she changed the subject, and then Zuko came over and said it was time for Mai to sit down, and took her over to talk to Katara and the Earth Queen. It was kinda weird how she didn’t want to talk about Shinin; she’s never had a problem talking about any guy we’ve met. Except Zuko, of course, but that’s different…”

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It certainly wasn’t the main reason he’d brought Mai with him, but one of the benefits of having a heavily pregnant wife along on a diplomatic trip was that no one expected her to stay for hours at a boring party. When his friends had wandered off to other conversations or just plain left the party, and he’d had all he could stand of polite and oh-so-careful small talk with his ambassadors and with Earth Kingdom nobles, Zuko had flashed Mai their agreed-upon signal and she’d come over to announce that she was tired and needed to rest. Naturally, everyone had been extremely considerate of her delicate condition and they’d been out of there less than a minute later, with Kuei looking their way in barely-concealed envy.

After making it to their guest suite, Zuko had made Mai wait just inside the door while their attendants checked and double-checked every wall, the floor and every stick of furniture; yes, one of his personal guards had been on duty outside the door every minute of the day, but lately paranoia had served him well. But the room was safe, so he’d stepped back out just long enough to tell the guard that they weren’t to be disturbed for anything less than a genuine emergency. That would keep Uncle from pestering them this evening; during the party, Zuko had glimpsed Iroh giving him concerned frowns that probably meant his uncle wanted to talk about something that Zuko just didn’t want to talk about tonight.

Now they were dressed for bed and cuddling under the covers; spooning behind her, he rested a hand on her belly, feeling their little ember kicking up a storm within, and murmured with amusement, “Someone doesn’t feel like sleeping yet.”

“I blame you,” Mai said tiredly, though he could hear faint amusement in her voice. “He’s heard you telling me about your Blue Spirit exploits, so he’s practicing being active at all hours of the night.”

Zuko grinned, and then maneuvered around her to put his lips to the taut curve, speaking directly to his child in his most serious tone. “Citizen of the Fire Nation, your Fire Lord commands you to settle down and let your mother rest.” Of course, the baby refused to listen at first—this child was definitely an ember from his hearth fire, he thought wryly—so he began humming a lullaby with his cheek against her belly. After a few minutes, their little ember settled down and stopped kicking, and Mai ruffled his hair in thanks before drifting off to sleep.

Zuko settled in for sleep as well, telling himself firmly to stop worrying for at least a few hours; that everything would be okay. They’d made it this far, and now that treaty had been signed, everything would settle down; they would have peace once more. Everything would be okay now…

Notes:

Yes, Katara has discovered Brownian motion and the thermodynamic equation governing same. Also, if anyone thinks I’m taking waterbending too far even for fanfic, I strongly recommend they read the book “The Hidden Messages in Water”. It’s about real-life ‘waterbending’ on the molecular level; the science is questionable but it’s still fascinating reading!

One reviewer over at FFnet was bothered by Mai’s comment about there being no question of succession if the baby is a boy and a firebender, saying “I'd never picked the Fire Nation as being so patriarchal. I figured the eldest child would be heir, regardless of gender.” The Fire Nation is certainly less patriarchal than the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes; we all saw how the NWT treated women, and I found it telling that Toph is the ONLY female earthbender or Earth Kingdom warrior we ever saw in the series. But while we saw female soldiers and law enforcement in the Fire Nation, the room full of generals that Zuko sneaked into were all clearly men. Plus there's the whole underlying issue of just why Ozai went to the trouble of banishing Zuko at all.

Think about it; the Avatar had been missing for nearly a hundred years by the time Zuko was banished, and Iroh remarked in the first episode that Sozin, Azulon and even Ozai himself had searched for the Avatar without success. Given Ozai’s obviously low opinion of Zuko, it’s clear that he meant the banishment to be permanent and Zuko out of the way for the rest of his life… which meant supplying his son with a warship and men to crew it in perpetuity, removing manpower and resources from the war effort for years to come.

If Ozai was so convinced Zuko was shamefully weak, why not just make a declaration that his second child Azula would be his heir, and Zuko would become at best the governor of some minor out-of-the-way colony? When Azulon’s will removed Iroh from the line of succession, all the Fire Sages accepted Ozai as the new Fire Lord without question, even though Iroh was still alive and well and probably still able to sire more heirs.

I figure that the reason Ozai had to banish Zuko instead of just disinherit him, in order to clear the way for his favorite offspring Azula to take the throne (seriously, does anyone doubt that was his real purpose?), is because despite their being the most progressive nation in the world concerning women’s rights, the Fire Nation still has the mindset that men should rule and will accept a woman as the next Fire Lord only when there’s no male alternative. If Ozai had just declared Zuko removed from the line of succession but let him stay in the Fire Nation, there would have been mutterings from the Fire Sages and other forms of backlash that would have distracted him and his nation from the war effort. Banishing his son was more costly in terms of resources, but also more final and effective in removing him from the line of succession.

Hey, this changes nothing for all those postwar stories that have Fire Lord Zuko raising his firstborn daughter to be his successor to the throne. It’s just one more change in attitude that Zuko has to shove down his people’s throats, in addition to changing the beliefs that Fire is the Superior Element and the whole world would be better off being ruled by the Fire Nation and etc.

Chapter 3: And It Started So Well...

The next morning, Aang got up from the lotus position and gave a long, satisfying stretch after his hour of meditation in the royal garden. He was mildly disappointed that Zuko hadn’t come outside to join him in the garden; the few times they’d been here together while the treaty was still being hammered out, they had both come out at dawn for firebending meditations. He guessed that Zuko meditated at a different time now that he was married; he hadn’t talked to that many people about the whole concept of marriage and what married life was like, but everyone he’d talked to had agreed that it changed a guy’s life in ways he would never have expected.

He went back inside the palace, and found Katara already up and out of her guest room, and talking with Ty Lee in the guest wing’s parlor. He swept in with a happy greeting to them both as well as a hug and kiss for his sweetheart before sitting down next to them. The conversation turned from the latest news on Kyoshi Island to the upcoming trip to the Southern Water Tribe, and all the changes that had taken place there since Katara had last seen her homeland nearly three years ago. Aang had seen a lot of renovations in his visit last year, and apparently additional improvements had been made since then, according to Hakoda’s most recent letters to Katara. Ty Lee had never been to the Southern Water Tribe at all, but she listened avidly all the same, paying particular attention to the talk about penguin sledding. “It might be worth so much cold, just to do that at least once!” she said cheerfully.

“You should come down for a visit, then!” Katara told her. “I know we’d be glad to have you there, as well as any other Kyoshi Warriors who’d like to come. In fact, since my dad’s letters said that Suki showed all the men how women can be skilled hunters and warriors too, you might even find yourself invited on a hunt or two!”

“Um, I don’t hunt or kill animals; the only meat I eat is fish. But otherwise, sure!” Ty Lee said brightly.

More people came out of their rooms or showed up from elsewhere as the conversation went on; first Suki, then Zuko and Mai together. Toph arrived, and Sokka finally came out of his room, just as the Earth King sent a servant to ask them if they’d like to join his family for breakfast. “Always just in time for food,” Katara teased her brother fondly.

“Hey, if you guys haven’t thought of any place you want to go yet, how about an amateur Earth Rumble?” Toph suggested as they started getting up to follow the servant. “It’ll be down in the Lower Ring arena, and it starts in a few hours.”

Katara glanced at her in surprise and a little hurt as she asked, “You’re not going to the spa with us?”

“Sure I am! I’m not participating in this Rumble; the New Dai Li are sponsoring it! It’s a way to entertain the public and show that we’re nice guys now instead of bad guys. The Boulder is emceeing for me, while a couple of my other agents will sit in the audience and see which of the fighters has potential to become a trainee. But I brought three tickets for you guys if you’re interested,” as she pulled the tickets out of her belt pouch and waved them in the air.

“You bet!” Sokka said with glee as he snatched the tickets out of her hand, already almost bouncing on his toes with excitement. Zuko and Aang glanced at each other and agreed it would be fun to watch—from high up in the stadium, instead of front-row seats.

As they walked to the dining hall, Katara told everyone that last night, just before going to the party, she’d made reservations for five at the Fancy Lady Day Spa. “We can head there right after breakfast,” she said with a smile.

“Great!” Ty Lee said cheerfully. “And after the spa, maybe we can go check out some other sights around the city! I’ve heard there’s a great zoo down in the Outer Ring, and a bazaar in the Middle Ring where you can find treasures from all around the world!”

“Yup and yup,” as Toph nodded agreement. “In fact, there’s a weapons shop down in the bazaar that I happen to know has some fancy stilettos in wrist-launchers,” as she turned to throw a sly, knowing smile in Mai’s general direction.

Mai gave one of those tiny, fleeting smiles that Aang had learned were her equivalent of a grin as she said, “No to the zoo, but yes to the weapons shop, if we have time after visiting the spa.”

“How about making a separate day trip just for the bazaar?” Ty Lee suggested hopefully, and Sokka seconded the idea, making big begging puppy-cub eyes at the royal couple.

But Zuko regretfully shook his head. “We’re scheduled to leave tomorrow at noon, when the tides are right; we wouldn’t be able to spend more than an hour or two there before heading to the harbor.”

“Aw, c’mon, can’t you guys stay one more day?” Sokka pleaded shamelessly. “I miss the days of just hanging out and talking about manly things.”

“Like meat, and shopping,” Zuko added dryly. “I’d really like to, Sokka, but…” He hesitated, looking around to be sure no servants were close enough to overhear, then almost whispered, “We haven’t said anything to anyone back home, but we’re pretty sure that the official due date of six weeks from now is wrong. That’s why we have to hurry back so soon; Mai thinks the baby’s due in only three weeks.”

“What? But you were married just over seven months ago!” Aang said in surprise. He didn’t know much about babies, but he was dead certain that they normally took nine months to be born. “How can the baby be… Ohhh,” as he figured it out.

Zuko blushed as he admitted, “We… sort-of didn’t wait for the wedding, yeah.”

Ty Lee looked astonished. “But… how? I was there for the last two months before the ceremony, helping you get ready!” she said almost accusingly to Mai. “Once the engagement became official, you were kept on your family’s estate and not allowed to see anybody, even Zuko, without a chaperone present!”

“Fire Nation custom,” Zuko explained to the people from other nations, most of whom were giving them weird looks. “Especially for royal weddings. And the Fire Lord has to be the model of propriety.”

“Yes, the Fire Lord is the model of propriety,” Mai agreed. “However, Zuko himself can be very sneaky.”

It was the first time ever that they’d seen Zuko blush redder than his scar… and he couldn’t quite hide a proud smirk, either.

Ty Lee tsk-tsked, but her disapproving look was spoiled by the smile peeking out, while Sokka gave Zuko a congratulatory grin and a punch on the arm.

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Katara smiled wryly, not really surprised and only slightly disappointed that Zuko and Mai had had sex before marriage; after all, Sokka and Suki had started sneaking into each other’s tents back when they were still fighting in the war, and those two still weren’t married! Sometimes she wondered if only Water Tribe girls lived by the rule of not having sex before marriage, and her brother was just taking advantage of Suki’s foreign customs as an excuse for behaving in a way that she was sure their Gran-Gran did not approve of.

Well, it didn’t matter in her case; if Aang brought the subject up she would tell him quite firmly that they would wait until after their wedding before going past hugs and kisses. It then occurred to her that once the subject came up, Aang might want to get married right away, since she at least was already of marrying age… But she pushed the thought back down in favor of more immediate concerns, such as today’s trip to the spa. She hadn’t told the spa staff that their party included royalty; should she have said that? Was Mai expecting even more pampering than the day spa staff was ready to provide?

She turned to ask Mai if she’d rather be incognito for the day, or get the royal treatment. But just as she opened her mouth, Mai stopped and stood stock still in the middle of the hallway. And her normally expressionless face reflected several emotions at once: Shock. Delight. Fear. And above all, embarrassment, coloring her normally bone-white face deep crimson.

Katara was so surprised at Mai showing any emotion at all in public, that for a moment she just gaped at her. Then she asked hesitantly, “Mai?”

Zuko had been a few steps ahead, joking with Sokka about the Earth Rumble they were going to go see, but now he hurried back to her side. “Mai? What’s wrong?”

Then Katara suddenly noticed a scent coming from under Mai’s clothing; a faint sweetish but musty scent that she’d smelled before, back in the Northern Water Tribe’s healing house. A very particular scent that she’d learned to associate with a very particular event… She reached out with her waterbending, and sensed the liquid running down legs under an opulent robe just as Mai said flatly, “My waters just broke.”

“Your what? Your… oh spirits, the baby!” Wide-eyed, Zuko grabbed at his hair. “The baby’s coming! The baby’s coming!”

Pandemonium broke out, with all the men flapping about like scared pig-chickens and squawking, “The baby’s coming! What do we do?!”

Katara rolled her eyes. Men! No, still boys! …And still girls, too, she admitted; Ty Lee was literally bouncing off the walls, in the same state of panic. Suki wasn’t flailing about like the others, but she was still just standing and staring. “What we do,” she said sharply, “is get ready for the baby!”

She began pointing and assigning roles. “Sokka! Aang! Go find Mai’s nurse and attendants. Ty Lee! Suki! Go find a maid and ask for fresh linens. We’ll need towels, soft blankets, and a new robe for Mai to wear. Toph, tell the Earth King and Queen what’s happening and that we’ll need a birthing chair, and that we’re taking over,” as she opened a door to the nearest room, looked inside and was satisfied to find it was empty, “this room right here. Zuko, Mai, c’mon inside.”

It was an empty all-purpose room; its cupboards were filled with low folding tables, dishes, and most useful at the moment, two futons rolled up with bedding. She pulled out a futon and spread it on the floor, then asked Mai to lay down on it.

Zuko helped Mai down to the futon and knelt beside her, the unscarred part of his face so drained of blood that it was white as rice paper. Katara said wryly, “Zuko, if you’re going to faint, just do it now and get it over with, okay?”

For a moment she thought he’d actually do it. Then he rallied, sitting up straighter and growling out, “I’m not the fainting type.”

“Glad to hear it. You’re one up on Sokka, then, when it comes to a birthing. And my dad, according to Gran-Gran,” she said cheerfully, as she knelt down at Mai’s feet. “Okay, let’s see how far along you are; if there’s been any dilation…”

Mai’s feet had been splayed a foot or so apart as she rested on the futon, propped up on her elbows, but now she abruptly clamped her feet and knees together while glaring at Katara, hissing, “No!”

Katara drew back in surprise. Then she said reassuringly, “It’s okay, Mai; I’m fully trained in midwifery. It was part of the master healer training I had at the North Pole.”

“How very nice for you,” Mai said flatly, that angry and embarrassed look having vanished from her face as quickly as it had appeared, her usual expressionless mask back in place. “But I’m not showing my nether regions to anyone but my nurse.”

“But Mai, I helped Gran-Gran deliver three children before meeting Aang, delivered one myself while we were on the way to Ba Sing Se, and was either assistant or lead midwife for another seven births—eight births, actually; one woman had twins—while I was training under Yugoda. If your nurse has only served noble and royal families, I’ve probably delivered more babies than she has!”

“You know we can trust her, darling,” Zuko said anxiously. “She saved my life, more than once!”

Mai’s expressionless mask slipped again, as she gave her husband a glare would have melted steel. “Zuko, I’ve put up with a lot, in this pregnancy. In addition to the morning sickness and the backaches and the swollen ankles and the stupid cravings and every other physical symptom that this child of yours has inflicted on me, I’ve let noblemen’s wives and Fire Sages and plenty of other people that have absolutely no damn business touching me, rub my belly like I’m their personal good-luck charm. And now that the end is in sight, but when I still have to look forward to several hours of hard labor and pain equivalent to passing a coconut, you want me to endure even more humiliation?”

Zuko swallowed hard, then turned to Katara with a very apologetic expression. “We’ll just wait for her nurse to get here, thanks.”

“Perfectly understandable,” Katara said with a smile to hide her embarrassment. “Besides, since this is your first birth, it’s apt to be a long time before a midwife is really needed. Have you had any real contractions yet?”

“Not yet; just an overall ache that I’ve been feeling all morning, and--” Mai’s voice abruptly cut off, and her eyes went wide. And the hand that Zuko was holding suddenly gripped him so hard that he gasped as her sharp fingernails drew blood.

“Contraction,” Katara said knowingly.

“Contraction,” Mai confirmed, when she could talk again.

“Ow,” Zuko added, rubbing his hand.

“If that was the first real contraction, there shouldn’t be another for at least twenty minutes,” Katara advised them both. “Well, since the first examination won’t be until the nurse is here, why not get back up and start walking around? That often helps a labor go faster.”

“Is there any way to stop the labor instead?” Zuko almost begged her, his face paling again as he remembered, “This is too early! Babies that are born too early usually don’t survive!”

“If he was really six weeks early, then yes, we’d be in serious trouble; the baby wouldn’t be developed enough to survive on his own. But three weeks premature is survivable,” Katara said reassuringly. Very deliberately not adding the word ‘generally’, though it still sat on the tip of her tongue. The master healers of the Northern Water Tribe had recorded information on thousands of newborn and premature-born children over the centuries, and concluded that by the thirty-seventh week of pregnancy, most babies’ internal organs were developed enough for survival outside the womb. Most, but not all… “And though there are herbs that could possibly stop her labor, we can’t use them now. Once the waters have broken, the baby has to be born within a day. Without the bag of waters surrounding it, for protection and healthy development…” Katara shook her head.

“But… but you’re a waterbender!” Zuko kept on, clearly grasping for straws. “Can’t you just—just bend more water up inside her?”

“Zuko!” Mai said sharply, as her mask slipped to show outrage and disgust again.

Katara shook her head. “It wouldn’t work; the bag of waters isn’t just water. There are other substances in it, special nutrients made by the mother’s body, that… Zuko, that wouldn’t work any more than I could keep alive a man bleeding to death by bending plain water into his veins. I’m sorry, but your baby has to be born today.”

“So now that we’ve established that, help me get up so I can walk around,” Mai growled, yanking on Zuko’s arm. “If that really helps the labor go faster, then the sooner this whole ordeal is over, the better.”

Zuko helped Mai up and they started walking around the room together; before they completed the second circuit, the door opened and the Earth King and Queen came in, carrying their infant son Qingshan and wide smiles. “Toph just told us the news; this is quite exciting!” Kuei said, while his wife added that she was having the royal birthing chair used for Qingshan’s birth brought out of storage, and a layette of diapers and newborn clothing made ready for them.

Right behind the Earth Kingdom royalty came Ty Lee and Suki, their arms piled high with enough fresh linens to stock a half-dozen bedrooms and washrooms. And right behind them came Sokka and Aang, the teens practically pushing three women in Fire Nation clothing into the room ahead of them as Aang said breathlessly, “We found Mai’s nurse and maids!”

Katara looked at the three women, picked the oldest one and asked, “You’re the nurse?’ When the woman hesitantly nodded, she informed her, “Mai’s water has broken and she has just had her first contraction. I’ve helped birth twelve children and I’m a water-healing master; I’ll be standing by in case complications arise during labor and delivery. But for now we’ll leave you to your patient,” as she directed Ty Lee and Suki to put the linens down next to the futon, then began herding her brother and friends out the door.

“Pardon me, your majesties,” Katara heard the nurse say hesitantly behind her as she left, “I would ask that my mistress and I be granted privacy for an examination.”

Queen Song said with amusement clear in her voice, “Here, Kuei, take Qingshan and the Fire Lord with you; you know there are no men allowed in a birthing room.”

Once they were all out in the hallway, including Zuko and Kuei with his babbling baby boy, everyone stood around blinking and giving each other wordless looks of what do we do now? Katara took the opportunity to tickle little Qingshan and make him laugh—such an adorable baby!—but she kept her eyes on the door, waiting…

And sure enough, less than a minute later Song came out with a frown, grumbling not quite under her breath, “Hmph! Help birth at least a dozen children back home, but let someone put a tiara on your head and suddenly you’re not a healer anymore…”

“Mai kicked me out too, and she knows I’m a master water-healer,” Katara commiserated with her. “She just doesn’t want anyone besides her nurse touching her right now.”

“Mai is a very private person,” Zuko explained with a faint blush. “Back home, all her personal servants were--” He cut himself off as his face went from the faint blush to even paler than normal. “Oh, no…”

“What’s wrong?” Aang asked.

Zuko turned to bolt back into the room as he blurted out, “We’ve got to get out of here—back down to the ship!”

Katara grabbed him by the shoulders, bracing herself to hold him back as she said sternly, “Oh, no you’re not! You do not drag women in labor all the way through Ba Sing Se!”

“You don’t understand!” Zuko said desperately. “We can’t stay here; the baby won’t be legitimate!”

“What do you mean, not legitimate? We were all there for your wedding!” Sokka pointed out. “And that was long before anyone knew she was expecting. So the kid’s coming a little early; no one’s going to doubt he’s yours!”

“Not just legitimately mine; legitimately the heir to the throne!” Zuko was looking downright panicked now. “The Fire Lord must be born on Fire Nation soil!”

“Oh… that is a problem,” Sokka agreed with dismay.

“If I can get her down to the ship, and the ship out to sea before the baby is born, then it’ll be okay; in international waters, a Fire Nation ship can serve as Fire Nation soil!” as Zuko made for the door again, and this time Katara didn’t try to stop him. But he slumped over with his hand on the doorknob, saying in despair, “But most of the crew will be on shore leave today, and the engines are cold; they’re not scheduled to start the boilers until tomorrow morning. Even if we send word ahead of us, and pull out with just the skeleton crew always left aboard, it would take at least eight hours get from right here out to international waters…”

“And while first births usually take most of a day, there’s no guarantee; baby Hope was born in only three hours. So we need another solution,” Katara said firmly.

“I’ve got an idea!” Sokka said, brightening as he turned to Kuei. “Your Majesty, you still owe us a big favor for exposing Long Feng’s treachery, and helping you escape Azula later, right? Well, I’m calling that favor in now. We need the floor plans to the palace, a mapmaker and a scribe who’s good at writing official-ese. And Aang, we’re going to need some Fire Nation banners and stuff from Zuko’s ship…”

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Down at the Jasmine Dragon, Iroh was just pouring the first batch of jasmine tea brewed for the day into cups for the waiting customers, when there was a commotion outside; from the exclamations of the customers and the growing rumbling sounds, someone was earthbending their way right up to the steps. He straightened up with a frown, just as Toph burst in with a happy shout of, “Hey, Uncle! Take off the apron, old Dragon; it’s time to be a grandpa!”

His heart pounding, Iroh tore off his apron and tossed it at his brewing assistant, and ran out to the customer area. “Mai’s having the baby? Right now?!”

“Yup. Come on, I’ll give you a lift to the palace!”

Out in the street, as he climbed aboard the stone sledge that Toph must have ridden down from the palace, Iroh said anxiously, “Are you quite sure this isn’t false labor? I have heard of women having occasional contractions weeks before the actual birth.”

“Pretty sure,” Toph said as she took an earthbending stance and the sledge began sliding uphill, picking up speed as they went. “I didn’t stick around for Katara’s official diagnosis, just came here to get you after letting Kuei and Song know. But Mai’s water broke, and that means the baby’s on the way, right?”

“It does indeed,” as Iroh fretfully combed his fingers through his beard. “Oh dear…”

Toph said reassuringly as the buildings started whizzing past, “I know why your heart’s pounding so hard right now, but relax; the baby’s not really too early to survive. Just before it happened, Zuko confided that they actually started sneaking around before the wedding; the baby’s really only three weeks early. My mom said once that I was three weeks premature, and I turned out okay.”

Except for being born blind, Iroh thought to himself, but knew better than to ever say out loud. Instead, he said, “Zuko was also born early. But he very nearly did not survive; he was so small and weak that the physicians on hand actually told his parents to prepare for a funeral instead. Every birth is different, Toph.”

“Yeah, but this kid’s got an advantage neither Zuko nor I had; a master water-healer for a midwife! Katara didn’t spend over a year training up at the North Pole for nothing,” Toph reminded him. Iroh admitted that was a very good point, and he was somewhat reassured as they went gliding up through the city, and right through the gate into the Palace Ring with a friendly wave to the guards as Toph sailed past them.

When they reached the palace, Toph led him to straight to the guest wing. But just as they reached the room that Toph had said Katara had taken over for the birthing room, the Fire Nation guard now posted outside told them, “The Fire Lord is now down at the end of the wing; please follow the guard,” as he pointed down the hall to the intersection, where another guard was standing and giving them a beckoning wave.

They hurried down the hall, turning in the direction the guard pointed, and reached the suite at the very end of the guest wing in time to see Zuko, Sokka and Kuei all crowding to look over the shoulders of a very harried-looking scribe working at a table, while Suki, Katara, Ty Lee, Queen Song and a few more Fire Nation guards and servants all lined the walls and looked on in various stages of amusement and bemusement. “What is going on here?” Iroh asked.

“Just making sure the baby’s legitimate in the royal sense,” Katara said with a smile.

Ty Lee said happily, “Zuko’s about to conquer some Earth Kingdom territory!”

“…Whah?”

Gaping in utter shock, Iroh could only watch as Sokka pointed to the parchment the scribe was working on and said, “Does that look official enough to you?” And when Zuko and Kuei both nodded, he shooed the scribe away from the table, lifting the parchment away and blowing on it to dry the ink faster, then handed it to Katara while Zuko grabbed a second chair and pushed it up to the table. Zuko and Kuei both sat down opposite each other, and put their right arms forward with elbows on the table; Sokka positioned their hands around each other while saying, “Now let’s have a nice clean match—and I mean it, Kuei; you gotta make him work for it… Ready? Go!”

At the signal, Kuei and Zuko started arm-wrestling. And while the tension in Kuei’s arm and in his face showed the effort he was putting into it, he was no match for a warrior who had trained in both firebending and swordsmanship for years; in mere seconds, Zuko had his opponent’s hand pinned to the table. The Fire Nation natives in the room all cheered and applauded while Sokka shouted, “And the Fire Lord is Da Winnah! Okay, Zuko, do your proclaiming thing!”

Getting up from the table, Zuko hurried over to where his personal valets were waiting; they quickly put his robes of office on over his casual tunic and set the Fire Crown in his topknot, while guards hauled the table and chairs off to one side of the room. Once he was dressed as a ruler, he strode back to the center of the bedroom and proclaimed in a loud voice but with an embarrassed grin, “I hereby claim this conquered land—I mean, this conquered room and only this room—for the Fire Nation!”

The room spontaneously erupted in cheers again, the guards and servants shouting “All hail the Fire Lord!”

“Ta-Daah! It’s Fire Nation soil!” Sokka said with an expansive gesture. “Now you sign the parchment making it all official for the Fire Sages back home, we move Mai in here before the birth, and nobody can make any complaints about the baby not being a legitimate heir!”

Iroh found himself sinking to the floor, utterly overcome with giggles. He’d once besieged Ba Sing Se for six hundred days, trying to conquer it and win the city by force of arms—and Zuko had just conquered territory at the very heart of the capital, by literal force of arms! If the spirits truly feast on irony, then this morning they must be enjoying a fine breakfast indeed…

As Zuko signed the parchment, he reassured the Earth King and Queen, “I’ll deed the room back to you exactly one year after the baby is officially confirmed my heir by the Fire Sages and the court back home; you’ll have it back even before you get the colonies’ land back, I promise!”

“I’ll hold you to that promise,” Kuei said with a wry look. “But even with that assurance, my own court is going to scream loud enough to wake the dead when they hear about this.”

“Better we lose a room of the palace for a few years, then we risk civil unrest in a finally peaceful Fire Nation over questions of succession,” Song said soothingly. “This place has always had more rooms than we could ever use anyway.”

Iroh took a look at the parchment after Zuko signed it, and was bemused to read that it detailed not just the precise map coordinates of the room but its exact dimensions as well; it was the smallest and most precise conquest of foreign soil in Fire Nation history. He tried to imagine how Fire Lord Zuko’s conquest would be written up in the history textbooks for the schoolchildren, and nearly broke into giggles again. It was just too good; he’d simply have to demand the privilege of writing that chapter himself…

After the ‘conquest’, Queen Song suggested they all have a late breakfast while waiting for Aang to return from Zuko’s yacht, the Chihei, with Fire Nation banners and decor for the new birthing room before Mai was moved into it. Iroh had enjoyed an early breakfast before opening his tea shop that morning, but he saw nothing wrong with enjoying a second breakfast; the palace always provided an excellent spread. Zuko, however, had to be nearly pried away from the door to the current birthing room and dragged to the dining room; his satisfaction at being able to do something for his child’s benefit had turned within minutes into raw anxiety again.

Just as they were finishing breakfast, Aang flew back up from the harbor with a large bundle full of red, black and gold decor strapped to his chest. While handing the bundle to Zuko’s guards and servants so they could decorate the new birthing room, Aang told everyone that the skeleton crew aboard the ship had been breaking out a barrel of wine as he left, to celebrate both the impending birth and Zuko’s decision to conquer some Fire Nation territory for his wife and child; “Just like his ancestors did,” Aang concluded with a painfully wry smile as he picked up his chopsticks. “They were so tickled pink about it, I didn’t have the heart to tell them that it was all Sokka’s idea and that it’s only temporary.”

It took only a few minutes for the room to be suitably decorated. Once it was ready, Mai was moved into it with her nurse and attendants, Zuko anxiously escorting his wife every step of the way. Trailing the party, Iroh heard Katara asking the nurse, “How is she doing? Any dilation yet? And how far apart are the contractions?”

“Dilation has begun, but the contractions are still over 12 minutes apart. She is progressing more rapidly than most first-time mothers, but the child will likely not be born for hours yet,” the nurse said calmly, while carrying the bag that presumably held all her midwifery supplies, and the other attendants carried the birthing chair between them. “I assure you, Master Katara, if severe complications arise during the delivery you will be called upon. But at the moment, you would best serve the Fire Lady by keeping all other people out from underfoot,” as the nurse very deliberately did not look in her Fire Lord’s direction.

Katara didn’t have that restraint; she smiled wryly while looking over at Zuko and confided, “I’ll do my best, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do more than keep him outside the bedroom door. No chance of getting him to go do something productive, let alone anything fun to distract him, when he’s got the father-to-be jitters this bad.” Overhearing, Zuko gave Katara an annoyed glare but said nothing to contradict her.

“Well, somebody needs to do something productive, and find a good wet-nurse for the baby,” Mai announced as they walked. “One who will be willing to come back with us to the Fire Nation when we’re safe to travel again, and stay for at least a few weeks more until I’ve found a good and trustworthy replacement for her.”

“I’ll find you one, right away!” Zuko promised anxiously.

Mai shook her head. “Zuko, I love you dearly, and I wouldn’t trust you to hire my pedicurist, let alone a wet-nurse. You are a great Fire Lord and magnificent warrior, and you are hopeless about women’s affairs. Ask Queen Song to do it; she’s local, and if she really was a village healer then she’s probably worked with wet-nurses before.” Iroh was sure he heard Katara trying to suppress snickering, as Zuko shamefacedly agreed that Queen Song would probably do a better job than he could.

Then Mai gave her husband a small smile and gentle touch to his shoulder, all the affection she ever allowed herself to show in public, as she told him, “But there is something else you can do for me; find me something new to read while we’re all waiting for this baby to come out. The Earth King’s library is supposedly big enough for him to get lost in; see if he has any new stories about Jù Shìnǚ the Warrior Queen…”

The new ‘conquered land’ was now decorated with Fire Nation wall hangings and paintings, and even a few small statues placed here and there; Iroh was willing to bet most of them had come from the royal couple’s quarters aboard the ship, with perhaps a few items from the captain’s quarters as well. All in all, it looked quite suitable for birthing the royal heir in, Iroh thought with satisfaction as he looked around. Mai gave Zuko another small smile as she said, “It’s so sweet of you, to conquer a little territory just for me and the baby.”

Zuko kissed her hand as he joked, “Wait till you see what I’ve got planned for our anniversary.” Then he regretfully let her go, as the nurse politely but firmly urged the men and Katara to go back out to the parlor/waiting room.

Mai’s attendants followed them out into the parlor, bearing three waterskins and a teapot; the two maids bowed and humbly requested that one of the firebenders present heat the water for them. In the Fire Nation, heating waterskins for use in easing the pain of contractions is traditionally one of the few ways a firebending father is allowed to assist in a birth, so Zuko gladly accepted the duty. But while his nephew heated the waterskins, Iroh insisted on heating the teapot himself. While heating the water, he asked the maid out of idle curiosity, “What sort of tea are you making?”

“Most esteemed General, I regret to say I do not know the exact ingredients,” the attendant said with a bow. “Nurse Mamushi has with her a particular blend that she says midwives often use to ease the pain of contractions.”

“I imagine it contains jasmine; jasmine tea is very calming,” Iroh said with a smile as he set the now steaming teapot onto the tray next to the hot waterskins. Which was an excellent idea; after the attendants went back into the birthing room, he went down to the palace kitchen to brew some jasmine tea for himself and the waiting youngsters.

Heading back to the birthing room with a tea tray in his hands, he spotted Zuko in the hallway, and had to fight down a grin at the sight. The young Fire Lord was clearly on his way back from raiding the Earth King’s library; he had so many scrolls piled in his arms he could barely see over them. Mai would indeed have some new reading material to enjoy during her labor…

As the hours marched on and morning turned to mid-day, Katara urged Suki, Toph and Ty Lee to go have fun without her, and Zuko urged Sokka and Aang to do the same. But since Zuko and Katara were staying near Mai, the others found that they really didn’t want to get too far away from the main event. Instead, at Iroh’s suggestion, they had pai sho boards and decks of cards brought into the parlor of the guest suite, and started a small tourney of games.

Toph had her special-made pai sho board and tiles brought over from the New Dai Li headquarters; the one Bumi had given her as a present when she’d been initiated into the White Lotus Society. The board and all the tiles were made of stone, and the tiles had their symbols painted on top and carved on the underside, so Toph could tell by the way they felt in contact with the board which tile was where. Over the last eighteen months, nearly all the members of Team Avatar had learned how to play pai sho, with skill levels ranging from novice (Toph) to near-master (Sokka; the unorthodox plays he came up with could stump even Iroh occasionally.) All except Katara; she looked a little helplessly at the boards being set up all around and finally confessed, “I have no idea how to play! I was too busy to learn any new games while I was training to be a master healer.”

“I’ll teach you, Katara!” Aang said with a grin as he waved her over to a board. “It’s easy; Monk Gyatso started teaching me to play when I was six!”

Proclaiming that she’d played too many games with Sokka over the last eighteen months and she wanted a new opponent, Suki paired off with Ty Lee while Sokka played Toph. Iroh sat down at the fourth board and gestured for Zuko to take the opposite chair, but he just shook his head and began pacing around the room for the umpteenth time. Iroh coaxed, “Come now, Zuko; you once told me that you and Mai often play pai sho in the evenings, so surely you’ve gained a little skill since our shipboard days?”

“Maybe I have, but how can you expect me to play now?” as Zuko gestured towards the closed door to the bedroom/birthing room with a harried expression.

He blinked up at his nephew with a perfectly innocent expression. “You mean, you’re just ceding the game to me without even trying?” The words were unsaid, but still echoed between them: giving up without a fight?

Zuko’s eyes hardened, and he sat down in the other chair. Iroh beamed as he proclaimed, “Youngest has the first move.”

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

In the early afternoon, a messenger hawk flew up from the harbor to inform the Fire Lord that two Water Tribe ships had docked next to Zuko’s yacht with their holds full of trade goods, and that Chief Hakoda had just boarded the express railway to the palace to visit with his fellow heads of state, and his family.

Katara, Sokka and Suki all hurried down to the railway terminal just outside the Palace Ring’s gate, and arrived just a few minutes before the train did. “Dad!” Sokka shouted happily as he saw their father. “Good to see you again!” as they ran up to him for a round of hugs.

“It’s wonderful to see you all again!” Hakoda agreed as he tried to wrap his arms around all of them at once, then hugged his children separately. He pushed Sokka back at arms’ length to look him up and down, and grinned. “You’re finally filling out that lanky frame… and beginning a beard, I see! It looks good on you, son.” Then he turned to Katara, regarding her tenderly. “And you’ve grown as well; more beautiful than ever, looking more and more like your mother every day… She would be so proud of you both.” Then he turned to Suki. “And my favorite Kyoshi Warrior! It’s good to see you, too. So, have you made an honest man out of my son yet?”

Both Suki and Sokka blushed hot red and looked away uneasily. “We’re, ah, still discussing that,” Sokka mumbled. Everyone present knew that ‘discussing’ meant arguing; the couple had nearly broken up twice already, despite loving each other as much as the legendary Oma and Shu, because despite that love, neither one was willing to budge yet on where they wanted to settle down and spend the rest of their days.

Hakoda looked disappointed for a moment, but quickly covered it up with a smile. “Well, you’re still young yet; there’s plenty of time! Just don’t take as long at it as your grandmother and Pakku did. They send their greetings, by the way. So, I heard on the way up here that the treaty was signed yesterday; how was the reunion and ‘un-birthday’ party afterwards? Your letters said you’d have it that same day if you could.”

“Yeah, we did, and it’s too bad you missed it; it was great!” Sokka said cheerfully as they walked together through the Palace Ring’s gate, the guards giving them respectful nods as they passed. “But you’re just in time for something else even more important! Mai went into labor a few hours ago!”

“Fire Lady Mai? She’s here, and having the baby?” Hakoda grinned from ear to ear. “That’s wonderful news! Well, let’s move a little faster, then,” as he broke into a ground-eating stride. “I know first children take a long time to be born, but I’m sure Master Healer Katara,” as he gave her an extra-proud smile, “would like to get back to her patient as soon as possible.”

His family kept up with him easily, but Katara said ruefully as she trotted beside her father, “She’s not my patient, Dad. I offered to be her midwife, but she brought her own nurse, and she’s dead-set against anyone but her nurse and attendants helping her with the birth.”

Hakoda frowned. “Refusing the services of a master water-healer, at the birth of a royal heir? I’ve never really understood that young lady, but I thought she had more sense than that.”

“It’s a privacy issue,” Katara said, finding herself oddly defending Mai’s position. “Mai’s always been a really private person; she doesn’t like to be touched at all, except by Zuko. From what she said earlier, the worst part about her pregnancy has been all the people touching her, to feel and welcome the baby… But Zuko did ask me to stay nearby in case something goes wrong. He’s really worried; his uncle’s practically sitting on him to keep him from pacing back and forth until he wears a groove in the floor.”

“First-time fatherhood is always worrying,” Hakoda said with a reminiscent nod. He looked over at Sokka with a wry smile as he continued, “While waiting for you to come out of your mother, I paced around outside our home so often I really did wear a groove in the ice, one that stayed until we moved the hut. Bato used to tease us about having our own moat.”

“Well, Zuko’s got better reason to be worried than most; the baby’s coming a few weeks early. But the Earth Queen is sending out for an experienced wet-nurse, and once the baby is here, I’m going to give him a thorough water-healing with warm bathwater to make sure he’s healthy,” Katara said with determination. Mai certainly wouldn’t object to that, and even if she did, Zuko would probably insist on it; Zuko had good sense.

She noticed she was starting to fall behind the others, with her shorter stride going up the hill, at the same time her father did. Hakoda started to slow down for her, but she waved away his concern with one hand, while using the other to bend some water out of a nearby well. She flung a narrow path of water down in front of her, froze it into ice and then skated up the ice path to actually pull ahead of the others, to her father’s surprise and amusement. They broke into a jog to keep up with her, and together they reached the palace in minutes.

Once they were inside, a harried-looking servant met Hakoda with a deep bow and an offer to announce him, but Toph suddenly appeared next to the servant with a wry smile. “Hi, Papa Wolf! Welcome to Ba Sing Se! Snoozles, can you and Fan Girl show your dad where he’ll be staying? It should be two doors down from your room. Glad you’re back so fast, Sugar Queen; Sparky’s heartbeat started spiking the minute you walked out of the room, out of fear that something horrible would happen while you were gone. Go be his security blankie again, wouldja?”

Katara chuckled and hurried through the halls to where everyone else was waiting, tossing back over her shoulder, “I’ll see you after you’re unpacked and settled in, Dad! Oh, did you bring the talisman with you? Zuko will probably be happy to have a little extra protection today!”

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Hakoda came into the waiting room half an hour after arrival, walking in with Kuei and Song; Toph would have known the latter two just by their gaits, without the flock of attendants that always swirled around Kuei from sunup to sundown.

Toph smiled, thinking to herself that Hakoda was lucky he’d arrived when he did; normally there was such a long stupid protocol about meeting the Earth King that even a foreign ruler like Hakoda wouldn’t have been able to see him until at least tomorrow. But the Fire Nation childbirth—and Zuko ‘conquering’ a room in the royal palace—had thrown everybody into such a tizzy that the majordomo Yán Jùn, who normally governed palace life with an iron fist, had gone back to bed with a migraine four hours ago, swearing that even Bosco had never caused this much trouble.

Toph had almost cheered when she’d heard that news, the first time she’d left the waiting room to get a quick status report from one of her lieutenants and the captain of the palace guard. She wasn’t the only one who, while admitting Yán Jùn was incredibly good at keeping everything running smoothly—no mean feat, in a palace with a big greedy bear running rampant in it—privately wished the uptight bastard would either loosen up, or take a vacation once in a while so everyone else could loosen up.

Everyone’s schedule for the day had already been disrupted by a royal birth taking place in the palace. Now without Yán Jùn’s near-ubiquitous presence or his frostily polite voice always reminding everyone of their proper place in the universe, Kuei had cancelled all his meetings and appointments and was taking gleeful advantage of the opportunity to act like his pet bear and do whatever he pleased, royal protocol be damned.

When told of the Earth King’s antics, Toph and the captain of the palace guards had just shrugged at each other, and quietly told their people to just make sure nobody outright attacked the royal family. Then everyone came down with a sudden case of blindness concerning Kuei playing catch-seven-pieces on the floor of the throne room, taking little Qingshan for rides on Bosco, and dancing an old peasant jig with Song in the hallways.

Kuei and Song both had elevated heartbeats; she had a hunch that they were blushing ‘bright pink’, whatever that was. Toph wondered what hijinks the royal couple had been up to when the Water Tribe chief had run into them, remembered the palace layout and what lay between Hakoda’s guest suite and the birthing room, and grinned to herself as she thought, Bet he caught them whooping it up and sliding down the banister in the third stairwell. Either that or they were making out in the alcove under the stairs; hellooo, international embarrassment…

After a round of greetings for everyone, Papa Wolf held up something in his left hand and said, “I brought a gift for the Fire Lady, from my mother-in-law Kanna, the matriarch of the Southern Water Tribe. A talisman to help ensure a trouble-free birth; it is normally placed directly to the left of the birthing chair before labor has begun, but…”

“I can take it in there for you,” Sweetness offered cheerfully.

“Um, it’d be better to call one of the attendants out here and tell her where to put it,” Sparky said apologetically. “It’s not just about anyone but her attendants seeing her unclothed; Mai really hates it for anyone to see her looking less than perfect at any time. If you went in and got a good look at her now, in the middle of labor, well… we didn’t take her knives away…”

Sweetness’ heartbeat skipped a little as she got the idea. But Toph had just lost to Snoozles’ crazy pai sho strategies for the fourth time in a row, and since today wasn’t a good day for pitching him out the nearest window, she decided to give herself another break from playing. “Hey, blind girl here,” she volunteered as she walked up to Papa Wolf. “I’ve never seen what Gloomy looks like anyway; she could be sweating like a cow-pig with her hair sticking every which way and it won’t matter to me.” Sparky made a strangled noise, but she ignored it as she held her hand out to Papa Wolf, and he put something in her hand that was made of fur and bone tied together with sinew.

Talisman in hand, Toph opened the door and marched into the birthing room, saying cheerfully, “Blind girl coming in!” She immediately picked up the spikes in the heartbeats of everyone in the room, but she continued, “Don’t mind me, I can’t see how anyone looks and I wouldn’t care if I did; I’m just putting a good-luck talisman by the birthing chair. Chief Hakoda’s outside and sends his well-wishes, by the way. How ya doin’, Mai?”

“I’m in labor,” Gloomy said lethargically from where she was standing, braced on either side by her attendants; evidently pausing on another circuit around the room. “The nurse says it shouldn’t be much longer, but I’ve been in labor for hours already, and I’m sick and tired of it. How long is it going to take for this brat to be born?”

Toph frowned, listening to Gloomy’s heartbeat as she spoke. It took real effort to focus hard and fine enough to listen to people’s heartbeats in two different rooms, so before now Toph had just contented herself with just noting when Mai and her servants were walking around, sitting down, getting back up and whatnot. But now that she was close enough to get an earful, Mai’s heartbeat seemed… slower than usual… Toph knew basically nothing about giving birth except that it hurt like hell and was something she planned to avoid forever if at all possible, but even so she was pretty sure that something was not right.

So she set the talisman down where Hakoda had said it should go, then turned to the nurse and said, “Hey, the Fire Lord’s getting anxious out there; how about you come on out and give him a progress report?”

The nurse’s heartbeat spiked; then she gestured to one of the attendants as she said, “Of course; Miren, please inform the Fire Lord of how his lady wife is faring.”

Spirits, no! Nonono, please let her gut instincts be wrong this time… Fighting to keep her voice level and her fists from clenching, Toph said mildly, “I’m sure the Fire Lord would rather get the news straight from the expert in childbirth.”

Gloomy said tiredly, “Mamushi, if this kid’s not going to be born in the next five minutes, go out there and reassure my hotheaded husband, before the idiot tries to come in here and ask for himself.”

Mamushi’s heartbeat jumped again. It took all the self-control Toph had learned over years of being her parents’ ‘fragile little flower’ to not react now, but she managed to restrain herself and keep a spirit-damned polite smile on her face as she gestured ever-so-kindly for the nurse to accompany her out of the room, then very carefully shut the door behind her.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

While Toph was in the birthing room, Sokka looked over at Suki and Ty Lee’s game and hoped Suki won quickly, before Toph came back out, so they could switch opponents. Playing pai sho with Toph was making him nervous. He didn’t dare hold back on her, because he just knew that weird earthbending sense of hers would somehow tell her if he did, and Toph hated it when people babied her in any way; she’d pitch him out the nearest window just on general principles. But since he wasn’t holding back he’d won the last four games in a row, which was irritating her, and an irritated Toph usually meant a badly bruised Sokka sooner or later…

Just then Toph came back out, bringing the nurse with her. Hey, news of what was going on with Mai! Sokka sat up expectantly, along with everyone else in the room, as Toph turned to the nurse and said with a polite smile, “So, will you please tell everyone how Mai and the baby are doing?”

The alarm gong in his head instantly started going off, but it took a second for Sokka to figure out why: Toph was being polite. But just as he realized that, the nurse said with a bow in Zuko’s direction, “Fire Lady Mai’s condition is progressing as expected.”

But that wasn’t enough information for either Zuko, Katara or Queen Song; they all started babbling questions at the same time, which resulted in a jumble that nobody could understand at all. “One at a time, please,” Toph said sweetly to the entire room. “Perhaps the Master Healer Katara should go first?”

Katara’s eyes widened a little before narrowing; yep, she’d noticed it too. She stood up from her game with Aang to stalk over to the nurse as she asked, “How far apart are the contractions now?”

The nurse stiffened, possibly in outrage at being questioned so, but kept her face blank as she replied evenly, “Roughly six minutes apart.”

“How far has dilation progressed?”

“She is very near fully dilated; I estimate thirty bu in diameter.” (bu = old Japanese unit of measure, 0.3 cm)

“And how is Mai feeling?”

“The esteemed Fire Lady greatly desires for the birthing to be over and done with.”

Katara glanced at Toph, who gave a tiny nod, then back to the nurse as she said with a dangerously syrupy sweetness, “That’s very nice to hear. So, do you consider Mai to be in very good health for a woman at this stage of labor?”

“Yes.”

Toph scowled and shifted her stance, and instantly a column of marble shot up from the floor to envelop the nurse from neck to toes as she said only one word: “Lying.”

That brought everyone to their feet, faces paling in shock or flushing in outrage. Zuko leaped forward, shoving Katara out of the way to face the nurse as he brought smoldering fists up and demanded, “What did you do to Mai?!” Katara didn’t bother waiting for the answer; she yanked open the door to the birthing room and dashed inside, already pulling water out of her waterskin.

The nurse paled at Zuko’s glare and the proximity of fire to her face, but tried to keep her cool; she stammered, “My lord, is this proper treatment for a loyal servant?!”

“Answer me!”

“My lord…” the nurse’s eyes darted away from him to see everyone else as they started surrounding her, and she must have realized the jig was up; she looked Zuko right in the eye and her features twisted with an ugly smirk as she said, “I poisoned her.”

“NO!” and Zuko was running through the door after Katara. Not two seconds later, the other birth attendants came flying out of the birthing room, shrieking in terror as they were chased out by blasts of fire.

The two attendants practically ran right into Suki’s fists and Ty Lee’s jabs, and were out cold on the floor even before Toph could demand, “Were those two in on it?” When the nurse said that they were not, the two Kyoshi Warriors traded embarrassed looks, then shrugged an apology to everyone and started dragging the limp forms off to one side.

“Which poison did you use?” Queen Song said anxiously. “And where can we find the antidote?”

The nurse gave them all a look of cool disdain. “There is no antidote for Widow’s Broth. And it was administered hours ago; far too late to try to get it back out of her.”

Iroh’s face went as gray as his beard. “The tea, she poisoned the tea… Spirits, I heated the water for that tea…!”

Song turned to one of the palace servants nearby and snapped, “Fetch Mung and his herbs, now!” She turned to Kuei and asked urgently, “Widow’s Broth?”

“If there’s a scroll for it, I’ll find it,” Kuei said as he dashed out the door after the servant.

Then Song yanked off her outer robe and her tiara, and tossed them both at the nearest servant, who caught them even as he asked in bewilderment, “Your majesty?”

“Her Majesty the Earth Queen is out for the day,” Song said grimly as she headed into the birthing room. “Right now, Song the village healer should be a lot more useful…”

Over the last couple of years Sokka had learned that stuff for props in a role weren’t nearly as important as the attitude. He mentally put on his Inspector hat, then planted himself in front of the traitorous nurse and growled, “You knew what you planned was treasonous, and you knew you’d be put to death if you were caught. So what would you have to gain from killing the Fire Lady, that’s important enough to risk your own death? Were you hired to do this? Who put you up to this?!”

Even buried up to her neck in marble, the nurse managed a defiant look. “I’ll tell you nothing!”

“On the contrary.” Iroh said levelly. “You will tell me everything. You will talk, until I am utterly satisfied that I have wrung every scrap of knowledge out of your mind. Only then will your suffering end.”

Suffering? Startled, Sokka looked back at Iroh…

And swallowed hard. The first time he’d seen Zuko’s uncle, he’d seen Iroh as just an ordinary elder, chaperoning a hotheaded youngster to keep him from doing anything too crazy; basically harmless. Even some time later, seeing with his own eyes that Iroh was a firebender just changed that impression from basically harmless to usually harmless. Yeah, he’d heard a few stories about when Iroh had been a general in the Fire Nation Army, but that had been years ago; now he was just Uncle Iroh…

But today, he saw. There was a man who didn’t need any props at all. That wasn’t harmless Uncle Iroh standing there; that was The Dragon of the West. And the Dragon was very, very angry.

People who have brains in their heads don’t try to push back a tsunami wave that’s roaring in; they just scramble to get out of the way before it hits. Which is why Sokka said nothing, and probably why Toph, though looking grim, didn’t protest either. She just directed the palace guards to drag the encased nurse out of the room, to wherever Iroh wanted her taken.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Mai’s mother had told her that giving birth was one of the worst pains she’d ever endure, but that as a noblewoman of the Fire Nation, she would endure it in near-silence and not dishonor her ancestors with anything so undignified as crying or screaming. The one good thing about all those years of living as her parents’ pretty doll-daughter, and putting up with Azula’s casual cruelties without saying a word, was that Mai was quite confident she could endure the upcoming pain without screaming. But so far, giving birth wasn’t really all that painful; just boring, and exhausting.

Zuko had brought her twenty-four story scrolls, but so far she’d read less than half of them; just as she started really getting into a scroll, the nurse would interrupt her reading and tell her it was time to get up and walk around again. She’d lost count of how many little walks around the room she’d taken, but was pretty sure it was over a hundred full circuits now.

The walking was apparently speeding things up a lot; one of the attendants said her labor was progressing at least three times faster than Lady Hiromi’s first child, which had taken over twenty hours to be born. Mai was glad, because she sincerely doubted she could handle twenty hours of this. Between the frequent getting up and walking, and the contractions gripping her torso on a regular basis, she was just so tired…

Then, just a few minutes after Toph’s visit and her sending the nurse out to reassure her worrywart husband, the door was abruptly yanked open and Katara came running in with a water whip at the ready, shouting, “Get away from her!”

The attendants flanking Mai on her hundred-and-umpteenth circuit both started, and as good servants are trained to do, automatically stepped between Mai and the intruder. But she didn’t have time to tell them that in this case they should have ignored their training; the water whip flashed out twice in rapid succession, and the attendants were knocked north and south while Katara came running up to grab her arm and ask fearfully, “What are your symptoms?”

Mai could only stop and stare at her. “…What the hells?” But Katara was already yanking on her arm to urge her over to the birthing chair, and the water was now gloving Katara’s left hand and glowing bright blue.

Just as she was sitting down in the birthing chair, and just as her attendants started getting back to their feet, Zuko burst in screaming her name, his eyes wild and fists aflame. The attendants started to drop into kowtows, but when the Fire Lord sent warning blasts in their direction they changed their minds and just ran shrieking out of the room.

Zuko fell to his knees beside the chair, clutching desperately for her as he burst into tears. Mai took in her husband’s behavior, the frantic look in Katara’s eyes as she ran the blue glowing water over her body, then put the pieces together and swore a very unladylike curse as she sank back against the pillows. “Let me guess; I’ve been poisoned.”

Zuko just nodded jerkily, unable to speak through his sobs.

“What’d they use?”

“We don’t know what they used yet; I came in as soon as we figured out something was wrong,” Katara said tersely. “Whatever they used, it’s slowed down your heartbeat…”

Then Queen Song came barging in through the still open door, dressed scandalously in just an under-robe and with her hair mussed. “The nurse said it’s called Widow’s Broth,” she said as she nearly skidded to a halt beside the birthing chair. “Kuei’s checking our library for information on it now. And it may be too late for an emetic to work, but I’ve sent for some anyway, and purgatives… Is she showing any symptoms?”

Katara looked at Song worriedly as she reported, “Her heartbeat’s a lot slower than it should be for a woman in labor, and… I think her kidneys are shutting down…”

Zuko went white as a funeral sheet, whispering, “The baby?”

“I…I’m picking up his heartbeat too, but he’s not kicking…”

Mai sighed. “It was in the tea, right? That’s all I’ve had since my labor started.” And the first cup had been drunk hours ago… Why hadn’t she insisted the nurse drink some too, just like they had all their food tested back home?

She felt like screaming. In anger that the assassins had gotten through their defenses at last, in fear of death and what lay beyond, in grief at the loss of all the years she and Zuko and their child could have had together…

But she was a noble daughter of the Fire Nation to the very end. She would not scream. Instead, she calmly told them all, “Another symptom is probably general exhaustion. I’m very tired…”

“Fight it, Mai!” Zuko begged her. “You’ve got to fight it! You can’t leave me, I need you, I can’t lose you!”

Mai was vaguely aware of other people beginning to cluster in the open doorway, but she ignored them to focus on her husband as she reached up to touch his cheek. “Of course I’ll fight it; I’m in no hurry to die any time soon. But if it happens anyway… don’t do anything stupid, Zuko. Promise me that.” They both knew what she meant; no following her into the spirit world, whether by suicide, being deliberately careless in deadly intrigues or going on a crazy quest like his uncle had done years ago. She’d told him months ago that if she did die and he pulled anything like that to follow her, her spirit would kick his straight into Koh’s Lair for disobeying her and leaving their country in the lurch.

He held her hand to his face, kissing the palm as he wept. “Oh Agni, Mai, I can’t lose you…”

She sighed. “Zuko, it’s not like we didn’t know this was going to happen sooner or later. There’ve been, what, seventeen attempts to kill one or both of us since we got married; eventually, they were bound to pull something we couldn’t block or dodge in time.” On her other side, Katara reeled back in shock at what she was saying, but she barely noticed. “Promise me, Zuko. If I don’t make it, you won’t do anything stupid. Our people need you on the throne.”

Then another contraction gripped her; when it passed, she found herself squeezing Zuko’s cheeks until he was making a fish-face. It looked silly, but at least it had stopped his crying for a minute. She stopped squeezing and gave his cheek another pat, then said firmly, “In the meantime, there’s still a baby to push out of me. So give me a kiss, and then get out of the birthing room, you big goof. Ladies only.”

He gave a shaky sort-of chuckle, swore he loved her, and then leaned in to give her the most desperate kiss she’d ever had. For long seconds she kissed him back, uncaring of onlookers for once and as hungry for his love as ever; then she resolutely pushed him away. “I love you too, Zuko. Now get out and leave us women to our work.”

When Zuko refused to get up and leave, she waved to Ty Lee, and she and Suki sorrowfully came forward; they gently urged Zuko to his feet and guided him out of the room. At the doorway, Ty Lee turned to give her one last anguished look—thankfully without saying anything about her aura; this time she really didn’t want to know.

There was so much Mai could say to her oldest friend… and yet, so little that actually needed to be said. They’d known each other for so long, been through so much together thanks to their connections to the royal family while growing up. Mai knew without asking that Ty Lee was upset about only now finding out about the danger her best friend had been in for so long, but she also knew that Ty Lee would understand why she had said nothing until now.

Mai wordlessly lifted a hand towards her again… a wave goodbye, and they both knew it. Ty Lee’s face screwed up with an effort to hold back tears as she waved back, then left and closed the door behind her.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

For the last year and a half, Suki had been struggling between two equally strong desires, quietly (and occasionally not-so-quietly) agonizing over a decision that would affect the rest of her life. She loved Sokka, and wanted them to be together always, facing life’s challenges side-by-side. But she also wanted to stay on Kyoshi Island, and lead the Kyoshi Warriors for the rest of her fighting days. She’d become captain of the warriors at the age of 15, the youngest leader ever, and she was fiercely proud of her accomplishments as well as rooted in her island home and her people.

Suki didn’t want to give up her home and her leadership to go live in a frozen land where women warriors were the exception instead of the rule; where she’d had to get special dispensation from the chief just to go hunting with the men! But she didn’t want to lose Sokka, either, and so far he was refusing to budge on where he wanted to spend the rest of his days, with his own people as they rebuilt their tribe and restored it to greatness.

Now, knowing what Zuko and Mai had been struggling with for so long, Suki felt very small and petty, and the worst kind of friend. Why hadn’t she figured out something was wrong when Zuko’s letters to them had turned from specific complaints about this counselor or that governor being stubborn idiots, to vague assurances that everything was okay at court?

Sokka was feeling guilty too, she could tell; it was guilt and shame as much as anger that twisted his features as he pushed their friend into a chair, got right in Zuko’s face and demanded, “Seventeen assassination attempts?!”

Zuko lowered his eyes to stare at the floor as he mumbled, “Three by poison, six by arrows or shuriken thrown from alleys or rooftops, three by planted explosives, one by a booby-trapped gift, and four by direct attacks. This one makes eighteen...”

“And why in the eighteen courts of hell are we just now hearing about this?!”

“Because we thought they would stop soon, after the treaty was signed and the civil unrest in the colonies settled once they knew they would be treated fairly by both countries! And because we kept thinking we would get the ringleaders sooner or later; that we’d catch an assassin who stayed alive long enough to interrogate and find out who was behind everything. But the few we’ve managed to catch alive have all committed suicide by poison or slitting their own throats before they could be questioned. And besides, what would you have done if we had told you? Everyone was busy with their own lives, rebuilding your own countries, moving on…”

“Yeah, we were all busy, but not so busy that we wouldn’t have come if you’d said you needed help!” Sokka shouted as he waved his arms in the air. “Dammit, Zuko, you and your spirits-damned pride and stoicism! You wouldn’t yell ‘ouch’ if you were having your arm chewed off by lion-dogs! You, you…” Then Sokka saw the way Zuko was slumping in his chair, and deflated. “Aw man, Zuko, I’m so sorry…”

“Now you know why Mai came with me for the treaty signing,” Zuko muttered. “She saved my life in three of those attempts, but for two of the last four I had to save hers, and I didn’t dare leave her in the capital alone. We both agreed it was worth the risk of having the baby born out at sea; every man on my ship had passed one of Toph’s loyalty checks, so we were sure she’d be safer coming here than staying at home. We were finally able to relax on this trip; we thought…” he stopped unable to continue.

After a short but painful silence, Ty Lee broke it with a question and tears in her eyes. “The palace guard Shinin… Mai didn’t want to talk about him yesterday at the party. He’s dead, isn’t he?”

Zuko nodded jerkily. “Six weeks ago. Explosives in the east wing. I’m sorry, I… we didn’t know you were close to him…”

Ty Lee sagged into a heap on the nearest chair, her eyes on the floor. “We weren’t close; I just thought he had a great butt…”

A short time later, the two attendants that Suki and Ty Lee had mistakenly knocked out came to, and fearfully asked what was going on. When Suki told them, the ladies began wailing and threw themselves at Zuko’s feet, swearing that they hadn’t known the nurse’s true intentions (and Zuko turned to Toph, who gave a small nod; they were telling the truth.) When they stopped sobbing long enough for him to get a word in edgewise, he told them wearily to just hush, he didn’t blame them, and they could go wait in the corner for further news.

Some time later King Kuei came in with a scroll in his hands, the tall sovereign’s shoulders drooping with sorrow. “I found references to Widow’s Broth,” he announced as he held the scroll out to them. “In the Earth Kingdom, we call the concoction White Mercy. A subtle poison, with no obvious symptoms for giving warning; a few hours after eating or drinking it, victims grow ever more tired until they fall asleep, and quietly die soon afterwards.” He headed for the birthing room to hand it in to his wife as he added, “And there’s no known antidote…”

Soon after Kuei’s visit, Iroh came back in alone and looking even grimmer than before. He told them, “The nurse told all she knew. This was the first step in a plot to completely eliminate our family line, and allow another of noble blood to claim the Fire Throne.”

“The nurse was instructed to make sure that Mai that died ‘of complications from childbirth’, and the baby died with her. Childbirth is one of the most common ways for women to die, due to an extremely hard birth, or birthing too often; if the poisoning was not immediately apparent, no one would suspect foul play in the tragedy. No, everyone would merely grieve for her, and the lost babe; especially her husband. And if, within a week of her death, Zuko was found lying on a white cloth, having apparently committed ritual suicide in his grief over losing his wife and child… again, such has been known to happen, among commoners and lesser nobles. Given my nephew and I are well known for freely associating with people not of noble birth, such an over-romantic end to one’s life might almost be expected. The Fire Sages would declare a period of mourning; then to keep political instability from spreading, they would naturally and immediately dig through the historical records for the family tree, and appoint the closest relation with a continuing bloodline to the Fire Throne.”

“…Rozen. Descended from Ajiko, Sozin’s younger sister.” Zuko’s eyes were wide. “He… his family recommended we hire Mamushi as Mai’s nurse… I’ll kill him! I’ll rip him apart with my bare hands, I’ll--”

But Iroh shook his head. “The nurse received her orders, and the poison, from Rozen’s wife; Lady Hiromi.” He massaged his brow for a moment, then said, “Lord and lady may have been in on it together; determining that will have to wait until we have returned to the Fire Nation. But rest assured, nephew, that all who were in on this plot will be found and punished. You have my word, and I have never broken it.”

“If there’s going to be a trial, we’ll have to take the nurse back to the Fire Nation so she can testify against her employer,” Aang mused. “Do you already have some place on board the ship that can be used as a jail cell?”

There was a short pause, in which Zuko and his uncle looked at each other. Then Iroh turned to Aang and said slowly, “The nurse will not be testifying in court. The confession she already provided, and the remaining poison, will be enough.”

“Oh. Um…” Aang swallowed. “I-is the nurse--”

“Heyyy, Aang, old buddy,” Sokka interrupted. “Can I share some Water Tribe wisdom with you? It’s an old saying we have, and kinda appropriate right now. It goes like this: Don’t ask a question, if you don’t really want to know the answer.”

Aang slowly nodded, looking unhappily down and away. Suki saw Iroh give Sokka a short nod of acknowledgment and thanks. Then everyone fell silent; once again, there was nothing to do but wait. Wait, and hope, and fear, and pray…

.
To be continued

Chapter 4: Birth and Death

Some time earlier, King Kuei had knocked on the door to the birthing room and passed in to his wife Song a scroll containing information on the poison the nurse had called Widow’s Broth; the poison she’d given to Mai in her tea. When Song had silently shown Katara the scroll’s contents, her heart had sunk. Death usually occurred within eight to ten hours of ingestion, for a victim who’d been perfectly healthy before hand. And Mai had been in labor for well over six hours before they’d found out about the poison… The palace physician had brought a bag of purgatives and emetic potions, but there’d been nothing left for Mai to throw up, and voiding her bowels hadn’t noticeably helped either.

Now they were in the seventh hour of labor. Mai’s cervix was completely dilated, the baby was in position and ready to come out; Song could even reach in and feel the downy hair on the baby’s head. But Mai was so very, very tired and weak now, that her contractions weren’t strong enough anymore to push the baby out. Katara was doing all she could to boost Mai’s liver and filter out the poison, and keep her heart beating as strongly as she could. But she was so weak, and the baby had to be born…

“Jus’ cut me open an’ take the kid out,” Mai had slurred a short time ago, her eyelids drooping. “Y’can even use one of my knives for it; check th’ ankle holsters.”

Song’s wide eyes had met Katara’s as she’d asked, “Have you ever done that? I’ve read scrolls about it, but…”

Katara had swallowed hard. “I’ve only read scrolls about it, too. None of the births in the Northern Water Tribe have required it in over a decade.” And the scrolls she’d read had emphasized that it was strictly a last resort, to be considered only if the mother could not be saved; even if the mother survived the initial shock of major abdominal surgery, infection was common and would kill more slowly. She’d hesitated, then said firmly, “Ten more minutes. If the baby’s not to the point where we can pull him out in ten more minutes, then we cut. In the meantime,” as she’d chewed her bottom lip for a moment, then made a decision. “I’m going to try something…”

When Katara had taken Hama up to the Northern Water Tribe, bound and gagged nearly every minute she was conscious until she was turned over to Yugoda’s care, Katara had told everyone she was a dangerous and criminally insane bender. Which was true, but she hadn’t explained just how dangerous Hama really was, to anyone but Yugoda.

Katara hadn’t wanted to confide even in her teacher what Hama had taught her; she’d thought it better if the secret of bloodbending died with her. It was the most monstrous form of bending possible, seizing a person’s body and controlling them; no good could ever come of it…

But Yugoda had taken Hama’s gag off as soon as they were alone in the healing house, listened to Hama’s rants and gloating ramblings, then put the gag back on her and given a long sigh before taking Katara to her own home. Pulling a small chest out of deep storage, she had shown Katara a half-dozen aged scrolls that were traditionally passed only from master healer to master healer; scrolls containing the secrets of bloodbending.

Katara had been astonished to learn that the master healers of the Northern Water Tribe had known of bloodbending for hundreds of years… though in retrospect, perhaps she shouldn’t have been. Sooner or later, even by accident, a healer would discover that blood could be bent as easily as water. And after that, someone curious and determined enough would experiment under a full moon and discover how to use bloodbending to control someone’s body. But the secret was never shared with the male waterbenders of the tribe, the warriors; the horrors that they could wreak with it were too terrible to risk. But in the caring hands of a master healer, bloodbending could be used for far more than making someone’s body move like a puppet on strings; it could be used to save lives…

Katara sunk her healing awareness into Mai’s torso, sensing the construction of the uterus with the muscle wrapped all around it. She took several deep breaths, as she gloved her right hand in healing water and left it hovering over Mai’s heart, using the water as a conduit to add a measure of her chi to Mai’s own and strengthen her heartbeat. Then she waited until a faint contraction rippled through Mai’s abdomen, feeling how the muscle pulled in on itself—and hovering over Mai’s belly, her left hand flexed as she squeezed the uterine muscle harder than it had squeezed itself before. Just slightly harder, just a little bit more; too much and she’d crush the baby instead of squeezing it out… did it move downward at all? Taking a deep breath, she squeezed again…

Sweat rolled off her forehead, stung in her eyes and dripped from the tip of her nose as she kept up the pressure. It was so hard, bloodbending while the sun was up, but this couldn’t wait until nightfall, let alone the next full moon. At least Mai’s body wasn’t fighting her; that would have made it impossible. But she couldn’t keep this up, healing and bloodbending at the same time; just the first minute of effort was leaving her dizzy… She stopped with a gasp, rocking back on her heels as she waited for the room to stop spinning.

“Jus’ cut me open,” Mai mumbled again. “Save the baby…”

Save the baby. It was Mai’s choice. Katara took another deep breath, then left the water for healing in the basin; she brought both hands down to hover over Mai’s belly as she squeeeeeeeezed.

Song said in awe, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but it’s working; here she comes!”

“Great,” Katara gasped as she paused long enough to take a deep breath, then did it again: Squeeeeeeeeze. Squeeeeeeeeze. Squeeeeeeeeze…

“The head’s crowning; we’re almost there! One more push; give us one more push… Ah, there we go, Auntie Song’s gotcha, now come on out… It’s a boy!”

Katara gave a weak chuckle of shaky relief, as she stopped bloodbending and pulled water out of the basin nearby to begin healing Mai again. She had no doubt that Song would take care of everything else; tying off and cutting the umbilical cord, then lifting the baby feet-first to help clear any birth fluids out of his mouth and make his first breaths easier as he cried for life--why wasn’t he crying yet?

“Katara! You’re needed down here, now!” Song hissed urgently. Katara lifted her hands off Mai’s sternum to lean down and look at where the baby lay on the receiving blanket, and gasped. No newborn should have such gray skin under the birthing fluids! Some of that spirits-damned poison must have passed through the umbilical cord...

Katara swept all the water out of the basin, arcing it over to her to form a globe of water in midair; a frantic thought and the technique she’d invented quickly heated the water up to just warmer than blood temperature, the warmth a newborn needs upon entry to the cold hard world. Then she picked up the baby, cradling him in both hands, and plunged his entire body into the globe. The water flashed brilliant blue as she tried to find every chi point at once, flush the poison from every fragile organ. Please, please, spirits, let this work…

She let the baby’s head bob up to the top of the globe. The now pinkish-red face scrunched, the mouth opened, and they heard him give a good healthy cry. Laughing with joyous relief, Katara pulled the water away from the baby, cleaning off the birthing fluids as well, and let Song take him as she went back to Mai.

“It’s a boy, Mai; you have a son! He’s beautiful,” Katara said softly, gloving her hands with healing water once more and going back to work on Mai’s heart and liver, as Song wrapped the boy in a dry blanket. She shifted her hands on Mai’s chest just enough that Song could ever-so-gently rest the baby there and hold him in place. They still had to deal with the placenta, but first, give the mother more reason to live! Mai’s face was so gray… “Look, Mai! You have a son! And he needs his mother; you have to fight for him!”

Mai slowly opened her eyes, saw the baby on her chest, and managed a weak, wavering smile. One hand trembled, tried to rise; Katara quickly helped that hand up to rest on the baby’s back. Then she reached across Mai and grabbed the other hand, to gently stroke those cold gray fingers across the baby’s soft cheek. “Feel him… he’s your son, now you need to fight for him!”

Mai made a soft noise in the back of her throat. Then she looked up at Katara… and the healer’s heart sank. She’d seen that look before, on people who had given up the struggle for life and were about to join the spirits. Mai wasn’t going to fight any more…

“Take care of him,” Mai rasped; her voice fading more with each word. “Take care… of…”

She never finished the sentence, and her hands went slack.

“Mai, no! Mai, you’ve got to--” Katara cried as the water in the basin roiled, rushing up along Katara’s arms and hands to Mai’s torso. Healing energy flowed out desperately, searching for chi to bolster…

…Gone. The last few wisps of chi, of life, were fading to nothingness even as she felt for them.

“Mai… oh spirits, Mai…” Katara held the newborn baby to her chest and wept. Song gave a sad sigh, reached up to where Mai’s eyes were staring into the spirit world, and gently closed them.

“She’s gone. But if not for your help, her son wouldn’t be alive now, and she wouldn’t have lasted long enough to see him; Oma and Shu bless you, you gave her one last gift,” Song said softly, rubbing her back.

Katara sniffed back her tears. “Th-thank you. But… oh, poor Zuko; how will I tell him…”

“We’ll tell him together. My mother and I had to give such news before, back at the clinic,” as Song shook her head. “But we saved the child, this time!”

Katara slowly nodded. Then she stood up, cradling the baby to her chest, and bowed to Mai; the first time she’d ever done so, and the last. “I promise, Mai; your son will be raised to love and honor your memory.” She swallowed hard as she continued, “Aang and I will tell him every time we see him about your amazing skill with blades, your bravery, and how very much you loved Zuko and looked forward to being a mother…”

“Wegh-wegh-wegh,” the baby cried in her arms, that odd harsh cry peculiar to newborns. Song managed a smile as she reached to stroke his tiny cheek. “A bit small, but that’s to be expected for a few weeks early; other than that, he seems perfectly healthy. It’s a lucky child you’ll be,” she told the baby.

Katara looked down at his mother’s corpse. “Some luck.”

“Yes, some luck,” Song said firmly. “Lucky to be born at all, after what happened! I’ve no doubt that traitorous nurse, may an oni find her spirit tasty, had as her goal the death of both mother and child at the birthing. And she would likely have succeeded, if the birth had happened in the Fire Nation. This child is lucky that he came early, and we were both here for him And Kuei and I will do our best to keep that luck coming his way, if I have anything to say about it,” she added as they left the room. “First task will be finding the right wet-nurse. If the servants did exactly as I told them this morning, we should have a few of them up here to choose from by now…”

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Nearly everyone in the room kept their eyes on the door, waiting for someone to emerge to give them news, but Zuko kept his eyes on Toph. Toph was facing in the direction of the door just like everyone else, but she was sitting with her hands flat against the floor, and he knew without asking, just what she was listening to with her earth-sensing ability: the breathing and heartbeats of everyone in the other room.

He waited, and he watched her… and he knew. He knew when the situation in the birthing room went from bad to worse, from the way Toph suddenly bit her lip as her unseeing eyes went wide. He knew when Katara’s healing abilities managed to stave off death for a little longer, from the relieved grin that started to appear on Toph’s face. And he knew, when the grin was quickly wiped away by a look of alarm, that Death had refused to leave the room.

And when Toph’s blind eyes shut, and her head slowly lowered to her chest… he knew.

Mai was dead. And their baby with her.

His heart collapsed in on itself, crushed under a mountain of grief; grief with a physical weight to it, that drove him down onto hands and knees. Someone howled, a wordless cry of torment, and it wasn’t until his throat started burning that he realized it was him.

And his friends were grabbing at him and asking him what was wrong, saying that Katara hadn’t come out yet and he shouldn’t lose hope and nothing made sense and he couldn’t stay there he had to go—

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Song opened the door for Katara and she stepped through, the baby in her arms. Her friends and family were there waiting outside, and she tried to tell them what had happened, but her voice froze…

She didn’t need to say anything. They saw and heard the baby in her arms, and started shouting for joy… then saw the grief in her face, and joy was swept away by stunned sorrow. Ty Lee curled up into a ball and started weeping for her best friend; Suki somberly lowered her head and whispered a prayer to the spirits while rubbing Ty Lee’s back to comfort her.

Song spoke for Katara, saying, “The poison had gone too deep, taken too much of the Fire Lady’s strength; she didn’t survive the birth. But we saved the child—it’s a boy, a healthy son!” She looked around, then asked, “Where’s the Fire Lord?”

“A couple minutes ago, he just started howling—and when we asked him what was wrong, he took off thataway,” Sokka said somberly as he pointed. “I guess he knew; he felt it happen or something… Dad and Iroh went after him, and told the rest of us to stay here and wait for news.”

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Hakoda was a skilled tracker, but at first no skill was required to find his quarry, a grieving Fire Lord. All he and Iroh had to do was follow the sounds of the alarmed and bewildered servants Zuko was leaving in his wake, shoving blindly past them as he ran through the halls of the Earth King’s palace.

Grief is a wound to the soul, and a wounded animal seeks someplace dark and quiet, a secure place where he can hide and lick his wounds until he either gets better or dies from them. But Iroh said breathlessly, “Open air,” when they paused at an intersection of hallways that had no disheveled servants to mark the way.

“Wounded prey go to ground,” Hakoda said, pointing to a staircase leading down to the next level.

Iroh shook his head and insisted, “Open air. Wounded firebenders seek Agni’s warmth,” as he pointed in the direction of the palace courtyard.

They found Zuko in the courtyard, perched atop a giant and ancient statue of a badgermole, over forty feet off the ground. Hakoda swore softly in astonishment. “How did he get up there so fast?”

Iroh didn’t appear surprised at all, though somewhat dismayed at the statue’s steep sides and scarcity of handholds and footholds. “Blast. I was hoping he’d climb up to a roof instead.”

Up to a roof, instead. Every time Hakoda forgot and started thinking that firebenders were just like any other people… He shook his head, then asked the question that had to be asked. “You know him best; is he apt to jump?”

Iroh sighed heavily. “He just might, if we don’t reach him. If he felt them… the loss of all his… Give me a boost; the best handholds start just out of my reach.”

But even as Hakoda made a stirrup with his hands to give Iroh a leg up, they heard the rumble of earth moving. They turned to see Kuei, accompanied by an earthbending guardsman, rising into the air on a column of earth. The Earth King looked solemn and sad, his hands behind his back as he stood still, waiting to be lifted up to the level that Zuko was sitting at. In seconds, they were at the same level and only a few feet apart.

The Earth King spoke first, and in the stillness as the last rumbles died away, they could hear him clearly from the ground. “I had been coming to tell you that the servants had found four possible wet-nurses to choose from… but from your presence up here, I can only assume that they are no longer necessary.”

Zuko’s reply was painful, his voice raw with grief. “They’re dead.”

“I… I am sincerely sorry to hear that. Mai was a lovely woman. And the child you so hoped for…”

“They’re gone.”

Kuei looked profoundly uncomfortable; it was likely that, insulated from his people as he had been for most of his life, he had no idea how to comfort the grieving. But he gave it his best try anyway: “Their memory will be honored.”

“There’s nothing left. Nothing left to live for… what’s the point, without…” and Hakoda’s heart skipped a beat as Zuko wavered on his far-too-high perch.

But without waiting for orders, the guardsman hurriedly brought up more stone, to turn the small platform around himself and his liege into a much larger one that surrounded Zuko’s perch. Zuko would not be allowed to simply fall to his death.

“Zuko… No, I think I must address the Fire Lord now. Fire Lord, you may not have anything joyful to live for now, but you have an entire nation that needs you. I pass on to you, the words that your uncle gave to me when he persuaded me to come back to Ba Sing Se, rather than live out a life of simple needs and simple joys. For one of royal blood, life is not meant to be easy. We are meant to struggle, to suffer and worry, so that we may better understand the struggles of our citizens as they live their own lives. If we have moments of happiness, we must cherish them dearly, for they are few and far between. It is never easy to rule, and if it seems easy, then you are surely neglecting something. (Or being kept in the dark by your own ministers. But I digress.) It is hard, to rule an entire country. But we must pick up the mantle of office entrusted to us, and bear it until we have a worthy successor to pass it on to, someone we can entrust with running the country and keeping our citizens safe and well. We do it because someone must, or chaos will destroy everything our ancestors built and lived and died for.” Kuei paused. “Zuko, I am sincerely sorry for your loss. Fire Lord, come down from the statue, please.”

Zuko slowly nodded and stepped onto the stone platform, which the guardsman slowly lowered to the ground. And as he came back down to earth, Zuko… changed. Hakoda shivered a bit as he thought it was like watching water freeze into ice. Though a far more apt analogy would be watching a warrior don armor for battle, because that is what Zuko did; he donned a hard emotional armor over his pain and sorrow, as he descended. By the time he reached the ground, the armor was solid and his face was nearly expressionless, except for a frown of hard determination. A newcomer to the scene would never know that just a few minutes ago, this had been a young man nearly shattered by grief for his murdered wife and unborn child. In his place stood a Fire Lord, a ruler of Sozin’s line; an implacable force that could change the fate of an entire nation.

Hakoda found himself praying fervently that this assassination plot had been purely Fire Nation in its origin, not aided by anyone from Earth Kingdom or Water Tribes bent on revenge for past wrongdoing. Because he knew that if it was, he had just witnessed the emergence of the man who was perfectly capable of restarting the Great War with just a few words.

Iroh noticed the change too, and was no happier about it than Hakoda was. “Nephew,” he said worriedly, laying a hand on Zuko’s shoulder. But he might was well have laid his hand on a rock; Zuko didn’t react in any way to the comforting touch, and walked right out from under it as he headed back into the palace, his spine ramrod straight. Hakoda and Iroh could only exchange worried looks and helpless shrugs as they and Kuei followed him inside.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Given the way Zuko had howled like a drowning polar-dog, when Sokka set off after Katara and Song to tell Zuko that they’d managed to at least save the baby, he kinda expected to find Zuko crumpled in a corner somewhere, sobbing into his uncle’s shoulder. He swallowed hard to force down the lump in his throat—must be that hard roll he’d eaten earlier; should have washed it down better—and thought about what he would say to his best buddy when they found him. Something along the lines of ‘she died knowing you love her’ and ‘at least the bastards didn’t get your son’; that sounded about right. Okay, they sounded totally lame, but the best he could do without the benefit of a barrel of Gran-Pakku’s ice whiskey to split with his friend.

But when they found Zuko, all those comforting-but-totally-inadequate phrases flew right out of Sokka’s head. Because that wasn’t his best buddy coming down the hall towards them; that was the Fire Lord.

Sokka had never gotten within spitting distance of Ozai when he’d still been the Fire Lord and a firebender. (Probably just as well, because if he’d been within spitting distance back then he’d have just had to actually spit on the bastard, and then the dinner menu that night would have featured Fried Sokka, extra-crispy.) But he’d gotten a glimpse from a long distance away, when Aang had faced off against the Phoenix King—and just that distant glimpse had been enough to make him nervous.

Right now, the expressionless, iron cast of Zuko’s features and the set of his shoulders as he strode down the hall towards them, was making Sokka that same kind of nervous. It was kinda like when Aang’s tattoos started glowing; you just knew some Really Deep Shit was about to come down hard on somebody.

At Sokka’s side, even Toph tensed at whatever she was feeling from Zuko and muttered “whoa,” low under her breath. Okay, that made it official; Sparky was out, the Fire Lord was in, and Bad Trouble was riding up hard and fast.

When Aang got all glowy, the only one who’d ever been able to bring him down out of it before he started busting heads was Katara, the Sister Without Fear. And sure enough, she just stepped into the Fire Lord’s path like she couldn’t even see the danger right in front of her. Holding the baby in one arm, she laid a hand on his shoulder as she said sympathetically, “Zuko, I’m sorry; we did all we could… and you didn’t lose them both.” And with that, she firmly handed the baby over.

Zuko’s arms went up automatically to receive what she was handing him, without even looking at first—Tui and La, don’t let him drop the baby! Sokka almost made a running dive to get under the baby just in case, but he managed to stay in one spot, even with his nerves all screaming at him.

“Wegh, wegh, wegh,” the baby cried; that weird cry babies made when they were just born, before they grew up enough to cry like babies should. Zuko heard the cries, then stared down at it, looking… perplexed. As if he simply didn’t understand why anyone would hand him a baby.

Katara said firmly, “Zuko, this is your son. And he needs you to be his father.”

Zuko lifted his head to stare at her as he asked numbly, “He’s not dead?”

It took an incredible amount of self-restraint on Sokka’s part to not quip, ‘What, all the crying and twitchy little limbs and stuff weren’t enough of a clue for you?’ But he managed, barely, to keep his mouth shut. Katara said simply, “Yes, he survived. We couldn’t save Mai, but we managed to save the baby. You have a son, Zuko.”

And the Fire Lord’s legs just sorta stopped working. He sat down right in middle of the hallway, staring at the baby in his arms, and then he was laughing and crying and making all these choked sounds that were probably supposed to be words. Sokka thought he understood part of what Zuko was saying; there was ‘he’s beautiful’ and ‘it’s a boy’ and ‘my son’—at least, he was pretty sure that’s what he said. With so much emotion clogging up his words, it actually sounded like bison, but since he said it at least three times…

Sokka’s vision blurred, and he wiped at his stinging eyes. Must be some dust in the air from all of Toph’s earthbending; yeah, that was it.

After a while, everyone realized that they were right in the middle of a critical hallway in the palace, and blocking traffic; there were servants and officials literally lining up on either side of their party, looking uncomfortable, not daring to squeeze past. But when Kuei tried to suggest to Zuko that he might consider getting up and moving, Zuko just utterly ignored him; he only had eyes and ears for the baby in his arms. Toph finally shrugged and bent that whole section of floor up, to slide it along the hallway and into a nearby room.

Zuko didn’t even notice the movement of the improvised sledge he was on; he just kept holding the baby. And babbling to it and kissing it and rubbing his good side’s cheek against that tiny scrunched-up face, and smooching the really tiny hands, and generally making a slobbering idiot out of himself. But hey, better a slobbery idiot new dad than a whole new Ozai in the house, so Sokka again refrained from comment.

“The servants found four women with good credentials, all ready to be wet-nurses; they’re all waiting in the east wing’s antechamber,” Kuei told Song.

“Wonderful,” Song said with a smile. “I’ll go look them over and sound them out, and pick the best candidate. If you’ll trust my judgment in this matter, Fire Lord? …Fire Lord Zuko? … (ahem) Hello, Zuko…”

Finally Zuko looked up at Song, hovering over his left shoulder. “Uh, what?”

Song gave him a patient smile. “I’m going to go pick out the best wet-nurse to give your son over to for--”

And then Zuko performed a truly astonishing move. Somehow, sitting cross-legged on the floor with his son in his arms, Zuko moved six feet to the right in less than half a second. (Sokka tried to duplicate it afterwards, sitting and holding a small sack of rice, but never could figure out just how it had been done.) And just as quickly, Zuko went from slobbery new dad to furious firebender; rising while clutching his son to his chest with one arm, he created a blazing fire shield between him and Song with the other as he snarled, “Try it and die!”

For a long second everyone could only stare at him, appalled and shocked into silence; the only sounds in the room were the crackling of the fire shield and the baby’s newborn cries. Then Iroh said ruefully to Song, “I believe that was a poor choice of words, Earth Queen, considering the actions of the last nurse we dealt with.” He told Zuko, “She does not intend for you to actually give up your son, nephew; only to, er, let a woman handle his feedings.”

“No!” Zuko glared fiercely at them all, keeping back from them even though he let the fire shield dissipate. “I’ll feed him myself! I’ll never trust anyone again to--”

Sokka rolled his eyes and decided a little rude-and-crude was in order, to knock the sense back into his friend’s head. He interrupted with a deliberately jovial, “Hey, Zuko; you got boobs?”

“Huh?” Zuko looked at him blankly, while just about everyone else blushed.

Sokka made a crude gesture at his own chest, hefting imaginary breasts, then pointed at the baby. “Babies need boobs, dude. Can’t give congee to a newborn. So unless you’re sporting a pair under your tunic, you gotta let someone else do the feeding for the first few months.”

The light finally dawned inside Zuko’s brain, and he blushed both later and way redder than everyone else. “Right. I knew that. Of course I knew that.”

“Of course you did,” Katara said genially. “And I think you can trust the Earth Queen’s judgment, Zuko; she’ll pick out the best wet-nurse Ba Sing Se has to offer.”

“Well, the best one we’re apt to find up here on such extremely short notice,” Song said depreciatingly. “But yes, I’ve plenty of experience with wet-nurses, and I know the qualities of a good one. I should be able to decide on the best candidate very soon.”

“Don’t worry, Sparky; I’ll be right there while she’s questioning the candidates, and I’m not gonna let any liars anywhere near your kid,” Toph reassured him.

“Thank you. Thank you all… and I’m sorry for, um, over-reacting just now,” Zuko muttered, still blushing.

“It’s all right. Now, while Song is choosing the best wet-nurse, let’s get you and your son somewhere private. Your guest suite should do,” Katara said as she stepped up to Zuko and tugged gently on his arm.

Katara led Zuko and the baby away, but paused just before leaving the room to look at Iroh, her expression pained. “General Iroh, would you… take care of…”

Iroh gave a slow nod, his face solemn and sad. “I will see to everything else that needs taking care of.” Mai’s body, Sokka realized as that lump suddenly reappeared back in his throat. They had a royal funeral to plan…

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Katara led the way back to Zuko’s guest suite, and paused when she saw the guard always stationed outside the door. Word must be spreading through the palace already of Mai’s death; the guard was standing tall but silently weeping, tears running down his cheeks to drip onto his armor. He looked automatically in their direction… and his eyes went wide when he saw the bundle in Zuko’s arms, and heard the newborn cries issuing from it. “Oh, thank Agni,” the guard whispered fervently as he opened the door for them. “Thank Agni…”

Zuko gave a single mute nod of acknowledgment, then carried his son into the suite with Katara right behind him. As soon as the door was closed behind them she gently took the baby from Zuko’s arms. “Here, let me hold him for a moment… okay. Take your shirt off.”

“Okay,” Zuko said immediately, his eyes still locked on his son as he began untying the sash on his tunic. He had it halfway off before he stopped and said, “Wait, what? Why?”

“You need to get bare-chested so the baby can get more skin-to-skin contact. He was born early, and this is what’s done with premature babies in the Northern Water Tribe; the mother carries the baby inside her clothes, right on her skin so she can keep him warm and he can hear her heartbeat, like he was still inside her. Your heartbeat’s probably different from Mai’s, but your firebender skin should be even warmer than hers, which will be better for him.”

Zuko shed his tunic while she was still talking, and held his arms out for his son again. Katara handed him over, carefully unwrapping enough of the baby blanket to expose the infant’s tiny chest and arms. Zuko held the baby to his chest as firmly as if he’d been pasted there, stroking his little head over and over and murmuring, “I’m here, you’re safe, your daddy’s here… I’ll keep you warm and safe forever. Daddy’s here…”

Katara felt tears stinging at her eyes again at the sight, and wiped them away with the heel of her hand. The adrenaline surge that had carried her through the last two hours had already faded, and she felt so tired from all that healing and bloodbending, but there was still more to do. “Diapers,” she said aloud after draping Zuko’s tunic over his left shoulder and over the baby in his arms, to hold in more body heat. “He needs diapers and baby clothes. The servants brought a big bag of baby things to the waiting room; I’ll go bring them back here.” Zuko nodded at her words, still focused and murmuring to his son, so she left to find the supplies.

She paused long enough outside the door to tell the guard quietly, “We did our best, but we could only save the baby. A son; Fire Lady Mai lived just long enough to see and touch him. Earth Queen Song will soon bring a wet-nurse for the baby; General Iroh is seeing to the funeral arrangements.”

“…Thank you, milady,” the guard whispered, his eyes still wet with tears. Katara nodded to him and went to find what was needed.

The large sack of baby supplies had been put just outside the door to the birthing room; diapers, baby clothes, more baby blankets, pacifiers and even a baby rattle. Everything in the layette was in shades of green, but that was to be expected in Ba Sing Se. She gathered the baby things up while glancing inside the open door to the birthing room.

Mai’s body had been moved from the birthing chair, and laid out on the bed that had been shoved into a corner when they’d taken it over. The two attendants were facing the bed on their knees in full kowtow, while Iroh whispered words she couldn’t hear as he gently laid a pure white sheet over the corpse…

But there was only one corpse, not two. Early or not, the baby would live, if she had to pour the very last measure of her chi into him! She squared her shoulders and marched back to Zuko’s room with the supplies.

She found Zuko sitting down, still cradling his son to his chest; the baby had wet the blanket he’d been wrapped in but Zuko apparently didn’t care that he’d just been peed on. The newborn’s cries had ceased but when she anxiously peeked, he was still breathing; he had just calmed down in his father’s warm embrace. She smiled, spread a blanket on the floor and got a diaper, cleaning cloth and baby clothes ready, then had Zuko hand the baby to her. He hovered at her shoulder as she quickly but carefully cleaned up and clothed his son, then almost snatched him back as soon as she was finished to put him on his chest again. The baby had begun crying again as she’d cleaned and clothed him, but quieted once more in his father’s arms.

She looked around, found a vase of spring flowers, and sucked the water out of it to form a small globe in midair. “Zuko, would you warm this for me? I want to give the baby another healing session, see if I can build up his strength, and I don’t want to waste the energy on heating it myself.”

Zuko nodded and extended a finger. “Just to body temperature, right?” he confirmed as he stuck it inside the globe of water. The water right around his finger flashed red for an instant; then he swirled the hot spot around inside the globe to evenly distribute the heat.

“Thanks,” she said as she put the warm water to the back of the baby’s head and torso, and summoned healing chi.

“No, thank you,” he corrected softly as the water began glowing. “Thank you so much… I can never thank you enough, can never possibly repay you enough for saving my son.”

She wanted to say, I just wish I’d been able to save Mai too. But she clamped her mouth shut over the words, knowing that now was not the best time to say them. The best thing for Zuko right now was to keep him focused on the baby; on what he’d gained instead of what he’d lost. She focused through the water on the baby, feeling for points of weakness that she could bolster. The heart and lungs were sound, thank the spirits; too many premature babies had underdeveloped lungs, but this one’s were almost normal. She focused on them anyway, willing them to develop just a little more, then moved to the rest of his internal organs. Stomach seemed okay… kidneys good…

She spent nearly ten minutes with her hand and healing focus on the baby, while Zuko held him and kept him warm; she finally concluded that she’d done all she could for the moment, then drew the water away and sent it back to the flower vase.

The water globe broke apart just above the vase, and splashed down over the flowers to spatter the table they were on. Zuko frowned worriedly at the sight. “You’re exhausted.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, waving away his concerns. She touched the baby again as she asked, “What’s his name? You said earlier that you had a name picked out for a boy, but right now I don’t remember…” A white lie; she remembered it well, because of how tickled pink Aang had been at the revelation, but Zuko should be the one to say it first.

“Roku,” Zuko said softly, gazing down at his son. “His name is Roku.”

He shifted his grip on the baby as he pronounced his name, bringing the tiny face further into view. She smiled down at the squashed-looking features as she whispered, “Hello, Roku. Welcome to the world.”

“Hello, Roku,” Zuko echoed softly, gazing adoringly at the baby. Then he looked at her again, and jerked his chin at the bed nearby as he said firmly, “Go lie down and rest; you look ready to fall over.”

“…Just for a few minutes,” she said grudgingly as she nearly crawled to the bed. Her legs didn’t want to support her; spirits, she really was exhausted.

She flopped onto the coverlet, then rolled over to look at Zuko and Roku again. Her eyes refused to stay open, and the last sound she heard was Zuko’s rasping voice as he began to sing, ever so softly; something about leaves falling from a vine…

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Zuko had no idea how long he’d just been sitting there on the floor, crooning the only lullaby he knew to his son while holding him close to his heart. He tried not to think about anything except keeping Roku warm and safe, and letting his son know that his father loved him very much. “You’ll never have to wonder about that,” he whispered in between verses. “I won’t care if you’re a worse bender than me, or a non-bender, or even if you never learn how to handle a blade; all that matters is that you’re my son, a part of me and Mai. I’ll always love you, Roku.”

Eventually, he became aware of a knocking at his door. His guard said in a voice pitched to carry through the door, “Your majesty, the Earth Queen and Master Toph are here with a wet-nurse for your son.”

“Just a moment,” he said hoarsely, his voice worn from so much singing. Roku was sleeping, and he looked around for a safe place to put him for a few moments; he finally set the baby down next to where Katara was sound asleep on the bed. Hurriedly straightening his clothes, he went to the door and looked out into the hallway. There were Toph and Song, with an older woman, well-rounded and probably in her late twenties, who looked both cheerful and nervous at the same time.

Song said with a smile as she gestured to the stranger, “Fire Lord Zuko, this is Ojia, an established wet-nurse; she has previously provided for three children of noble families here in Ba Sing Se.”

He glanced to Toph, who promptly said with a firm nod, “I was there for every question she answered, and gave her a few questions myself. She’s trustworthy, Sparky.”

Normally that would have been enough for him. But not this time, not quite. He looked right at the stranger—Ojia—and said quietly, “You understand that this is an extremely serious responsibility.”

“Yes, your majesty,” Ojia said with a bow.

He kept his voice calm, matter-of-fact. “You understand that once my son is strong enough to travel, you will be accompanying us to the Fire Nation, and staying for a brief period until a trustworthy wet-nurse can be found there.”

Ojia bowed again. “Yes, your majesty.”

“You understand that you will be very well paid for your duty, including all travel expenses when you are free to return to your home country.”

“Yes, your majesty. Thank--”

Before she could finish, he added in that same matter-of-fact tone, “You understand that if you ever do anything to hurt my son, or betray me in any way, I will incinerate you and your entire family. There will not even be ashes left to scatter.”

Ojia went white, all the blood draining from her face. Song winced and gave him a reproving look, but Toph didn’t even blink; Toph understood, as she always did. Ojia finally swallowed and stuttered, “Y-yes, your majesty.”

He opened the door further. “You may come in.”

Trembling slightly, Ojia stepped across the threshold, and Song and Toph followed her in. Toph turned her blind eyes toward the raised bed and asked, “Is that Katara I hear snoozing away, or the baby?”

“Both. Let her rest; she exhausted herself with healing,” Zuko said quietly as he carefully picked up Roku. But Katara was already stirring, and rubbing at her face as if trying to wipe the exhaustion from her features. “The wet-nurse is here; go back to sleep,” he whispered while cradling Roku in his arms.

Katara grunted something unintelligible and gave a weary nod, then settled back to sleep within seconds. Toph stared in their general direction, then muttered something about the perfect zinger but she couldn’t use it, but Zuko wasn’t really paying attention; all his focus was on Roku as he very carefully transferred his son into Ojia’s arms.

Ojia held the baby the right way, making sure the head was supported; just the way his captain of the guard had shown him back during the secret what-to-do-with-a-baby training he’d had back home. Then Roku stirred and began whimpering, and Zuko almost snatched him back before reminding himself that his son had to eat, and was probably hungry now. He forced his arms back down to his sides as Ojia relaxed and began cooing to Roku about what a cute little baby he was.

Song suggested the chair in the corner for Ojia’s use, and a few minutes later Ojia and Roku were sitting in the chair together and Roku was tucked under a blanket thrown over Ojia’s chest and shoulder, receiving his first meal. Zuko had almost protested when Song had spread the blanket, hiding his son from his anxious gaze. Then he’d thought of what Mai would have to say if she caught him looking at another woman’s breasts. Then he remembered that Mai would never be there to yell at him or tease him or do anything with him ever again, and it was all he could do to not just crumple to the floor and start bawling his eyes out again.

Then Toph was there, hugging him fiercely and whispering, “I know, Sparky. I know. Hang in there; we’re all here for you…”

Several deep shuddering breaths later, he was able to compose himself. Sensing it, Toph let him go as he quietly told Song, “We’ll need more diapers in here, and a baby sling, and…” He glanced at the bed, remembering what Katara had recommended. “A half-dozen more pillows for the bed, to pack around me so I can’t roll over in my sleep. And I’d appreciate it if you gave the suite next to mine to Ojia, so she’s close by when Roku needs feeding or changing.”

Song blinked at him, then asked carefully, “You intend for the baby to stay in your suite, and sleep with you in your bed?”

“Katara said he needs my body heat because he’s premature. What’s the problem; don’t peasants do it all the time?” he said defensively.

“Yes, they do; I just wanted to be sure I understood correctly,” Song said with a smile and placating gesture. “I’ll have Qingshan’s nurse bring by a spare baby sling, and our majordomo will send extra pillows for your bed while preparing the guest suite for Ojia.”

By the time Roku was finished feeding, the baby sling and extra pillows had been brought in, and his valets had returned from wherever they’d disappeared to earlier. When they saw the look on his face and his clenched fists, they both fell into kowtows on the spot, swearing their loyalty anew and apologizing profusely for having left their posts for even an instant. Toph popped back in long enough to say, “Sorry I didn’t mention it earlier, Sparky; I’m doing loyalty checks on all your people again, and I started with these two. They’re clean; you can trust them.”

He nodded his thanks to her, then beckoned them over to the dressing screen. It quickly became obvious that neither of his valets had ever even touched a baby sling before, but they figured out soon enough how to put it on over his bare torso. He stepped out to get Roku from Ojia and carefully tuck him into the sling, and then they draped his least formal robe over himself and Roku both. The guest suite had a bronze mirror mounted on the wall behind the dressing screen; after they tied the robe’s wide sash under Roku’s sling to help support him, he glanced in the mirror and absently noted that he now resembled a heavily pregnant woman, only with a shadow of evening stubble on her chin. He should have felt ridiculous and absurd, but there was just no room inside him for such feelings right now; too much had happened, and too much of him was focused on just keeping his son alive, safe and warm.

When Uncle came by soon afterwards, the elder’s bushy eyebrows crawled towards the ceiling when he saw Zuko’s unusual attire, but he said nothing. He still said nothing when he saw Katara sprawled across the bed, now covered with a blanket that Song had draped over her. But when he heard about the proposed sleeping arrangements for Roku, he apparently felt compelled to point out, “They have a perfectly acceptable nursery here in the palace; I’ve been in there a few times to see and play with the Earth Prince while visiting.”

“Roku sleeps with me; Katara said he needs my body heat,” Zuko stubbornly insisted, while stroking the fine wisps of baby hair as his son slept in his arms.

Uncle shrugged, “Well, far be it from me to go against the word from a master healer, particularly the one responsible for your son being here with you at all.” He paused before saying somberly, “I have made the arrangements. Aang is already on his way to Omashu, to bring Mai’s mother and father here for the funeral; he will also go to Gaipan to pick up Fire Sage Shyu, whom he recently saw ministering to the colonists there. The body is prepared now, but shall be held in a cooling crypt beneath the palace until the time for the funeral.”

Zuko frowned. “Appa’s not fast enough to fly to Omashu, Gaipan and back in just one day.”

“No, he is not, but I’ve already lit incense and spoken to the spirits who guide the dead to their rest. It is traditional to hold the funeral in time for Agni’s next journey across the sky, but I’m quite certain the spirits will not be angered if we postpone the funeral for one or two days more, so long as we render all due respect at the proper time.”

Zuko nodded acceptance, then turned to look out the window at the setting sun. Setting on what had turned into one of the worst days of his life… So much had happened in the last twelve hours that he was exhausted, physically and emotionally. “Time for bed,” someone muttered, and he was mildly surprised to realize he’d said that out loud.

“After you eat a decent meal,” his uncle urged. “You’ve had nothing since breakfast.” Zuko didn’t feel particularly hungry, but his uncle was already clapping peremptorily, and two Earth Kingdom servants appeared at the door with trays of food in their hands.

They started to come inside, and he automatically tensed, clutching Roku tighter to him. But his uncle was paying attention; he swiftly raised a hand to forestall them and told them to just leave the trays by the door and depart. The servants uncertainly glanced at each other, then set the trays down and backed out bowing, and the guard shut the door behind them. “You’ll have to get used to servants being around him, you know,” his uncle sighed as he fetched the trays himself and brought them to the table. “Here; sit and eat, while I get acquainted with my grandson.”

Zuko rather reluctantly handed Roku over to his uncle, but before sitting down to eat he went over to the bed and nudged Katara. She mumbled something about just five more minutes, but he shook her shoulder again and said, “Come on, you need to eat too; they brought extra, and they probably already served dinner to everyone else. Besides, I’m going to need that bed.” So Katara rolled off the bed and yawningly joined him at the table to eat, while Uncle cuddled Roku and cooed to him and talked about what a beautiful baby he was.

After eating, he got dressed in pajamas and took Roku back, and Katara bid him good night before stumbling out on Uncle’s arm as he escorted her to her own suite. Following his directions, his valets tucked the pillows in around him after he lay down in bed; it was the first time he’d been tucked into bed since his childhood. Settling Roku comfortably on his chest, he waved a hand to put out all but one candle in the room and told the valets they could retire for the night. But Ikerai, the older valet, hesitated and offered, “Would my lord prefer that one of us bring in a mattress and sleep nearby? To fetch the wet-nurse for you when the young prince wakes, as he will surely need feeding and changing in the middle of the night.”

Zuko blinked at him. “Feeding and changing?” …Cinders. He’d heard somewhere that babies needed midnight feedings, but hadn’t thought at all that it might apply to his own child. Mai had agreed to the lessons on how to safely hold and carry a baby because she’d never had any practice at it either; she hadn’t been at all close to her little brother Tom-Tom and had never held him as a newborn infant, so she’d put up with the evenings of walking around their suite practicing carrying the cunningly crafted and weighted baby-doll. But for everything else she’d said that babies belong in nurseries, and the wet-nurse she would hire in the eighth month would take care of all the feeding and changing. Maybe he should call Ojia in now to…

No, dammit, Roku needed his body heat and that’s all there was to it! He’d be a good father to his son, no matter how much sleep it cost him. He sighed and told Ikerai, “Thank you for the offer, and put your mattress by the window.” Both valets bowed to him and left to fetch a mattress and bedding.

Then Zuko was alone in the room with his son, and trying so hard not to think about the empty space beside him in the bed. But almost despite himself, he turned his head and craned his neck to smell the pillow next to his, and the faint scent of Mai’s panda-lily perfume…

It was the familiar scent that pushed him over the edge, into the gaping abyss of grief and despair. Flat on his back, he began sobbing hopelessly again, tears streaming down both sides of his face to trickle into his ears, unable to stop even when Roku woke up and began crying too. “Mai… oh Agni, Mai…!”

Then Ikerai and Gero came back in, and he managed to clamp his jaws shut over the sobs and wrestle them down. Even though the valets would undoubtedly understand, he’d been conditioned all his life to never cry or show overwhelming emotions in front of servants; never show them weakness, the masters must always be strong. He stifled his sobs, and rubbed Roku’s back until his son quieted down and went back to sleep, even if he couldn’t quite stop the tears still trickling down. But if either valet noticed his tears, they said nothing as they quickly and efficiently set up a servant’s bed by the window.

Gero bowed and withdrew, while Ikerai settled into the bed and went to sleep, or at least faked it well enough that Zuko couldn’t tell from where he was lying in his own bed… Zuko gritted his teeth in annoyance at himself. Toph had just checked the valets’ loyalties herself and cleared them both, so he told that streak of paranoia to shut the hells up and let him sleep. Eventually, he drifted off…

And awoke a few hours later to Roku’s cries and a nasty wet feeling; the diaper had soaked through to his pajamas. But Ikerai was off to get Ojia even before he sat up, and while Roku was being fed and changed the valet helped Zuko clean up and put on fresh pajamas, and made sure the sheets and blankets were still dry.

Once Roku was fed and changed, they were both tucked into bed again for a few more hours of sleep. It had been a terrible, horrible day, and now looked to be a long bad night too, but his son was still alive. That was the most important thing; what he had to focus on now. Zuko began murmuring a lullaby, whispering into the dark, “Leaves from the vine, falling so slow…”

.
To be continued

Chapter 5: Eulogies

When the great city of Omashu came into view, Aang said encouragingly to Appa, “Almost there, buddy!  You can rest for a few hours while I talk to Bumi and find Mai’s family, okay?”  Appa groaned agreement that he could use the rest; they had been flying most of the night, only stopping a few hours before dawn and resuming as soon as the sun had come over the horizon.

  

It was exhausting Appa to fly so far and so fast, and Aang felt bad about asking so much from his best buddy in the world, but at least it gave Aang something to do, to help Zuko in some small way.  He felt terrible that he hadn’t been able to do anything to keep Mai from getting killed by that nurse-turned-assassin; that he hadn’t even realized that people had been trying to assassinate Mai and Zuko again. Especially since he’d been the only one in Team Avatar to have seen them since their wedding…

 

Why hadn’t he paid more attention, the last two times he’d been in the Fire Nation?  Aang wanted to kick himself again as he remembered that the last time he’d been there, a little less than three months ago, he’d noticed that some of the guards in the palace had seemed grimmer and more jumpy than before, but he hadn’t asked any questions; he’d just dropped off a few messages from the colony governors, told Zuko what he’d seen and done himself, stayed for dinner and then left the next day.  Why hadn’t he asked if anything was wrong, instead of just assuming that everything was still all right?

 

Aang was glad to be doing what he could to help, but he was privately glad there was one thing he wouldn’t actually have to do, which was break the awful news to Mai’s parents and Fire Sage Shyu himself.  Iroh had said he’d send messenger hawks, the only creatures that could fly faster than a sky bison, to let them know what had happened and that Aang was coming to bring them to Ba Sing Se.  Just before sunset last night two different messenger hawks had screeched in greeting as they passed him and Appa, heading westwards with loaded message tubes; Aang figured the first one should have reached Omashu at least three hours ago.

 

When he reached the palace in Omashu, he guided Appa down to the courtyard where Flopsie played and slept; the giant gorilla-goat and sky bison had become buddies since the end of the war.  Flopsie came bounding up with a bellow of greeting, but Appa just groaned and flopped down to rest in the sun, while Aang hopped off his head.  He praised his buddy’s speed and endurance, used airbending to pile a few dozen cabbages right in front of Appa’s nose, then went inside the palace.

 

Bumi greeted him with a delighted cackle and his arms out wide in welcome, probably having been alerted by the guards of his arrival.  “Aang!  Good to see you again! Did those bureaucrats in Ba Sing Se finally stop stalling and bickering so Zuko and Kuei could sign the treaty?”

 

Aang’s heart sank a little at the snaggletoothed grin on Bumi’s face.  Bumi didn’t know yet… Had something happened to the messenger hawk? “Uh, yeah; it was signed two days ago, and they kept in that exports clause that you wanted.  You’ll probably be getting a copy of the treaty really soon.  But that’s not why I’m here, Bumi; do you know where I can find Fire Lady Mai’s parents, Den and Niji Tsumari?”

 

“Oh, they’re staying at home today; their little boy Tom-Tom has been sick with a bad case of flu.  Why, what’s happened?”

 

Aang swallowed hard; he hated giving news this bad to anybody, let alone his oldest friend…  “Mai’s dead.  She was poisoned by her midwife.”

 

Bumi stared at him in shock for a moment… then seemed to crumple a little.  His head bowed with grief, he suddenly looked every day of his 114 years of age. 

 

Aang quickly added, “But there’s some good news; Katara and Queen Song managed to save the baby!  It’s a boy; Zuko said before everything happened that they’d name him Roku.”

 

Bumi took a long, deep breath that seemed to pull not just air but a tiny bit more life back into him, and raised his head with a painful attempt at a smile.  “That is… good news indeed.”

 

Aang looked at Bumi, and suddenly realized anew that he still didn’t know much about what had happened to Bumi during all those years he’d been frozen in the iceberg.  His friend had gone from being the son of a minor nobleman who was about to be apprenticed to a glassmaker, to being the king of Omashu.  Aang had asked once about what his friend had been up to in the intervening century and how he’d ended up a king, but Bumi had said only, “It was a long and terrible war, Aang,” and changed the subject.  Now Aang wondered: had Bumi ever gotten married and had kids, like Kuei and Zuko did?  If so, what had happened to them? 

 

But there would be another time to ask those questions, and see if Bumi wanted to answer them.  Today, Aang asked for directions to the Tsumari family’s home.

 

Bumi accompanied him to the ambassador’s home, and when he knocked on the door a servant silently let them in.  Mai’s father was waiting for them in the parlor with his head bowed, wearing robes of pure white for mourning.  Aang was shamefacedly glad that the messenger hawk had reached them after all, and he’d been spared the awful task of breaking someone else’s heart.  Mai’s mother was also dressed in white, but sorrowfully explained that she could not accompany Aang back to Ba Sing Se; Tom-Tom wasn’t fit to travel and someone had to stay with him.

 

“He’ll stay with me in the palace,” Bumi said abruptly, looking more solemn then Aang had ever seen him before.  “I insist, Lady Tsumari; my staff and I will mind Tom-Tom while you go to your daughter’s funeral.  Take as many days as you need, to grieve for your daughter and settle her affairs; I swear to you that Tom-Tom will be in good hands.”

 

 

In short order both husband and wife were packed and ready to leave, and Tom-Tom was taken back to the palace with Bumi, riding on the king’s own shoulders.  As Aang led them to where Appa was staying, Mai’s mother kept saying over and over, “Poisoned by her midwife.  I can’t believe… I wrote a letter to Mai agreeing with Lady Hiromi’s suggestion that they hire Mamushi for her nurse; she’d been such an excellent midwife for Tom-Tom’s birth!  I can’t believe…”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Back in Ba Sing Se, Zuko had asked for breakfast to be brought into his suite.  It was rude to decline dining with his hosts, the Earth King and Queen, but after everything that had happened yesterday—his wife’s murder, his child’s birth against all odds—all he wanted to do was hide away from the world with Roku, and do everything he could to make sure his son stayed alive.  Keep the prematurely born baby warm with his own body heat, and keep him safe from assassins with his own power and his loyal guards. 

 

Roku was tucked in a baby sling inside Zuko’s robes, resting close to his heart, nearly every moment that his son wasn’t being fed or changed by the wet-nurse Ojia. Every shadow that flitted across the window, every sound from out in the hall, had Zuko tensing up and stirring his chi in fight-or-flight instinct.

 

But so far, there had been no actual threats to Roku’s safety.  His uncle had stopped in, to see Roku again and ask how well he’d slept (terribly; he’d been woken three times by Roku needing feeding or changing.) Katara had stopped by to give Roku another healing session, making extra-sure he was healthy for being born premature.  Sokka, Suki and Ty Lee had each stopped in to see him and Roku as well, asking him how he was holding up and if there was anything they could do for him.

 

When the guard at the door cleared his throat, preparatory to the announcement that he had yet another visitor, Zuko bet himself it would be Song, who was the Earth Queen now but still a village healer at heart.  Or possibly Kuei or Hakoda, come to see Roku and share their stories of fatherhood.  But to his mild surprise, it was his uncle again, looking sadly resigned. 

 

“What’s happened?” Zuko asked.  “Trouble with the Chihei?” His uncle had volunteered to act in his stead for the next few days, screening his messages and dealing with the ones he could, while starting the long-range investigation into the nobles who had arranged Mai’s assassination.  The Fire Nation was too far away for even the fastest messenger hawk to reach there and back in less than a day, so the trouble had to be relatively local, such as the royal yacht in the harbor.

 

“No, the Chihei is fine, though I imagine they’re draped in white right now; your captain sent a message back expressing his sincere sorrow on behalf of the entire crew.  But I have other news.  Your wife’s personal maids…”

 

“Miren and Luli?  What about them?” Zuko suddenly realized that he hadn’t seen them since he’d run from the waiting room yesterday. Not that there would have been any reason for Mai’s servants to be in his chambers now, with Mai dead and… “Oh no.  No, tell me they didn’t…”

 

Iroh bowed his head in sorrow.  “Their bodies were found lying at Mai’s feet in the crypt.  Lying as if asleep, but… When I asked them to dispose of the poisoned tea the nurse had made, they must have decided to drink it instead of pour it down a drain.”

 

Zuko tiredly cursed—then froze, remembering his infant son’s tender ears. “Sorry; forget I said that,” he muttered as he peeked down at the bundle inside his robes, before addressing his uncle again. “I told them I didn’t blame them for what happened! Toph confirmed that they weren’t involved in the nurse’s plot!”

 

“It may be that they still blamed themselves for not preventing her death; for not guessing the nurse’s intentions somehow.  Or perhaps they felt that they had no future back in the Fire Nation after their Lady’s death, or that honor demanded they serve her just as loyally in the next life. I do not know, nephew; they left no note, nor told anyone of their intentions.”  Iroh sighed heavily, then continued. “I shall make arrangements with the Earth King’s majordomo to hold a funeral for them both this afternoon, rather than wait for Aang’s return with the Fire Sage.  I can say the formal words that the sage would say on their behalf, but… personal eulogies for them are beyond me; I did not even know their names until one of your guards told me, after their bodies were found.”

 

Zuko nodded, his throat suddenly tight. “I’ll work up eulogies for them.” He really hadn’t paid that much attention to them, since they’d been Mai’s attendants instead of his, but he knew at least a little about their personal lives—neither had been married, though Miren had been seeing a gardener back in the palace—and he knew what Mai had thought of them.  He’d also ask his valets and guards if they’d like to contribute something as well.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

That afternoon, Iroh sat in Zuko’s suite with his newborn grandson in his arms. It was the only way Zuko had felt comfortable leaving the suite and Roku, even long enough for the servants’ joint funeral; with someone that he completely trusted right there to watch over his son.  And keep the baby warm, as well; Iroh had been a bit bemused when Zuko had insisted he take his tunic off, but he’d never been particularly concerned with modesty.  Now he sat on the bed with his tunic loosely draped over himself and Roku sleeping in his arms, while the notes of a funeral dirge came faintly through the window.

 

Other than the faint music coming from outside, the room was silent.  Normally Iroh appreciated the value of silence, but not today, because it allowed the inner voices of self-recrimination to be heard all too clearly.

 

His nephew had been stubborn and secretive and unwilling to ask for help in investigating all the assassination attempts, and now his beloved wife was dead.  But Iroh knew the blame did not lie solely with Zuko; there was plenty of it to spread around those who knew him best. Particularly those who had been doing much the same thing, keeping secrets about their troubles…

 

Iroh had not survived seventeen assassination attempts in seven months; no, instead he had survived ten of them over the past eighteen months, ever since reopening the Jasmine Dragon under his true name.  Nor had he told any of his friends and family of the attempts, either; they would have insisted he close the shop and move somewhere safer, where he would have guards protecting him night and day.  And they would not have understood that he had made such a point of ‘retiring’ to Ba Sing Se precisely so he would be an apparently easier target for assassins; for those people of the Earth Kingdom who would not be satisfied with an end to the war, and demanded vengeance for all their slain kin.

 

Knowing well that he’d been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Earth Kingdom soldiers, Iroh had stayed in Ba Sing Se to make a tempting target for those seeking vengeance; drawing what danger he could away from the vulnerable colonies and the home islands.  And in the letters he’d written to his nephew and to the Avatar’s friends, he’d never mentioned the assassins he’d faced and defeated; no, he’d kept his letters filled with cheerful gossip, tea-related wisdom and assurances that everything was fine.

 

He’d spent over three years accompanying his nephew as they traveled the world, advising him whether Zuko would accept his advice or not; during that time, a lesson must have sunk in that he’d never intended to teach.  The first post-wedding assassination attempt on Zuko and Mai must have happened less than six weeks after they were married, because as near as he could recall, that was when the frequent letters from Zuko had started including assurances that everything was fine.

 

Why, why hadn’t he realized…!

 

And why hadn’t he ever realized that Mai’s nurse and midwife had been hired too late to have undergone one of Toph’s amazing ‘lie-detector’ loyalty checks?  He’d known that, known that Toph had come back with him to Ba Sing Se only a week after the wedding and long before Mai’s pregnancy had been announced, but he’d never given it a second thought.  Even though he’d been on hand during four of the interviews Toph had done with Mai three days before the wedding, determining the loyalties and trustworthiness of the extra staff that Zuko had hired on for the grand occasion, and watched as one servant failed the interview and was not only summarily fired, but taken away by the city guards on charges of burglary.  Mai had been so careful in her hiring of all the people who guarded and served her husband or regularly came in proximity to him; why hadn’t she been as careful with someone hired only to serve her?

 

Roku whimpered in his arms, drawing Iroh’s attentions away from his morbid thoughts.  He gazed down at the squashed-looking features common to all newborns, remembering anew how Lu Ten and Zuko had looked right after they were born.  Lu Ten had been a blessing straight from Agni, a large and healthy child who’d cried little and smiled nearly from birth; by contrast, Zuko had been small and sickly, born early and struggling for every breath he took.  Little Roku was as small as Zuko had been, but his coloring already looked healthier than newborn Zuko’s had—thank Agni for Katara’s healing ability—and he breathed easily.  “Hello, grandson,” Iroh murmured fondly, gazing into blinking eyes that were as gold as his own.  “Did you have a good little nap?”

 

He’d had a good nap, and if the tiny mouth pursing open and closed was any indication, now Roku was ready for a good meal.  Iroh sent a guard to fetch the wet-nurse from the suite next door.  But as the guard walked out, Zuko walked in, with Song at his side; Song was saying, “…appreciate your adding that while you respected their choice, you would rather they had chosen to stay in this world instead.  Spirits forbid that either Kuei or I die any time soon, but if something happens, I wouldn’t want any of our servants thinking they’re obligated to kill themselves and follow us to the Spirit World.” The mildly exasperated look she gave her two attendants as she waved them back to stay outside the suite, said without words that she still wasn’t entirely content with servants following her around in this world. 

 

After accepting his son back from Iroh’s arms and cuddling him for a few moments, Zuko gingerly handed him over for Song to hold, and she cooed over him for a few moments.  “He has your eyes, Zuko; he’s going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up.  He has a fine healthy grip, too,” she added with a smile as the baby grabbed at her finger.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

The funeral for Miren and Luli had been an ordeal for Zuko.  He’d made a point of saying a few words at the funerals of every guard and servant that had died trying to protect him or Mai in the prior assassination attempts, but he’d never had to deal with deliberate suicides before.  He’d had to struggle to find the right words to honor their spirits, when if he’d known yesterday what they had planned, he’d have incinerated that cursed teapot before they could touch it and then ordered some guards to sit on those women until they started being sensible again.  Nine good men had already died in the prior attempts to kill him and his family; what the crawling Koh had made them think it would be a good idea to add to the body count?!

 

But he’d made it through the funeral and back to his suite, and started feeling somewhat better as soon as he had his son safe in his arms again.  He’d let Song hold his baby boy for a while, and then Ojia had him for feeding and changing. But after Song had to leave for her royal duties and Ojia was dismissed, he sat in his suite with his son in his arms and his uncle at his side, and tried to just be and live in the moment.  He didn’t succeed too well; meditating with babies is extremely different from meditating with candles.  But even though tears of grief for Mai kept slipping out, so long as his uncle and son were with him he managed to keep from falling into the well of despair again

 

At around dinnertime, soon after Katara came in to give Roku another healing checkup, Zuko heard a knock on the door and his guard informing him that Chief Hakoda wished to see him.  He granted permission to enter, and the Chief came in with a sympathetic smile for him and a small leather pouch in his hand.  “I’ve been down in the harbor with my crew,” Hakoda informed him. “My tribe’s shaman came with us, and he spent most of the day working on this talisman for Roku.”

 

Zuko eyed the small bone-and-sinew talisman Hakoda pulled out of the pouch and remarked, “It looks like the same one you brought in yesterday for the birthing.”

 

Hakoda nodded. “I’ll admit I know very little of spirit workings, and even less when dealing with women giving birth, but no one even knew anything was wrong yesterday until the talisman was brought into the birthing room.  It could be just coincidence, but since the plot was discovered in time for Katara to save the baby, if not the mother…” He paused to give Zuko another look of pained sympathy—Hakoda was also a widower, and probably knew exactly how much pain Zuko was in right now—he continued, “I took it back down to the ship and asked our shaman to layer as many blessings and protections as he could over the blessings that Kanna had already woven into its making.” He gently touched the talisman to Roku’s feet, then to the top of his head, before handing it to Zuko. “Keep this hanging within two feet of Roku’s crib.  And every full moon, set it out in the moonlight for at least two hours, then touch it to Roku’s feet and the crown of his head again to renew the protection against diseases.”

 

Zuko gratefully accepted the talisman from his fellow sovereign, setting it next to his pillow. When Hakoda asked if he could hold Roku, he agreed after only a moment’s hesitation that he hoped hadn’t shown; he didn’t really know Hakoda, having met him even fewer times than he’d met Kuei, but the man who’d raised Katara and Sokka was obviously a good and experienced father. 

 

The Southern Water Tribe chief’s hands were roughened from years of hard work and exposure to the elements, but his touch was gentle and sure, and his smile a little wistful as he said, “I remember when Sokka and Katara were no bigger than this… Cherish every moment with him, Zuko, even the moments when he cries and cries for absolutely no reason you can figure out.  The utter dependency of babyhood seems endless at first but is actually fleeting, and one day you’ll turn around and discover your son has grown to manhood while you weren’t looking.”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

The next day, Aang and Appa returned to Ba Sing Se with the passengers they had been sent to bring for the funeral.  But so much flying, at the fastest pace he could maintain, wore out even the great sky bison’s vast reserves of energy. The vast outer walls of Ba Sing Se were within sight when Appa finally sank to the ground and gave a moan of exhaustion, telling his friend he could go no further.  “It’s okay, buddy; I know you did your best,” Aang said comfortingly as he stroked Appa’s broad forehead.  “I’m sorry, I asked too much of you…”

 

“So… what are we to do now?” Mai’s father Den Tsumari asked.  “Just walk the rest of the way?”

 

“The spirits may well require us to do so,” Fire Sage Shyu said softly.  “Less than two years ago, our people were striding across this land as conquerors, taking what was never rightfully ours; they may see it as suitable penance that we are forced to walk as beggars now.”

 

“The spirits would have us begging at the walls to be allowed in, to attend our own daughter’s funeral?!” the former governor and current ambassador’s face flushed red.  “I refuse to believe that!”

 

“Let’s not lose our tempers, here,” Aang said hastily.  “It will take longer and you’ll have to hold on tight, but I can take you one at a time on my glider, right up to the palace in the center of Ba Sing Se.  Just let me see to Appa for a few minutes, and then we can go.”

 

But as Aang was bending earth and water to make a clear refreshing pool for Appa to drink from, he noticed a cloud of dust starting at the base of the walls of Ba Sing Se.  A cloud of dust getting larger… no, closer…

 

“I’m willing to bet that’s someone coming out for us,” Aang said, before he flipped out his glider and went aloft for a better look.  He came back down, grinning.  “I was right; I’d know that style anywhere!  It’s Toph, the greatest earthbender ever!”

 

Toph and company: the rumbling grew louder and louder, till it was deafening and the cloud of dust had nearly engulfed them, when abruptly all sound stopped.  When the dust settled, Toph, Katara and Sokka stood before them on a raised platform of earth, along with six agents of Toph’s New Dai Li.  “Hey, Twinkletoes; the guards on the wall saw Appa coming down here. What happened? Everyone in one piece?” Toph asked with concern.

 

“We’re all okay, but Appa’s too exhausted to fly any more; I pushed him way too hard,” Aang said sadly.  “Can you give these folks a lift up to the palace?”

 

“We can give everyone a lift, Twinkletoes,” Toph said confidently.  “Can’t we, guys?”

 

“Yes, Sir!” the New Dai Li agents chorused.

 

“Maneuver Seven!”

 

And suddenly the ground that Appa was lying on was raised up into the air, pool of water, sky bison and all the Fire Nation people together, as they gasped and clutched at each other for balance. Toph’s platform rumbled forward until the two wide pillars of earth touched, then merged without spilling a single drop of water.  Toph patted Appa’s head, now within arm’s reach.  “We practiced that one with you in mind, Fuzzy… Maneuver Four, and double-time!”

 

“Wow… you’ve really trained them well,” Aang said admiringly as they returned to Ba Sing Se, the agents moving the earth smoothly and at three times the speed of a sprinter; nearly as fast as he’d seen Toph earth-travel solo, and Toph in a hurry could move.

 

Toph grinned as she tipped her round Earth Kingdom helmet back.  “You want the best agents, you start with the best teacher!”  Not a model of modesty, but then, the people who really knew Toph said she never actually bragged; she just stated who she was and what she could do very well indeed.

 

Now that her face wasn’t shadowed by the helmet, Mai’s father stared at Toph, then said hesitantly, “Pardon me, but… are you… blind?”

 

“Yup,” she said with a sharp nod.  “Pardon me, but are you the guy King Bumi sent packing out of Omashu during the eclipse?”

 

“Toph!  Let’s not be rude to them; remember why they’re here,” Katara scolded.  Then she turned to Mai’s parents and said somewhat apologetically, “Toph is always blunt and to the point, but she’s saved our lives more times than we can count.”

 

“…‘She’s saved’… you’re a girl?” Mai’s mother Niji Tsumari said in disbelief. “But… I heard all the others call you ‘sir’…”

 

Sokka shrugged.  “When you’re the greatest earthbender ever, and you want your students to call you sir… they call you sir!”

 

After riding the earth wave for another minute or two, Aang snapped out his glider and flew ahead to the palace to let everyone there know that everything was okay, Appa was just exhausted, and the entire party would be there soon.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

By the time Toph had brought Appa and the funeral attendees up to the palace, Mai’s body had been brought up from the cooling crypt and the funeral pyre prepared, and a bevy of Song and Kuei’s servants stood ready to dress everyone in fresh white clothing for mourning.

 

Soon everyone was gathered in a palace courtyard for the funeral. In addition to Zuko and Mai’s friends and family, Captain Bunjiro of the Chihei stood solemnly in his dress uniform, draped with a white surcoat for mourning; representing the entire crew of the Fire Lord’s yacht as they grieved for their sovereign Lady. The Earth King and Queen were also in attendance, with a large contingent of Earth Kingdom nobles standing in ranks behind them.  Everyone knew without asking that the nobles were there not because they’d cared at all about the Fire Lady, but for appearances and in hopes of currying favor with their own sovereign.

 

Fire Sage Shyu began the ceremony with a recitation of Mai’s noble lineage, and who had survived her death and would honor her memory.  Then he nodded to Zuko, whose face was nearly expressionless but whose voice occasionally cracked with grief as he struggled to convey to both friends and total strangers how much Mai had meant to him, while still keeping the composure required of the Fire Lord.  He spoke of her supreme loyalty, her calm sensibility, her rare smiles, her deadly accuracy with weapons; their childhood together, the years she had spent faithfully waiting for him during his banishment, and everything she had faced since then for his sake… and when he could speak no more, he nodded to Mai’s father.

 

Den Tsumari nodded back to Zuko, then began, “Mai’s mother and I were so very proud of our honorable daughter and her accomplishments; her beauty, her grace and her perfect poise in all public situations. She was a good and dutiful daughter--”

 

“Dutiful.” Zuko unexpectedly gave a harsh, barking laugh that had nothing of joy in it.  “Oh, yes, she knew her duty,” as he turned and glared at Mai’s parents.  “You taught her too damn well what her duty to you was: to be seen but not heard, to behave perfectly at all times, to keep her mouth shut and never do anything that might possibly affect her father’s political career, like smile at the wrong sort of people or, spirits forbid, actually laugh and enjoy herself… D’you know what it took for me to get her to even giggle? I had to--”

 

“Zuko!” as Iroh gripped his shoulder, pulling him back.  “Not here, nephew; not now.  Not now…” Iroh’s look to Mai’s parents was both apology for Zuko’s outburst, and warning them not to say another word.

 

“S-sorry,” Zuko finally choked out, unable to face them, his fists smoldering.  “I… spoke out of turn.”

 

The Tsumari couple were alternating white and red with mingled astonishment and outrage at Zuko’s outburst, but they said nothing, mutely nodding acceptance of the apology.  Den Tsumari stuttered out a few more words, then gave up and nodded to Fire Sage Shyu, who cleared his throat and continued the ceremony. 

 

A few more ceremonial phrases and then Shyu gestured to the other three firebenders present, Zuko, Iroh, and Aang.  They all stepped forward to stand next to Shyu, facing the funeral pyre.  “Children of Agni are born in fire, and we die in fire.  We return Fire Lady Mai’s body to ash so that, like the phoenix, her soul may be freed to travel on to the next life,” Shyu intoned. And with that, he sent forth a burst of fire, setting the funeral pyre alight.

 

That was the signal for the others to do the same; fire shot out of their fingers and into the oil-soaked wood, setting it ablaze.  Zuko’s face was contorted with the effort to hold back his tears, as the flames grew higher; Aang and Iroh let the tears run silently down their cheeks, to dry in the heat emanating from the pyre.  Shyu called out as the flames grew white-hot, “Agni, we pray you receive Mai’s spirit with the warmth that is due a good and honorable daughter, and guide her to the house of her ancestors.”

 

That was the end of the official ceremony.  After a few long minutes of silence as the flames burned on, the Fire Sage bowed to Zuko and Aang, and turned back towards the Earth King’s palace. The Tsumari couple bowed to Zuko, then to the pyre, and then likewise turned away.  The others felt somewhat guilty about doing the same, but the air temperature so close to the pyre had gone from warm to hot to please-let-me-get-away-before-I-roast.  When Kuei and Song bowed and left, the Earth Kingdom nobles who had felt obligated to attend as well, walked away as quickly as their dignity would allow.

 

Within minutes, only Zuko and his uncle remained. Zuko stared fixedly at some point ten feet above his wife’s funeral pyre, where the flames turned from white-hot back to gold again, as if searching for her ascending spirit. Iroh kept his sad gaze on Zuko, and a hand on his nephew’s shoulder.  And they stood there together, until the flames died to ashes.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Back inside the palace, the funeral attendees were experiencing what could best be called an ‘awkward moment’.  Mai’s parents naturally wanted to see their grandson, but there hadn’t been time in the rush of preparations before the funeral.  Now that it was over, Aang took them to the door of the wet-nurse’s suite… and that’s as far as they got.

 

The door was blocked by four men in uniform; two of Zuko’s personal guard, and two agents from Toph’s New Dai Li.  The Fire Nation guards recognized Mai’s parents as the infants prince’s grandparents and were prepared to step aside for them, but the Dai Li agents stood their ground and politely but firmly told them that no, they could not enter.  The wet-nurse was inside with the baby, and they had orders to let no one else in without express permission from the Fire Lord himself.

 

“Uh, sorry; I didn’t think this would happen,” Toph said, blushing. “See, Zuko’s kinda paranoid about strangers right now; for good reason. I loaned him four of my best agents, so he’d know the kid would be safe long enough for him to attend the funeral and take care of other business.  They’re taking his orders for now, instead of mine… He put Phan on station at the window, right?” she asked her agents at the door.  When they nodded, she finished, “Which means Duon should be down below, on watch for anyone trying to sneak in via earthbending.  And I didn’t loan him Longshot and Smellerbee, but they’re up on the roof keeping lookout anyway; they felt like they sorta owed it to Zuko to help keep watch.”

 

“But if these are your agents, can’t you tell them to let us in to see our grandson?”  Niji Tsumari protested.

 

Toph was silent a moment, then said slowly, “I could, but I’m not going to do that.  I gave Zuko my people, and I gave him my word.  And he’s been through enough lately; he doesn’t need to start worrying about whether or not he can trust his closest friends to keep their promises.”

 

Aang had been about to ask Toph the same thing, but Niji had spoken first; now, his face reddening in embarrassment, he was glad he hadn’t.  “But this isn’t that big a deal; I’m sure that when Zuko comes inside, he’ll let you in to see the baby himself,” he said hastily.  “Besides, I don’t hear little Roku crying right now; that means he’s either sleeping, or—um, feeding. If you walked in on his feeding, that would be really embarrassing, and if he’s sleeping, Zuko wouldn’t appreciate it at all if you woke him up.  While we’re waiting for Zuko, why not come with me to the parlor on this floor?  I think there are refreshments waiting for us…”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

There were indeed refreshments in the parlor.  While munching on appetizers and waiting for Zuko and Iroh to come in, everyone traded their favorite stories or impressions of Mai.  Ty Lee did most of the talking, as she’d known Mai since they were six years old.  Stories of how Mai had started throwing knives at targets for fun, and how at first her throws had gone all over the place; the first time Ty Lee had ever seen her give a genuine smile, which was also the first time she’d scored a perfect bullseye; some of their adventures with Azula at the Fire Academy for Girls. 

 

Mai’s parents spent more time listening to Ty Lee and the others than offering their own stories about their daughter.  Niji did most of the talking, when she did choose to share her stories of Mai; most of them were about Mai as a child, before she’d started attending the Fire Academy.  Den contributed a few times, but more often than not, it was to compare and contrast one of Mai’s childhood escapades to their young son’s current activities back in Omashu.  Everyone heard that Tom-Tom wasn’t with them because he was sick from some childhood illness, and King Bumi was personally minding him; Katara silently wondered if that meant Bumi and Tom-Tom were currently sailing down the mail chutes at breakneck speeds, laughing like maniacs.

 

Eventually, Zuko and Iroh came back inside.  Before they could get anything to eat from the buffet table, Niji sweetly but pointedly requested to see her grandson.  Zuko flushed, apologized for not telling the guards that grandparents were the exception to the ‘no visitors’ rule, and went himself to bring his son out to the parlor for them to admire.

 

“Such a darling little boy,” Niji cooed, as Zuko very carefully rested little Roku in her arms.  “Look, dearest; he’s going to have Mai’s nose when he gets older.  When Mai was a baby, she had just that same adorable nose…”

 

Den Tsumari nodded, but his expression was bemused. Katara had the definite impression that the older man was nodding just to please his wife, instead of actually seeing the resemblance.  But why couldn’t he see it?  Roku had Zuko’s eyes and hair, but Mai’s nose… and her chin, too. Anyone who’d ever really looked at Mai could see that; why couldn’t he?  …Hadn’t he ever really looked at his daughter?

 

It didn’t make sense; she knew the former governor loved his boy Tom-Tom, because he’d written the letter offering to exchange King Bumi for him when they thought that their son had been taken hostage.  If he loved his son that much, why didn’t he…

 

Oh.  Right.

 

Tom-Tom was his son. 

 

A boy; an heir, to carry on the family name, and perhaps follow in his father’s footsteps.  Mai… Mai had been a girl.  And Katara knew well that to some fathers, girls just weren’t worth as much as boys; were barely worth more than servants, really. Valued only for their drudge work as they were growing up, doing all the household chores that were considered beneath a man’s dignity; then once they were of age, valued only for the political or economic advantages their marriage could bring to their families. 

 

That just fit too well the rant that Zuko had unleashed on them at the funeral, before his uncle had stopped him.  All that Den Tsumari had really cared about was that his daughter didn’t do anything to embarrass him, and that she married well…

 

And a girl couldn’t get much better than marrying the new Fire Lord, could she?  Oh, Mai had almost certainly gotten a ‘well done’ from him for accomplishing that, at least.

 

But no wonder Azula had been able to persuade Mai, years ago, to refuse to exchange King Bumi for her little brother.  To see Tom-Tom get all the attention and affection from her father that she’d never gotten from him… it would make any older sibling wild with jealousy; the kind of jealousy that made it hard to resist temptation.  Thank Tui and La her father was a good man, and had treated her and her brother as equally important!

 

Poor Mai.  At least Zuko had really loved her for who she was, not what she could do for him…

 

And while Katara’s mind had wandered, Niji and Den Tsumari had somehow managed to bring the subject around to Tom-Tom again. Right after Mai’s funeral, no less! As if they were out to prove to everyone just how much more they valued their son over their daughter… Wait, what were they saying about the boys playing together?

 

“Oh, I know some folks might think it odd for an uncle and nephew to be so near the same age, and grow up together under the same roof.  But nobody who’s really important in court will say a word, I’m sure; everyone will understand.  After we move back home, we can--” 

 

“Wait; what?” Zuko interrupted Niji’s chatter.  “What was that about growing up together under the same roof? I don’t recall asking you to send Tom-Tom to come live in the palace…”

 

“(ahem) Well, if you preferred to do that then we would certainly do our best to oblige the Fire Lord’s wishes,” Niji said with a nervous laugh.  “But in truth, my lord, we would much prefer to accompany him to the palace, to raise them both together.  With no mother to look out for Roku, and with his father kept busy running the entire Fire Nation, isn’t it obvious that his grandparents should step in to raise him? But given the, ah, tension between us, it would perhaps be better if we took Roku to our own home to live; we can put him in the room--”

 

Zuko moved; a burst of speed that Katara hadn’t seen from him since the Agni Kai with Azula.  One moment he’d been just hovering nearby like any anxious father, while Niji held the baby… and in the next moment he was on the far side of the room, clutching Roku to his chest and hissing, “No!”

 

Startled, Roku started crying, and Zuko clutched him tighter as he forced through gritted teeth, “No one.  Is ever.  Ever!  Taking my son from me!”

 

“B-but… But I didn’t mean it that way!” Niji protested, looking around her for support. 

 

Whatever support she was looking for, she wouldn’t get it from Water Tribe people.  “Oh, really?” Sokka drawled, casually stepping in between them and Zuko, his eyes hard as he stared at them.  “Sure sounded like it to me.”

 

Katara summoned water from a nearby vase, and drew it around her in a bright glittering arc as she stepped up beside her brother. After the conclusions she’d come to a few moments ago, she was more than happy to have a genuine reason to confront them! “Sounded that way to me, too. And that’s not gonna happen.”

 

Aang stared at them all in surprise, then raised his hands as he said soothingly, “Let’s everyone just calm down, okay?  It’s been a long and emotionally hard day; we’re all feeling stressed.  I don’t think Mai would want us to be fighting like this just now…”

 

“Indeed, I am sure she would not,” Iroh said as he also stepped forward with his hands raised in peace.  But his gaze was hard and level, and directed right at Mai’s parents.  “Just as I am sure that today is not a good day to speak of coming between a father and son, whether well-meaning or not.  Instead, let us talk of more pleasant things...  such as the many wonders of the city you have come to. Tell me, have you ever considered taking a tour of Ba Sing Se?  No? Then as our guests, let me arrange that tour for you; I’m sure you’ll find it interesting…”

 

In very short order, Iroh arranged with Kuei’s new Secretariat for Mai’s parents to be given a grand tour of Ba Sing Se.  They would be shown all the cultural museums, the most important shrines, the few natural wonders that had been carefully preserved as the city was built around them, and the festivals—Ba Sing Se was so vast and had such a long colorful history that on any given day, there was a festival of some sort going on somewhere. 

 

The new Secretariat, Yáng Shēng, gave the Tsumari couple his personal assurances that as the Earth King’s honored guests, they’d have a wonderful time on the tour; he would send one of his own secretaries and a contingent of the royal palace guards with them to ensure both their safety and their entertainment.  nd when Den asked bemusedly how long the tour would take, Shēng said cheerfully, “Oh, at least four days, but rest assured we’ll see to your comfort as well as your entertainment and safety every step of the way!  Now, would you like to inspect your palanquin and bearers before you set off?”  And as the Fire Nation couple stepped outside, he stepped close to Iroh and whispered, “Is four days enough?”

 

“Can you make it six?” Iroh whispered back, after consulting with Aang about how many days it would probably take Appa to fully recover and be ready for cross-country flying again.

 

“Easily,” Yáng Shēng smiled.  As he went out the door after the Tsumari couple, they heard his voice floating back inside, “Oh, and we mustn’t forget the lakes in the Outer Ring!  A grand tour really isn’t complete without experiencing the serenity of drifting peacefully across Lake Wansei…”

 

“Wow… he’s good,” Suki said, staring out the window at the scene outside.  “I mean, those people must know they’re being deliberately gotten out of the way, after what just happened… but he’s got them smiling!”

 

“Oh yeah, he’s good,” Toph agreed emphatically.  “You should hear what he does at court, when someone wants to give Kuei trouble; he can have the troublemaker twisting himself into knots in no time flat!  I call it ‘people-bending’,” she added with a lopsided grin.  “And he’s a master…”

 

“Are we sure that’s a good thing?” as Aang stared out the window as well.  “Remember Long Feng.  And Azula; she was a master ‘people-bender’, before she went completely insane…”

 

“Oh, I remember,” Toph said, momentarily scowling.  “But Yáng Shēng’s different.  For one thing, he’s really and sincerely loyal to Kuei.”

 

“You’re absolutely certain of that?” Sokka asked her, frowning.  “I remember that Azula was so skilled at lying, she could fool even your senses…”

 

Toph raised a hand to forestall his worries.  “Checked him and double-checked him, Snoozles; he’s solid.  I won’t go into details, but he’s got real good reason to be loyal to Kuei; just leave it at that.  Besides, he and I have an understanding.  He knows that if he ever betrays Kuei, or does anything to endanger any of you, they’ll never find the body.”

 

Katara blinked at the hard finality of those words.  Toph was dead serious…  Living in Ba Sing Se for the past year, helping the Earth King restore his throne and cleanse the city of Long Feng’s corruption, must have involved a lot more grim work than she’d ever told them about.

 

Toph was the youngest of their odd little family; she’d just turned fourteen years old two months ago, and she could still pass as someone even younger.  She was the youngest, but just now, she seemed so much older…

 

Then Iroh smiled, with a teasing glint in his eye.  “And that understanding goes both ways, doesn’t it?  If you lose your temper on too grand a scale, or your New Dai Li begin to act in less than the best interests of the city…”

 

Toph blew out an irritated puff of air, and glared in Iroh’s general direction as she admitted, “Then Yáng Shēng invites my parents to come live in the royal palace for a year.”

 

Katara tried not to snicker out loud, she really did, but Aang and Sokka didn’t even try to restrain themselves.  And they were still snickering, as they split up to go find Zuko.  Even before Iroh had called in Yáng Shēng to sweep Mai’s parents out of the palace, Zuko had disappeared from the parlor with his son. With the trademark sneakiness of the Blue Spirit, he’d been there in the room one moment and gone the next, with no one seeing which door he’d taken.

 

They probably wouldn’t have found him for hours, if they hadn’t heard the singing.  Toph heard it first, ever-so-faintly, wafting in through a window while she and Katara were checking rooms on the third floor of their wing.  By the time they made their way out of the palace, they’d run into and collected Iroh and Hakoda as well.

 

Walking into the royal stables, they found a small group of stablehands for the ostrich-horses, all clustering in mingled awe, fear and wonder around a ladder to the hayloft.  Down from the hayloft the song floated, from a rasping voice not really made for singing but giving it his best try. “Leaves from the vine, falling so slow. Like fragile, tiny shells, drifting in the foam… Little soldier boy, come marching home. Brave soldier boy, comes marching home...”

 

“I swear, none of us know how he got past us and up there,” the stable master told Iroh quietly, shaking his head.  “When we heard the singing start a few minutes ago, I went up for a look, and--” He swallowed hard. “He made it really clear we should leave him alone…”

 

“No doubt,” Iroh said wryly.  He raised his voice.  “Nephew?”

 

The singing paused.  Zuko’s voice quietly wafted down, sounding resigned.  “You can come up.”

 

One by one they went up the ladder, to find Zuko had tucked himself into a corner of the hayloft, with his robes undone to leave his chest bare and little Roku cradled there to warm him. The baby was restive, his arms twitching spasmodically in the way of newborns who are still developing basic motor functions, and whimpering around his pacifier.  He quieted down as Zuko began crooning once more, “Leaves from the vine, falling so slow…”

 

“Um, Sparky, don’t you think that coming all the way out here to hide from your in-laws is… overreacting, just a little?”  Toph suggested.  “Particularly for, you know, the Fire Lord?”

 

“This is not the reaction of a Fire Lord; it is the reaction of a father,” Iroh said grimly.  “One who has lost too much already.”  He walked over to where Zuko was sitting and sat down next to him, resting a hand on his nephew’s shoulder as he too began singing; Katara figured the song must be a classic Fire Nation lullaby.

 

Little Roku finally gave a little yawn and fell asleep in his father’s lap.  Iroh carefully stroked the baby’s cheek with a finger, then said softly, “Zuko…  Now that we know what their intentions are, I swear to you, I will never let them come between you and your son.”

 

Hakoda had been elsewhere at the confrontation, having a philosophical discussion of sorts with the Fire Sage while Shyu verified that the ‘conquered’ room of the palace was indeed Fire Nation territory; he’d gotten a second-hand version of events when the search had begun.  Now he cocked an eyebrow at Iroh as he asked, “Do you really think that’s what they were planning to do?  Not just help in raising Zuko’s son, but take him to raise as their own?’

 

“It is possible that they were truly motivated by grandparental affection, and sought only to help… but given what I know of them, and what little Mai ever spoke of them, I doubt it.  As to why… political advantage,” Iroh sighed.  “Living in the palace, acknowledged as kin to the Fire Lord, would raise their status in court tremendously.  Or if Zuko refused to allow them under his roof, if he instead sent Roku to live with them--”

 

“Never.” Zuko’s instant response was as hard and flat as a steel blade.

 

“Of course not,” Iroh said soothingly.  “I speak merely of what they are hoping for.  Newborn as he is, Roku is still a Prince and Heir to the Fire Throne.  To be able to claim the Heir as living under their roof, would raise their status in court even more than if they were living in the palace proper.  Zuko would be obligated to give Den nearly any posting he desired, including a seat on the high council, in return for fostering his son. And if they grew up together, when he came of age, Roku would be even more obligated to ensure their beloved son Tom-Tom has a bright political future.”

 

“Political advantages.” Hakoda spat.  “And people wondered why we kept our villages small even before the war, no more than fifty families to a settlement.  Not that keeping communities to a smaller scale completely gets rid of the political backbiting, but there’s not nearly as much of it.”

 

Still cradling Roku, Zuko said in a voice raw with pain and grief, “Mai’s parents treated her more like a porcelain doll, an object of value designed to sit still and look pretty, than a person with her own mind and her own needs. She’d curse me forever from the Spirit World if I let them raise our child too, and teach him to think of all women that way.”

 

“That will never happen,” Iroh quietly promised again.  Then they left the stables as a group and went back inside the palace, not-quite-deliberately making a diamond formation around Zuko and Roku, to shield father and son from anyone who might approach.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

That evening, after dinner, Sokka approached Queen Song with a determined air and what she thought was a rather unusual request.  One that she readily granted, but it was still unusual for such a renowned warrior…

 

To be continued

Notes:

Mai’s funeral was markedly different from the funeral for Fire Lord Azulon that we saw in the episode ‘Zuko Alone’; hers lasted longer, for one thing. But I figure that what we saw in ‘Zuko Alone’ was a highly abridged version of events on that day, which had not just a funeral but a coronation. A funeral for a head of state tends to take a looong time, and a coronation for a monarch can take even longer. But everything was seen from Little Zuko’s POV, and no kid pays really close attention to old men’s speeches during official ceremonies. What we saw was all that Zuko could clearly remember of that day, seven years later.

Also, regarding Mai’s parents: there are different schools of thought on what sort of people & parents they really were. On why Mai was, in her own words, “a rich only child who got anything I wanted. As long as I behaved…and sat still…and didn't speak unless spoken to. My mother said I had to keep out of trouble. We had my Dad's political career to think about” but Tom-Tom was so loved that his father was willing to give up King Bumi to get him back—which would have been guaranteed political suicide, if not a straight-up death sentence once the Fire Lord heard about it.

Every writer’s character interpretations for Mai’s parents are based on just a few fragments from the series: Mai’s brief outburst about her childhood in ‘The Beach’, exactly one short dialogue between mother and daughter in ‘Return to Omashu’, and the governor’s words to his troops and his wife in that same episode. We never actually heard Mai’s father say anything to her. (Heck, we never even found out her parents’ names!)

Some folks think that Mai's father was actually a decent guy, but her mother was an aggressive social climber and possibly an abusive alcoholic as well, who shouted and/or slapped Mai every time she stepped a toe out of line or did anything Mommy Dearest didn't like; since Daddy Milksop didn't do anything to stop the abuse, Mai learned to be coldly perfect at all times and avoid her mother as much as she could. (Cheerful baby Tom-Tom might have been in for similar treatment once he was old enough, but he might not; sometimes abusers confine all their damage to just one child, their chosen target.) This idea is reinforced by Azula's comment about Mai's mother being "controlling" right after Mai finally talked about her childhood in "The Beach". That may be only because Mai had said "my mother said" in her outburst; still, I've read more than a few 'Mommy Dearest'-type Mai-centric fics.

Some folks think Mai’s mother and father are actually both good people who just didn't understand what parenting involved when they were younger. And that Mai, sensitive child that she was, picked up on the worst of their trial-and-error as they figured out how to balance parenthood and a life in politics. By the time Tom-Tom came around they'd learned to put their children first and that sometimes it's best to just say 'kids will be kids' and clean up afterwards, but by then it was too late; Mai had already emotionally retreated from them and the rest of the world, and they just didn’t know how to bridge the gap and reach out to their teenaged daughter (I may use this approach in another series.)

But for this story I went with the idea that Mai's father was a typical Male Chauvinist Pig who thinks that all daughters are good for is marrying off for economic/political advantage (and breeding grandsons), and that Mai's mother was a typical meek woman who’d been raised to put the man's desires ahead of her own, and who tried to teach her daughter the same thing. I’ll admit that this concept is at odds with Mai learning to throw daggers and other projectile weapons; male chauvinists like their women meek and helpless, so they can ‘protect’ them from other men. But I think Mai started throwing daggers privately, both out of sheer boredom and as a way of secretly rebelling against her parents. When Azula found out about her habit, as Azula was quite skilled at ferreting out secrets, she encouraged Mai to keep it up. A girl possessing accuracy with blades at such a young age would be a useful ‘surprise weapon’ to have handy when court intrigues turn deadly. And when Mai’s father was informed that Princess Azula liked his daughter’s skill with blades, he realized his daughter could help him get a better government position even –before- she came of marrying age. Here, sweetie, have a few daggers for your birthday…

That Patriarchal mindset may seem to go against Fire Nation canon, where women held positions in law enforcement and Azula was (momentarily) crowned Fire Lord. But that mindset can exist even in progressive societies; if anyone doubts that it still exists in the U.S., type ‘Warren Jeffs’ into your web browsers and read the news articles.

Chapter 6: Coming Together

Notes:

I want to point out something now, to avoid confusion later. It’s pretty much public knowledge in the World of Avatar, that the Fire Lord and the Dragon of the West were once refugees struggling to make a living in Ba Sing Se. Everyone who knows the pair personally, knows with bone-deep certainty that Iroh would have happily stayed in Ba Sing Se with that first Jasmine Dragon tea shop if Azula hadn’t tricked her way into the city and led a coup on the very heart of the Earth Kingdom. They’re also reasonably sure that Zuko would have stayed with his uncle, learned even earlier to appreciate the simple joys of life and eventually settled down to a fairly happy life there, if not for Azula and her dangling an irresistible bait in front of her brother once more. But very, very few people actually know how Azula actually found her brother and uncle. The only people who know that Katara found them in the tea shop first, and ran straight to “Suki” to warn her, are Azula, Mai, Ty Lee and Katara herself.

Katara has never told anyone, because she feels still horribly embarrassed and guilty about it when she lets herself think of it at all. First, because she didn’t look past the facepaint and uniform to see that “Suki” was actually Azula, an even greater threat than Zuko. Then, after finally forgiving Zuko for what he did and becoming friends with him and Iroh, she felt even more guilty for not having instantly noticed all the differences in stance and attitude between the angry prince who had chased them around the world, and the waiter calling out to his uncle that they needed two jasmine, one green and one lychee. She knows now that it was her instant assumption that they were there as part of some evil Fire Nation plot, despite the fact that both Zuko and Iroh had been ragged refugees that last time she’d seen them and despite all the Fire Nation wanted posters that had their likenesses on them, that ultimately led to Zuko rejoining his sister and the fall of Ba Sing Se. But Katara also reasons now that since Zuko’s destiny was to rule the Fire Nation and help lead the world back to peace, and he couldn’t have done that if he’d stayed as a tea server in Ba Sing Se, what happened was ultimately all for the best and she has nothing to feel sorry for or confess about.

What all the above is leading up to is that nearly all the people who’ve even heard of Jet, figure that he’s actually the one who led to Zuko getting captured by Azula and then persuaded to fight with her. They all have the reasonable assumption that before he was brainwashed by the Dai Li, Jet screamed so long and loud about the two tea shop servers being firebenders that the Dai Li decided to investigate them just to be safe, and after Azula took over the organization she read their reports and recognized her brother’s description. Even Zuko and Iroh assume that’s what happened; Mai knew differently, but they never thought to ask her about it. That near-universal assumption is why Toph mentioned that Longshot and Smellerbee “felt like they sorta owed it to Zuko to help keep watch” over his son while the funeral was going on.

 

The morning after Mai’s funeral, the sun peeked over the horizon to find three men of the Fire Nation standing in the courtyard of the Earth King’s palace.  Fire Sage Shyu faced the sunrise with the Fire Lord to his right and General Iroh to his left, all wearing robes of scarlet and gold, though under the draping robe the Fire Lord’s clothes were white for mourning.  Shyu called out with his fire-wreathed hands lifted up in offering, “Bright Agni, thank you for giving light and heat to the world! We praise you for the gift of fire in our hearths, in our hearts and in our hands.”

 

Then Shyu extinguished the flames in his palms and turned to the Fire Lord with his hands held out. The young sovereign carefully uncovered his newborn son, kept safe from the chill morning air by the scarlet robe, and handed him over with extreme care and an anxious look on his face. Shyu gave him a reassuring and slightly amused smile—really, he’d done this plenty of times before, and he wasn’t going to drop the child—then turned to face the sunrise again, the baby held high.  “Agni, here is one of your many children! He is Roku, the son of Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai.  He is a prince of the Fire Nation, and we ask that you bless him with the spark of intelligence, the ember of determination and the fire of passion for his country and his people!”

 

The baby began fussing upon exposure to the chill morning air, so after the official naming and blessing Shyu promptly turned to give him back to his father, who hastily tucked him back inside his sling under the ceremonial robe, then anxiously patted the bundle on his chest while murmuring words Shyu couldn’t quite make out.  If he’d been facing anyone but the Fire Lord in mourning, Shyu would have quipped, “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?” but he managed to restrain himself.

 

As they turned to go back inside, Shyu reassured the Fire Lord, “I will testify in front of the High Sage and your court that he was born on properly conquered Fire Nation soil, and is therefore eligible to become heir to the Fire Throne.  But you must understand, because his mother was not a firebender nor came from a bending line, he can not officially be named your heir until he bends fire himself.”

 

“With all due respect, Fire Sage,” the young father said quietly, caressing his child, “I don’t give a handful of ashes whether he bends fire or not.  He’s my son, a part of me and Mai; that’s all that matters.”

 

The Avatar had stayed back during the naming and blessing ceremony, deferring to Shyu’s far greater experience; now he stepped up to gently pat the bundle on Fire Lord Zuko’s chest and say to Shyu, “Why do your people insist that all Fire Lords must be firebenders, anyway?  The Earth King isn’t a bender; none of his royal ancestors have been benders for at least the last three hundred years.  Neither of the Water Tribe Chiefs are benders, either.”

 

Shyu gave the Avatar a raised eyebrow.  “I should think you would appreciate the fact that we insist on firebenders for royalty, young Avatar.  Otherwise, so long as Ozai lived, he would still be in power.  When you removed his bending, you removed Ozai’s ability to reclaim the throne from Zuko, on the technicality that he did not win the Agni Kai against the one Ozai had appointed Fire Lord, Azula.”

 

Shyu was privately pleased that he’d managed to talk about what had been done to the former Fire Lord—that ‘energybending’ that could rip the bending ability right out of people, leaving them wrecked and wretched shadows of their former selves—without stuttering or shuddering. The news of what the Avatar had done had utterly unnerved all the Fire Sages (a young novitiate had opined that they were ‘completely freaked’) and even now there were sages who found reasons to leave their postings when they heard the Avatar was coming for a visit. But Shyu had been imprisoned for high treason after aiding the Avatar, and only two days away from his scheduled execution when the war had been abruptly ended and all political prisoners had been freed. He had long since decided that instead of living in fear of what the Avatar might do next, he should be grateful that Avatar Aang had discovered a whole new form of bending as a method of winning the war.  And while he still tended to be rather uneasy instead of grateful about that, he was definitely grateful that the Avatar knew him as an ally, instead of an opponent.

 

“Huh? What do you mean, he didn’t win?” the Avatar asked, clearly surprised by Shyu’s comment, as was General Iroh.

 

Now it was Shyu’s turn to be surprised. “You weren’t told?” He gave an apologetic look to the Fire Lord, who looked somewhat embarrassed; Shyu hadn’t realized he was spilling the rice on any secrets.  But when his sovereign gave him a small nod, he explained, “It was explained to me that Princess Azula was defeated not by her brother, but by the waterbender Master Katara, after then-Prince Zuko sacrificed himself to save her.  Fire Sage Chikuru observed the Agni Kai from a rooftop that he’d judged a safe distance from the Agni Kai arena, given the contenders’ powers were amplified by the Comet. He saw Azula violate the rules of the Agni Kai by attacking a spectator, casting lightning at the waterbender, and saw Zuko throw himself into the path of the lightning and intercept the bolt—which would have killed anyone else; the fact that you survived at all convinced the entire council of sages that Agni Himself desired you to be the Fire Lord,” he said to Zuko in an aside. 

 

The Fire Lord gave a wry smile and half-shrug, half-nod in response, so Shyu continued, “Zuko survived the bolt, all praise to Agni, but was struck unconscious by it.  Azula then began pursuing the waterbender with the obvious intent of killing her, but instead was defeated by her.  Azula had already shown instability by banishing everyone in the palace, even her most loyal guards and servants; her defeat was apparently the final blow for her unbalanced mind.  By the time Chikuru approached the battlefield, Azula was no longer coherent, completely insane, while Zuko had revived and was being helped to his feet by the waterbender.  When the Sages present in the capital gathered together afterwards and heard Chikuru’s report, they all agreed that Azula had forfeited the Agni Kai and her Fire Crown, so it was granted to Zuko.” After a moment’s pause, Shyu admitted, “Though the announcement was not made public until after word had arrived that the Phoenix King and the airship fleet had both been defeated.” 

 

The Avatar stared at his friend and asked almost accusingly, “How come you never told me any of this before?”

 

After a moment’s hesitation, the Fire Lord shrugged and said, “You never asked.”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Sokka emerged from his room well before breakfast, which was unusual in and of itself.  Wearing his warrior garb from the final battle of the war and with his sword and boomerang in their sheaths, he walked slowly through the halls of the palace, into the lady guests’ wing.  He knocked on the door to Suki’s suite, calling softly through the door, “Suki?  It’s me… We’ve gotta talk.”

 

“Come on in,” he heard her say after a short pause. He opened the door to find her in her Kyoshi Warrior uniform; wearing everything but the gloves and the face paint.  The gloves lay on a table in front of a mirror, and she had the small jars of face paint in her hand, ready to apply.  She said quietly, not looking at him, “I was coming to see you in a few minutes anyway.”

 

“About what?  No, wait, let me say what I gotta say first,” he said firmly as he waved a hand to forestall her.

 

She looked at him, and her eyes widened in surprise.  “You’re wearing your warrior gear?”

 

“Yeah.  I’m gonna go see Dad after this, and then Zuko.  But first… um…” he stared at the floor, and finally sighed.  “You know how we’ve been arguing about where we’re going to live if we get married?  It’s probably the main reason why we’re not engaged yet.  Anyway, that doesn’t matter anymore.  I’m not going back to the South Pole with Dad, but I’m not going to Kyoshi Island with you either.” He took a deep breath.  “I’m going to the Fire Nation.”

 

“The Fire Nation?” Suki almost dropped her jars of face paint.

 

“If Zuko will allow it, yeah, and I’m pretty sure I can talk him into it.  Remember when he spilled the beans about how many assassination attempts there had been since they got married?  Seventeen, Suki; that’s nearly three times a month on the average!  Whatever good the dragons did in showing their support has obviously worn off, and for some reason I doubt a repeat appearance will help much. And a few of those attempts got so close that Mai had to foil them.  The eighteenth try succeeded in killing Mai, she can’t save him anymore, and now in her place there’s a helpless little baby that needs all the protection he can get.  Zuko can’t do a good job of running the Fire Nation if he’s too worried about who’s going to try to kill Roku next.  He needs someone he knows he can trust, looking after Roku while he’s busy doing Fire Lord-y things.” 

 

After a pause to let that sink in, Sokka continued, “Yesterday after dinner I spent a few hours in the royal nursery, and had Qingshan’s nurse show me how to change diapers and feed babies and stuff; it’s messy, but not as bad as I thought it would be.  And now I’m going to go tell Zuko that Roku’s Uncle Sokka intends to stand guard in his nursery until the kid’s at least five years old.”  He sighed. “So, I guess this means we’re breaking up, because I can’t expect you to wait five years for me, but… Suki, I gotta do this.  Zuko’s like a brother to me, and that makes Roku like a nephew.  And the whole damn world needs Zuko on the Fire Throne, to keep war from breaking out again.”

 

When he finally looked up at Suki to get her reaction, instead of sad or regretful, she looked… relieved. Even happy! “Five years in the Fire Nation, huh?”

 

“Yeah,” as he gave her a sour look. “You could at least pretend to be a little upset about our breaking up, y’know…”

 

“I might be if we were breaking up… but we’re not,” as she grinned outright. “Because I was just getting ready to offer Zuko at least four years of service.”

 

He’d walked in feeling like his heart was down around his knees, but it suddenly leaped straight up into his throat. “Y-you were?  Honest?”

 

“Honest!  But instead of just four years, I could do five…”

 

Sokka whooped for joy and swept her off her feet to spin her around, grinning from ear to ear.  “YES!  This is fantastic!”

 

She hugged him back just as joyfully, then turned serious.  “But it’s understood right from the start that Roku and Zuko’s lives are more important than either of ours, right?  If it comes down to a hard choice between saving you from an assassin’s blade, or saving Roku or Zuko…”

 

“You’ll save either of them instead of me.  And it’ll break my heart if you’re in danger and I have to make that choice, but I’ll make it,” as his grin faded to a sober look. “The world needs a peaceful Fire Nation more than it needs either of us.”

 

“So long as we’re clear on that.  And it’s understood that there’ll be no hand-holding or kissing or any of that stuff while we’re on duty, right? No sexy distractions. And we’ll probably spend most of our time on separate guard shifts, so the baby has trusted people minding him more hours of the day.”

 

“Right. But we’ll have some off-duty time together, right?” as he grinned again.

 

“Mm-hmm,” as she kissed him, before pushing away to sit down with her mirror.  “Just wait right there while I put on my war paint.  We can go see your father together; he’ll be happier about this knowing that someone will be in the Fire Nation with you to watch your back.”

 

“Yup, he will!”

 

“And you need to wipe that grin off your face before we go see Zuko, or he’ll think we’re going to spend the whole time humping like cat-rabbits instead of standing guard.”

 

“Yes, dear.”

 

“Two minutes, and I’ll be ready…”

 

After Suki finished putting on her war paint, she let Sokka borrow the jars of black and white and mix some gray on his palm, so he could paint his face as well in the traditional black, gray and white pattern of a Southern Water Tribe warrior preparing for battle. It seemed fitting, being in war paint along with her while they made the announcements together. “Fitting, but ironic,” he said out loud as he smoothed the gray along his cheekbones, over a painfully wry smile.

 

“How so?” Suki asked while looking at him in the mirror.

 

“Well, normally Water Tribe warriors only put war paint on if we’re expecting a battle to break out really soon. It’s sort-of a declaration that you’re ready to die to defend your tribe.  The last time I put this war paint on, was right after Aang set off a signal flare on a wrecked Fire Navy ship; I was sure that the flare would bring another ship to our village to investigate.  And I was right; barely two hours later I was facing Fire Nation troops.  And at their head?  A certain ponytailed angry jerk calling himself Prince Zuko.”

 

Suki smiled wryly.  “You’re right, that is ironic.”

 

“Yup.  Iroh likes to say that the spirits feast on irony,” as he finished applying gray and started on the white. “If that’s true, they must follow me around hoping for a buffet…”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Hakoda received them into his room with quiet alarm at the war paint and visible weaponry, asking who they were going to war against. Sokka reassured him that they weren’t expecting to fight that morning, then took a deep breath and told him what he’d told Suki earlier.

 

Hakoda listened to what his son had to say in silence, then asked quietly, “You have thought long and hard on this?”

 

Sokka nodded.  “Since the night after Mai’s death and Roku’s birth; last night I was up for hours thinking about what it would cost.” He gave a half-smile. “When I made the decision, I didn’t know Suki would be coming too; I went to her first to break up with her.”

 

“Five minutes before I was ready to go see him and break up with him, for the same reason,” Suki added, the other half of that smile tugging at her painted lips.

 

Hakoda nodded acknowledgment of her words, but his eyes remained on his son.  “Sokka… Spirits forbid it happens, but if I go to our ancestors before your oath of service had ended and you return to the Southern Water Tribe… the tribal elders will appoint another to be chief.  And that man will not be willing to step aside for you in later years.”

 

Sokka nodded slowly.  “I know, Dad.  I’m sorry to disappoint you, but…I have to do this.  Not just our tribe but the whole world’s future is at stake, if the Fire Nation goes back to war.”

 

Hakoda nodded again.  “That is true.  And it’s true that I am disappointed… But I am also very, very proud of you, my son,” as he pulled Sokka into a fierce manly embrace.  “You’re putting the welfare of the tribe, and indeed the world, ahead of your own desires; that is a true sign of maturity.  Whether or not you ever become chief, you are no longer a child, but a man…”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

After telling Hakoda, they went to Ty Lee’s guest room.  When they knocked, they heard a voice calling for them to come in; inside they found the acrobatic Kyoshi Warrior out on the balcony, facing the rising sun and twisted into a yoga position that made Sokka cringe in pain just to see it.  “What’s up?” she said, twisting even further to face them.  “Your auras are swirling all sorts of colors right now, but there’s lots of golden yellow like you just made some huge decision—ooohh!” as she rapidly untwisted and then launched herself at Suki and Sokka, her face split in a grin.  “You’re getting married?!  When will the wedding be?”

 

Suki caught Ty Lee and accepted her joyous hug, before setting her back on her feet with a rueful smile. “Sorry, but that’s not the decision we made.” 

 

After they’d sat her down explained to her their decision to be bodyguards for Prince Roku for the first five years of his life, Ty Lee looked down at her interlaced fingers as she said quietly, “I should go with you.  I’m Fire Nation, I know my way around the palace, and Mai was my best friend.”

 

Suki rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, then said slowly, “If you truly want to come with us, we’d be glad of the company and the extra help with Roku.  But you told me that as soon as you were old enough to go, you ran away from not just your home but the entire Fire Nation, to join the circus and travel the world. And that you only came back because Azula tracked you down and made it clear that she’d burn the circus down if you didn’t come with her.  Standing guard duty is usually dangerous only five percent of the time; it’s mind-numbingly boring for the other ninety-five percent.  For you to stand guard not just in the palace, but in front of the nursery for five long years… You’d wilt like a flower without sunshine. Would Mai ask that of you?”

 

Sokka thought of something else and added, “Besides, you’ve already trained Suki and about half the Kyoshi Warriors in your chi-blocking techniques, but who’s going to train the other half?  Including the four new girls that joined up last summer; they’re still in basic training, not nearly ready to learn chi-blocking yet. Suki can’t train them while she’s in the Fire Nation.”

 

“That’s right. Aiko will be in command of the Warriors while I’m in the Fire Nation, just as she took command while I was at the South Pole, but you’ll be their trainer in chi-blocking.  And who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to train someone in reading auras, too,” Suki said encouragingly.  “Didn’t little Koko express an interest in learning that?”

 

Ty Lee brightened and said she was looking forward to sharing with Koko the joys of aura-reading, and they left her happily twisting herself into another impossible position on the balcony again.  As they left the guest suite, Sokka cleared his throat and said, “Uh, Suki?  You know what my Dad said about my maybe not being in line for chieftainship anymore, after the five years is up?  That probably sort-of applies to you, too.  After five whole years of being in charge, Aiko’s not going to just take the captain’s badge off and hand it back to you.”

 

“I know,” Suki said quietly.  “It’s ironic that after nearly two years of arguing over which of us would have to give up what, now we’re both giving up our leadership roles and plans for the future.  And not for each other; we’re doing it for a little baby, one not even from either of our nations, who won’t be able to appreciate it for years to come. But the world needs Zuko to keep the peace, and Zuko needs Roku. It’s worth the sacrifice.”

 

“Yeah.”  

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Sokka wanted to let Katara know as well, but she wasn’t in her room; instead they found her in Zuko’s guest suite, giving Roku another healing checkup.  She paused with glowing water still gloving her hand when Sokka and Suki came into the guest suite in their warrior garb, and each got down on one knee to offer their services in guarding the infant prince for the next five years.

 

“I figure that in five years’ time, the people of your country will have finally accepted the fact that you’re in charge and that conquering the world is off the table,” Sokka explained. “And the warmongers that will never accept you, should have supplied enough evidence by then for you to expose them and get rid of them for good. You’re probably still going to get the occasional nutjob trying to knock you off, but most of those threats won’t be as organized and serious as the ones you’ve been dealing with. In the meantime, we’ll be in the palace keeping an eye on Roku, so you can rest assured your son is safe while you do what you have to do.”

 

Zuko was stunned speechless as he stared at the two warriors.  “I… I don’t know what to say…”

 

“Say yes,” Katara suggested, staring soberly at her brother. “Because I can tell he’s dead serious about this; they both are.”

 

“I… I can’t ask you to put your lives on hold for five years for me!”

 

“You’re not asking, we’re offering,” Sokka corrected.  “Face it, dude, you need help, and it’s about time you started accepting it.”

 

“I… thank you. I accept your oaths with honor,” Zuko said finally, standing up and giving them the formal bow of the Fire Lord acknowledging fealty. (It probably would have been more impressive if he’d been wearing the formal robes, instead of a shirt already stained with baby drool, but under the circumstances no one was going to quibble.)

 

“Great.  Just one request?” Sokka said, before Suki could elbow him to shut up instead of ruining the moment.

 

Zuko spread his hands expansively. “Name it.”

 

“Can you see about importing some sea prunes and blubbered seal jerky to the palace every once in a while?” Katara and Suki both rolled their eyes, but Sokka just grinned, “Hey, if I’ve got Suki, my space sword and some good home cooking, I’m all set!”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

The Jasmine Dragon had not yet opened its doors for business, but all its employees were gathered inside.  Iroh had summoned all his shop assistants for an early meeting; they sat somberly around the kitchen table as he served them tea before sitting down with them.  “Thank you all for coming in so early, and my sincere apologies for the short notice; the recent events have caught us all by surprise.  You may recall that I had been making plans to return to the Fire Nation next month for a visit, and stay long enough to witness the birth of my first grandchild.  I had planned to give you all a full month’s pay for the period that I expected to be gone and the tea shop closed.”

 

His brewing assistant Wangchen asked quietly, “That plan has changed, hasn’t it?” 

 

“It has indeed.  No doubt you are all aware that my grandchild has made his appearance early… and my niece-in-law was murdered, struck down by poison in childbirth.  But you may not be aware, as I was not, that this was the last of no less than eighteen assassination attempts.” A series of gasps were heard around the table as he grimly nodded.  “I had believed that after the tumultuous first year of his reign had passed, my nephew had been accepted by his people and the worst was over. Instead…” He sighed, and continued. “I have no reason to believe the situation will improve now that Fire Lady Mai is dead and Fire Prince Roku has been born.  Indeed, with the prince born early and even more fragile than most newborn infants, the attempts to end Fire Lord Zuko’s line will likely continue, with his foes having increased hopes of success.  Therefore, when I go to the Fire Nation with my nephew and his son… do not expect me to return.”

 

At least half of them should have been expecting the announcement, but they all gave sharp, pained intakes of breath as he continued, “The Jasmine Dragon will close its doors for the last time at the end of next week.  You will all receive a full two months’ pay to tide you over until you can find other work, and I am writing letters of recommendation for you that should be enough to get you hired at any other tea shop in Ba Sing Se.” He turned to address his brewing assistant. “Wangchen, I encourage you to apply to the palace kitchen for work; you have learned my brewing methods well, and the Earth King and Queen would no doubt appreciate having their jasmine tea prepared just the way they like it when they visit here.”

 

He addressed the rest of the table with an almost apologetic, “You might all apply for positions with the palace staff, but it may not be to your liking; you may recall the Earth Queen’s comments that for all his competence, their majordomo is a rather dour fellow.  He would rather discourage than encourage dancing with tea trays, and the other ways we’ve made our work more enjoyable.  There is no guarantee that other tea shops and businesses would appreciate or emulate my style of putting a little play into your work, but you can at least enquire with them.”

 

“Sir?  Would you… would it be acceptable if, instead of staying here, one of us accompanied you to the Fire Nation?” the tea server Bingwen said quietly.

 

“Eh?” Iroh stared at Bingwen in honest surprise. “Why would you want to come along?”

 

“Sir, I… if you do not expect to return, then…” Bingwen swallowed hard, then continued, “You know what skills I have besides serving tea, General.  I offer them to serve you, now; to guard your back in your homeland.”

 

Iroh stared at Bingwen, remembering that when the youngster had first come to the Jasmine Dragon, it hadn’t been to serve tea; it had been to kill the Dragon of the West.

 

Bingwen had been born in Hadao, a city that Iroh had conquered for the Fire Nation not long before the Siege of Ba Sing Se.  Bingwen’s father had been a soldier, killed when the city had been conquered, and Bingwen had grown up thirsting for not just freedom from Fire Nation oppression, but vengeance for his father.  He’d been part of Hadao’s underground resistance movement, but still in weapons training when the Avatar had defeated Ozai and abruptly ended the war.  The city’s continued violent resistance to the Fire Nation had meant that no civilian colonists had settled there before the war’s end, so the troops present had been abruptly withdrawn within days of Fire Lord Zuko’s ascension to the throne.  Bingwen had suddenly found himself still hating the Fire Nation with all his heart, but no one left to fight and fulfill his thirst for vengeance.

 

After learning of the Jasmine Dragon’s proprietor, Bingwen had thrown himself back into weapons training, becoming a young master of sai fighting, and then bought one-way passage to Ba Sing Se.  He’d broken into the Jasmine Dragon one night seven months after the war was over, determined to slay the former general that had conquered his city and killed his father. 

 

Iroh had defeated the young man armed with twin sai fairly easily (two years of intense training with sai was no match for forty-seven years of combat experience), but questioned him afterwards instead of turning him over to the city watch as he had his other would-be killers; he’d judged that this one had too few weapons on his body and too much hate in his features to be a professional assassin.  When Bingwen had snarled about his father the soldier, and how Iroh had better kill him now because he would not rest until his father was avenged… Iroh had untied the young man, then knelt and exposed the back of his neck, asking only that his death be quick.

 

Bingwen had stared dumbstruck at the kneeling tea shop owner for a good thirty seconds, then thrown his sai hard enough to embed them in the nearest wall.  He still hated fiercely, but he had too much honor in him to kill even the Dragon of the West in cold blood. 

 

After getting back to his feet, Iroh had asked Bingwen what his plans were now. When Bingwen had confessed that he hadn’t made any plans past that night; that he honestly hadn’t expected to survive his quest for vengeance… Iroh had asked him if he liked tea.

 

Now, less than a year later, here was his would-be killer offering to guard his back from other killers. He’d often thought that the spirits feasted on irony, but generally the meal was bitter for mortals; this time it was sweet indeed. 

 

Iroh gave a solemn nod to Bingwen and said, “Your offer is very much appreciated.  But when I said that I do not expect to return, I do not mean that I expect to die soon from an assassin’s blade.  I expect to live many years yet, but in the Fire Nation, watching over my grandchild and advising my nephew on court intrigues.  There may be some personal danger, yes; particularly when I begin delving deeper into who is behind all these assassination attempts.  But I am no longer in line for the throne, and my death would gain no great advantage for those seeking to end Fire Lord Zuko’s line.  No advantage gained, for what they’ll surely know would be a very difficult task.”

 

Bingwen gave a wry smile at that last comment, no doubt remembering how he’d been defeated in mere seconds.  Iroh went on, “Instead, I think I would encourage you to apply at the palace as well.  I’ll have a word with both the majordomo and the captain of the guard there, to let them know of all the skills you possess.  It may be that the palace would benefit from having a tea server of your qualities.” One armed with twin sai tucked into his uniform sleeves, ready to defend his king and queen from any assassins who could make it past the royal guard.

 

Then Iroh stood up from the table, saying decisively, “In the meantime, let us make these last two weeks of business for the Jasmine Dragon, the finest ever!  Our special today shall be that chai tea that the Avatar favors…”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

At mid-morning, the New Dai Li agents assembled in the caverns they used for training, their faces solemn.  Their duty to protect the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se and keep the citizens of the vast city safe was a full-time job and more; it was rare for their leader, Toph, to call everyone in from their assigned posts and duties for a full assembly.

 

Toph stood silent and grim, waiting for everyone to arrive; not her typical demeanor. Though she knew how to be court-formal, Toph was usually seen with a cocky grin on her face; joking with her people, poking fun at officials too full of self-importance, even teasing the Earth King about his pet bear.  For her to look so grim… this must be bad news indeed.

 

Once everyone was present, she began. “You all know what happened to Fire Lady Mai.  What almost happened to the Fire Prince, little Roku.  Mai wasn’t a close friend, I’ll admit, but she was married to Zuko, and he and I have been through a lot together. We’d take on erupting volcanoes for each other.”

 

“Fire Lady Mai was murdered by one of her own countrymen, and the same assassin tried to kill the baby along with her.  Uncle Iroh and I are convinced the danger isn’t over yet.  There’s going to be another attempt; probably more than one.  There are a lot of Fire Nation folk who aren’t happy about Zuko declaring the long war over, let alone giving the Earth Kingdom back most of the lands they’d conquered.  They want Zuko gone and his line ended, even if that means killing an innocent baby.

 

"If Zuko stayed here, it’d be easy for us to keep him and the baby safe.   But he can’t stay here; he’s the Fire Lord, and he’s got a whole country to run. He’s got to go back… and he and his baby need Earth Kingdom protection.

 

“I’ll tell you now, I’m really tempted to just pack a bag and hop aboard his ship with Sokka and Suki; become part of Team Avatar again, start another extended mission in the Fire Nation.  But when I took on this job, I gave my oath to the Earth King that I would protect him and all of Ba Sing Se.  I bet if I asked him really nice, the Earth King would release me from that oath… but I won’t.  Because Oma and Shu know, we’ve got plenty of trouble to deal with here, too.  Between the Assassin’s Guild trying to restart themselves in our city, those bloody spirits still haunting the Middle Ring’s Peony Quarter, and the gang war between the Immaculate Egrets and the Hatchetmen… Not to mention, we all know there are people who still blame the Earth King for all that Long Feng did in his name, and even more people who think he’s doomed his own royal bloodline with his marriage to Queen Song; we’ve had assassination attempts too, though not nearly as many as Zuko has had recently."

 

After a brief pause, she admitted, “Besides, I may be the greatest earthbender in the world, but even I have to sleep sometime.  Zuko needs great earthbenders guarding him and his baby all the time, not just during waking hours.  So… I’m asking for volunteers.  I talked it over with the Earth King; he’s okay with my sending four New Dai Li agents with the Fire Lord, on assignment to his royal palace for tours of duty lasting two years each, to become bodyguards for him and his son.  No, I don’t want anyone raising hands yet; listen to the whole deal first! 

 

“The Fire Nation is a long ways off.  Once you leave there won’t be any coming back, to visit the family or party at the Founding Day Festival or whatever, until your tour of duty is done.  And I’ve been to the Fire Nation, it’s actually a nice place, but there are going to be a lot of people there who don’t like you.  People whose friends and relatives were busy killing our friends and relatives, not all that long ago.  

 

“They’re going to sneer at you, whenever they think they can get away with it; insult your ancestors and your customs; tell you that your earthbending skills aren’t worth two coppers, next to their flashy firebending.  And you’re going to have to just stand there and take it, unless you’ve got some evidence that the people insulting you are a threat to the royal family.  We’re talking two solid years of that, people!  This will not be easy.  But the Fire Lord’s baby needs protecting, the Fire Lord himself needs protecting… and we need him.  We need him to keep the peace; to keep a lot of bitter people in every nation from restarting the war.”

 

“So, that’s the score,” Toph finished. “Any volunteers?”

 

There was a moment’s pause… then every single hand went up.

 

And for just a moment, the leader of the New Dai Li became a teenaged girl again, as she sniffled back a tear and said, “Aww, you guys…”

 

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Back at the palace at midday, Katara and Aang were sitting on a balcony together, enjoying the balmy spring weather. Momo perched nearby on the balcony railing, whenever he wasn’t dashing off to catch spring butterflies dancing over the palace garden below them. But despite the sunshine and gentle breeze, and the tray of sweets from the kitchen sitting next to them, Katara didn’t look particularly happy.  “I’m worried about the baby,” she confessed, when Aang asked her what was on her mind.  “He’s so tiny, so fragile… and knowing that people are trying to kill him…!”

 

“I know; I’m worried too,” Aang told her, reaching out to cover her hand with his.  “But Toph already told me she’s going to send four of her best Dai Li agents to the Fire Nation with Zuko, to help protect him and the baby.  And with General Iroh, Sokka and Suki going along to watch over him too, Roku will be as safe as if he was staying here in the Earth King’s palace.”

 

“I’m not just worried about his safety, Aang; I’m worried about his health!” Katara said, still not meeting his eyes.  “He was born three weeks early, and nearly died from the poison that killed Mai!  If he’d been born in the Northern Water Tribe, Yugoda would tell his parents to stay inside with him and not take him out or even allow visitors until he was at least two months old.  But Zuko’s saying he has to go back to the Fire Nation before Roku is even a full month old!”

 

“Well, keep in mind that this isn’t the Northern Water Tribe; it’s a lot warmer here than even the warmest day ever there,” Aang pointed out.  “Zuko is delaying his departure by nearly three weeks, so Roku will have time to build some strength up.  And as for him getting sick from some visitor who’s ill, well, the guards all know how fragile he is; they’re not going to let anyone with even a runny nose near him.  And you said yourself that Queen Song picked a good wet-nurse for him; I’m sure that Ojia will take really good care of Roku.  Besides, we’re not leaving with your father for another few weeks ourselves; between now and then you can give Roku lots of healing sessions, to make him stronger. And after we come back from the South Pole, I promise we’ll stop by the Fire Nation capital every month or two so you can see for yourself how he’s doing.  Okay?”

 

After a brief pause, Katara said “Okay,” with a faint smile, though she still didn’t look up to meet his eyes.  But a few seconds later she did, while saying, “Thanks for understanding, Aang.”

 

He shrugged and smiled back, “You’re welcome.  So, would you like to go anywhere today?  I thought we could stop by the Jasmine Dragon again; Iroh told me he would make chai tea the special today.  Or we could go see if that custard stand we all liked so much from our first time here is still in business.  And I want to go visit that zoo I helped out before, and see if their female tiger-dillo has had her cubs yet.  Is there someplace special you’d like to see again?”

 

Katara decided she’d like to see the zoo too, so Aang went to his room to pick up Momo and his usual disguise-clothes, a brown cloak and a hat that fit over his forehead arrow.  Katara already knew there were a lot of Avatar fans in Ba Sing Se, because he’d told her about the Ba Sing Se chapter of his fan club in one of his letters to her last year. But even if she knew about them, he’d still rather avoid them today.  He liked all the attention his fans gave him, but now that Katara was in town he’d rather be with her than with them. He also remembered that she’d been unhappy with him when he’d been surrounded by adoring fans back on Kyoshi Island, and he didn’t want her to be unhappy like that on their first real opportunity to spend time together since her arrival.

 

Besides, what he hadn’t put in that letter was how… enthusiastic some of those fans were about him!  Some of the things they’d suggested he do with them… he blushed again just thinking about it.  And he definitely didn’t want Katara hearing his fans offer those kinds of suggestions today!

 

Once they were both ready, they headed down to the train station nearest the palace.  On the way there, Aang cleared his throat and began, “So, Fire Sage Shyu told me something today… Katara, how come you never told me that it was you who defeated Azula, not Zuko?”

 

Katara gave a sudden, almost guilty start at his words, and was silent for a moment before saying lamely, “I guess the subject just never came up.”

 

He gave her a Look; not of the same caliber as the Looks she used to give him when she caught him trying to avoid a subject or get out of training, but it was effective enough.  She sighed and admitted, “I don’t like to talk about it, okay?  Because Zuko would have won that fight, if I hadn’t been there; if I hadn’t been stupid enough to get that close to Azula when we all knew how dangerous and cruel she is.  Zuko had been ready for her to throw lightning at him, but when she threw it at me instead… he got between me and her but didn’t have time to get into the form for redirecting it; all he could do was intercept it. I watched him get hit by lightning, just like I saw you get hit by lightning, and… It was one of the worst moments of my life, so I don’t like to talk about it.  Can we change the subject now?”

 

Aang agreed, and so they talked about her healer training at the Northern Water Tribe, and the ceremony that had been held to commemorate her becoming a master healer just before leaving for Ba Sing Se. From there they segued into talking about the rituals and tattooing Aang had undergone when he’d become a master airbender, and the conversation carried them clear to the Middle Ring, where they had to change trains to go to the zoo.

 

They were in the Middle Ring terminal waiting for their train when suddenly Momo bolted off of Aang’s shoulder, chirruping eagerly as he hopped-flew across the terminal to where two train-moving earthbenders were working, uncoupling a rail car to couple another one in its place.  To Aang and Katara’s considerable surprise, he landed right on the shoulder of one of the earthbenders, and scooted his large-eared head under the round helmet like someone tucking under an umbrella to avoid a sudden rain shower.

 

“Momo, what are you doing?” Aang scolded as he trotted over to retrieve his pet, with Katara curiously following after him. He told the train worker, “I’m sorry, he’s usually more cautious around strangers…”

 

But when Momo responded to Aang’s firm gesturing and hopped off the worker’s shoulder, he jostled the round helmet askew and they got a good look at his face.  Aang and Katara realized simultaneously that the worker wasn’t a stranger after all; Katara gasped in shocked recognition, “Haru?!”

 

The earthbender took off his helmet with a pained, wry smile, revealing himself to be Haru; older than the last time they’d seen him and without a mustache, but definitely Haru.  “It’s me; hello, Katara, Aang.”

 

“Haru, what are you doing here in Ba Sing Se?” Katara almost demanded.  “After the war ended, I thought you went back home to your village with your father, clear on the other side of the Earth Kingdom!  That’s where your last letter said you were, but I haven’t heard from you for nearly a year!”

 

Haru grimaced.  “I know, and I’m sorry I haven’t written; I’m terrible at writing letters.  How are the two of you doing?  Here in the city for the treaty signing?”

 

“Yup! And for a general reunion and my un-birthday party,” Aang said with a grin. A grin that faded into sadness as he continued, “And for a birthing and a funeral, as it turned out… you heard about Zuko and Mai?”

 

“The whole city heard about it, after the Earth King declared a day of mourning,” Haru said, looking down at his feet.  “I thought about offering my condolences, but I thought it might sound hypocritical coming from me; I really only knew Zuko for the time we were together at the Western Air Temple, so we weren’t close friends, and I never even met his wife Mai.”

 

“It’s not hypocritical to offer condolences to someone you used to work with, so long as you got along with them, which you and Zuko did for the most part,” Katara said in mildly scolding tones. Her tone softened as she continued, “Would you like to come back to the palace with us now to offer them?”

 

“Thanks, Katara, but right now I’m working; my shift doesn’t end until after sundown,” Haru said with a wry smile and a gesture to the stone rail cars.  “Maybe the day after tomorrow?  I have that day off.”

 

Aang thought that sounded reasonable, and told Haru that he’d make sure the palace guards knew to expect him, so he’d be welcomed instead of turned away at the Palace Ring Gate.  Then he noticed their train was arriving, and he tugged Katara over to the right platform for departure while saying over his shoulder, “It was good seeing you, Haru!  And it’ll be even better to see you in two days; we can catch up with each other then!” Haru waved and promised that he’d be there just before noon.

 

The zoo visit was a little disappointing, because the tiger-dillo hadn’t had her cubs yet, but the zookeeper said they’d be born any day now.  But Katara liked the panda cubs and rabbaroo joeys that Aang brought to her for petting, and it brought a real full-blown smile to her face, the first one Aang had seen all day, when a joey climbed into her shoulderbag like it was his mother’s pouch.

 

“Oh, aren’t you the cutest thing?” Katara cooed as she pulled the little joey out and cuddled him for a moment, before somewhat reluctantly handing him back to be returned to his anxious mother.  Aang silently wondered how long it took for rabbaroo joeys to be weaned, and if they’d be ready by the time he and Katara got back from their visit to the Southern Water Tribe.  Katara had never had a pet of her own, and a rabbaroo should get along well with Momo and Appa! 

 

But could a rabbaroo be trained to stay in Appa’s saddle without being tied to it? It’d be horrible if they lost it over the side while Appa was flying, but some wild animals were just a lot harder to train and domesticate than others.  He wondered who he could ask about that; maybe the zookeeper would know.

 

He found the zookeeper and pulled him aside while Katara was distracted by the antics at the hog-monkey exhibit, and asked about rabbaroos.  The zookeeper had no idea about how well a rabbaroos would take to being a pet, let alone how it would fare staying on the back of a flying bison, but he said the joeys should be weaned in about four to six weeks.  Aang beamed; that was perfect timing for Katara’s birthday in seven weeks! 

 

Sokka had already pulled him aside just a couple hours ago, reminded him of the date for Katara’s birthday and told him that no matter what Air Nomads did for birthdays, Katara would expect a little party of some sort.  Sokka would end up missing it now that he was committed to going to the Fire Nation for five years, but he knew his dad would have a party for her down in the Southern Water Tribe.  And if Katara didn’t get a present from her boyfriend at that party, Aang would be in serious trouble, so he’d better start shopping for a present while he was in Ba Sing Se.

 

Then Aang frowned as he realized that there would be a problem with getting Katara a rabbaroo joey for a present, if Katara’s party was being held in the Southern Water Tribe.  How could he sneak it down there and hide it until the party, while still feeding it and stuff?

 

As they were leaving the zoo, he noticed that there was a gift shop next to the exit now. He glanced inside as they walked past, saw a shelf of stuffed animals, and got an idea.  “Wait here; I’ll be right back!” he said abruptly as he left Katara right next to the exit and zipped inside the gift shop.

 

Yes!  Perfect!  They had stuffed rabbaroo dolls for sale!  He’d buy one, hide it at the bottom of his carrysack for the next seven weeks, then give it to Katara for her birthday, telling her that it represented the real rabbaroo joey that would be weaned and waiting for her when they returned to Ba Sing Se!  Congratulating himself on his cleverness, Aang bought the rabbaroo toy and stuffed it inside his shirt as he left the gift shop.

 

Katara was still at the exit, and waiting for him with crossed arms and tapping foot.  “What was that about?” she asked pointedly, giving him what he thought of as the Raised Eyebrow of Imminent Danger.  Then she aimed the lethal eyebrow slightly lower.  “And what’s that under your shirt?”

 

“Uh, nothing!  I ate too much at lunch, that’s why it’s bulging like that!” Okay, so maybe it wasn’t his cleverest moment after all.  He should have taken her up to the palace and then glided back down here for the toy afterwards, but it was too late now; he’d just have to bluff his way through.

 

Unfortunately, the bluff failed about ten seconds later, when Momo also got curious about what he was hiding under his shirt—and unlike Katara, Momo had no problem with diving right in to see what it was.  He squawked and tried to yank Momo back out before anything happened, but when he fished Momo out and held him at arm’s length for a scolding, the lemur had the rabbaroo clutched in his little black paws.  “Darn it, Momo!  I was hiding that for a reason!”

 

But when he looked at Katara in chagrin, she was smiling at him and her eyes were sparkling in the way they did when she was really pleased. Her tone was fond as she said, “Oh, Aang… you don’t have to be like Sokka for some things!”

 

“Huh?”  Did she mean that he didn’t have to give her a birthday present after all?

 

“There’s nothing wrong with showing your softer side, especially to me!  And you don’t have to wait for a special occasion to give little gifts, either.”

 

Well, it would be easier than hiding the toy for the next seven weeks. He’d just tell her on her birthday what the rabbaroo toy actually represented!  He plucked it from Momo’s grip and gave it to her with a cheery, “You like?”

 

“It’s so cute; almost as cute as the real thing!” Katara cooed as she held it up and stroked the toy’s soft floppy ears for a moment, then tucked it into her shoulderbag just like the real joey had been inside earlier. She added, “And this is so sweet of you!” and then she kissed him! Okay, it was on the cheek instead of on the lips, but still, she kissed him instead of the other way around! 

 

He was still grinning when she took his hand, tugging him towards the exit again.  “Come on, let’s get back to the palace so we can give it to Roku right away. It’ll be one of his very first toys!”

 

“Huh? Ro—Oh yeah!  Yeah, Roku should have toys to play with!  And uh, I thought he should have one from us before leaving Ba Sing Se.  But you’re right, why hide it and wait until, uh, the day of departure?  He’s too young to really understand traveling anyway.” There; that covered everything, or at least he was pretty sure it did.  Katara seemed satisfied with the explanation, anyway; she was still smiling as they headed for the train station.

 

So the second plan was still on. He’d go with Katara back up to the palace, and then later he’d glide back down here and get another toy rabbaroo, and hide that until her birthday…

 

 

Notes:

A few folks over at FFnet wondered about the scene between Toph and her Dai Li agents. One person thought it uncharacteristic for Toph to get a little teary-eyed when all her agents volunteered for the mission; Toph never shed tears for anything or anyone during the canon series. True, but that was a Very Emotional Moment for her, after an already emotional past few days. All her people had just expressed that they were willing to sacrifice themselves, partly for the cause of world peace but mostly because she was asking it of them. That huge a show of support, of sheer loyalty… I’ve seen even grizzled old salts in the military reduced to tears, after troops rallied around them when they weren’t really expecting it.

Another reviewer thought it odd that the Dai Li agents raised their hands to volunteer; since they know Toph is blind, wouldn’t they have used some other way to show their willingness, like stomping their feet? Folks, you can believe this or not: After I first wrote that scene, I thought about Toph's blindness and how she wouldn't be able to see the hands being raised, and thought about how I could remedy that with a different method of showing readiness to volunteer. Another method quite popular in the military is to have volunteers take one step forward out of ranks, so I began to rewrite the start of that scene to describe the assembly in a fashion that would allow all that movement.

And then the little Toph that lives in my brainpan pitched an absolute fit, shouting in my head, “Oh, so now you're trying to make it easy for me? Think I can't handle something that you sighted folks do all the time? Fuck you, and the hippo-cow you rode in on! What, do you think the guys in all the Earth Rumbles I fought in just oh-so-considerately lay down and surrendered to me because I'm a blind and helpless little girl? I'M THE BLIND BANDIT, YOU MORON! Do you think I would have won those Earth Rumbles if my tremor sense stopped where people's feet met the floor? Back in the war and in the Earth King's throne room, would I have been able to raise shields against Gloomy's knives in time if I hadn't been able to tell when she'd been throwing them? Let the agents raise their spirits-damned hands; I'll be able to tell what they're doing!” Take it from me, folks, it’s rather dismaying when the characters in your head start yelling at you…

Chapter 7: Veils, Hints and Misdirections

Toph had spent most of the previous day carefully considering which of her volunteering agents would accompany Fire Lord Zuko and his son back to the Fire Nation as bodyguards.  The next morning she announced her choice to those agents, then led them to the Fire Lord’s guest suite.  After introductions were made all around, she told her men solemnly, “These are your standing orders, and the last ones I’ll be giving you until your tours of duty are up and you come back home.  Your number one order, your absolute top priority, is to keep the Fire Lord and his son alive.  After that, your orders are to obey the Fire Lord’s orders, do whatever he tells you to do… unless he tells to you to stand out of the way while he does something boneheaded, in which case you refer back to Order #1.”

 

“Hey!” Sparky said indignantly after overhearing the last bit.

 

“Western Air Temple,” Toph singsonged at him without missing a beat. “Remember your stunts during that ‘family reunion’?” She hadn’t known what was happening at the time, being preoccupied with falling masonry and explosions, and trying to protect Appa and the rest. She’d known that Zuko had been fighting his sister, and at the fight’s end both he and Azula had been in a terrifying freefall for a few moments. But by then Appa had been in the air, and it was pretty much a given that Twinkletoes and Fluffy would never let Sparky die if they could help it.

 

But the Duke had seen everything, and after the war while they’d all been gathered in the plaza awaiting the new Fire Lord’s coronation, the former Freedom Fighter had regaled everyone around him with what he’d seen of Zuko’s most daring feats.  When Toph had heard that long before Appa had gotten airborne in that battle, Sparky had jumped off the Western Air Temple into thin air to go fight his sister, and then fallen off an airship into The Abyss but managed to make the Absolutely Luckiest Landing Possible—on top of one of the enemy’s airships, without Suki or anybody else handy to steer it under him!—If it weren’t for all the crowds and the impending coronation, Toph would have marched straight into the palace and dragged Sparky off to a quiet corner somewhere, where she could beat him up one side and down the other for being so spirits-damned stupid.  Had he been thinking he was an airbender, instead of a firebender?!  There was being Daring, and then there was being just plain Dumb!

 

Evidently Sparky had either realized later that yes, he’d been stupid and damn lucky that day, or he realized right now that it would look bad if he started arguing with her in front of the agents.  He shut up and let her give them the final standing order: to work alongside Sokka, Suki and the Fire Nation royal guards, coordinating their shifts with the guard captain Hoshi, and get along with everyone whenever possible.  “That’s part of helping the Fire Lord keep the peace between our nations, too. Make me and the Earth King proud, guys,” she finished.  “Okay, Sparky, they’re all yours…”

 

Then she went back to her office, so Longshot could read to her the information that she’d requested and that other agents had quickly gathered the day before.  After a few more words with Longshot and Smellerbee, Toph left the headquarters of the New Dai Li and went to a nondescript apartment in the Lower Ring.  It was one of the better blocks, in a neighborhood with good building maintenance and a low crime rate, but still a far cry from the comfort of the Middle Ring and the elegance of the Upper Ring.  She pounded on the door, then stood her ground and waited while someone came to open it.  She could hear the grimace in his voice as Haru said resignedly, “Hello, Toph.”

 

“What’s the deal?” she said bluntly.  “I found out from Katara yesterday that you’re in the city, and I find out this morning that you’ve been living here for ten months already, without ever looking me up?  I thought we were war buddies, Haru!”

 

“For a few weeks during the war, we were,” Haru said, as the vibrations told her he was shrugging nonchalantly, even though his heart was beating fast.  “But I’m just a peasant from a small village, and you’re the heir to the Bei Fong fortune; you’re so far out of my league, I figured there wasn’t much reason for you to be interested in seeing me again now that the war’s over.”

 

Toph scowled at him.  “Haru.  You know how my tremor-sense works.  You know I can tell when someone is lying to me.”

 

He snapped back at her, “Every word I said was the truth, and you know it!”

 

“I know you left out the fact that my best friends are an Air Nomad and two Water Tribe people who grew up in tents, and that everyone knows I don’t give a damn about whether or not people have money or come from noble families!  But even more than that, your heartbeat says you’re still holding something back.  It’s called a lie of omission, Haru.  What are you hiding from me?  What’s the real reason why you came here to Ba Sing Se without telling anyone?”

 

Haru sighed, and she felt him hang his head low as he sagged against the doorway.  “I really don’t want to talk about it, Toph.  I… I had a falling-out with my family; it was painful, and I can never go back to the way things—never go back there.  That’s all you or anyone needs to know.”

 

Toph considered him in silence for a few moments, then shifted one foot for a good ‘look’ around them.  No one was in the apartment behind Haru, but there were three or four neighbors in the vicinity who were discretely but avidly paying attention to their conversation, probably prompted by Toph’s New Dai Li uniform and the usual wary curiosity whenever authorities came calling.  She lowered her voice.  “How about we take this conversation inside?”

 

Haru gave another weary sigh, and stepped away from the doorway to let her come in.  She went inside and waited until after he’d closed the door to say, almost whispering, “I know what it’s like to love your family but know they’ll never understand you, no matter how much you wish they would. I know how much that hurts.”

 

Haru shifted uncomfortably.  “My situation’s different from yours, Toph.”

 

“Not as much as you might think.” Toph hung her head for a few moments. “Anyway, Haru, back at the Western Air Temple…  I noticed some things about our group that I didn’t mention, for various reasons.  People’s heartbeats, breathing, stances, the way they moved… the way all that changed sometimes, when someone else walked by.  And I’m not just talking about Sokka and Suki…”

 

Haru said nothing, but he shifted away from her, the stance of a man guarding a weak point. Yup, she’d pegged it.  She prodded a bit more, “Back then, the way your heartbeat spiked sometimes… You had feelings for someone that you figured you didn’t have any right to have feelings for.”

 

More silence, and stiffened stance.  Toph willed herself to not tense, when she felt him beginning to grasp the stone beneath them both.  Wait for it, wait…

 

He relaxed, and his earthbending impulse settled without any damage done.  Smart guy, to not fight the Metalbender and the leader of the New Dai Li.  He said softly, “I thought someone was beautiful, that’s all.  And it never would have become serious, so it matters even less now than it did then.  That’s all in the past now; I know you were raised by badger-moles, but don’t go digging it up, okay?”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Back inside the palace, Ty Lee was doing something she almost never did: sitting properly. 

 

Normally if she had to remain relatively still for any length of time, she’d assume a gymnastic yoga pose; usually one that left her mostly upside-down, or twisted into a shape that made most people cringe in pain just to look at her. But this time as she sat down her back was straight, her posture correct, just as it had been drilled into her at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. And the ink brush in her hand was held at the perfect angle as she wrote smoothly on the paper in front of her; her movements were slow from lack of practice, but her columns were precisely vertical and her characters perfect.

 

Well, nearly perfect; not as perfect as Mai’s calligraphy had been, though.  That inner comparison spurred another thought, and Ty Lee painstakingly wrote about the time that their instructor had thought highly enough of Mai’s calligraphic rendering of a classic poem to frame and mount it on the wall of the classroom.  That reminiscence filled up the fifth sheet of paper; she carefully set it aside for the ink to dry, lay out and smoothed down another blank sheet from the sizeable stack waiting by the desk, then carefully re-inked her brush to begin writing again.

 

Ty Lee hadn’t been able to do anything to save Mai.  And while she’d gladly leap in front of an assassin’s blades to save Mai’s baby boy, she knew too well what it would do to her health and sanity, if she became a palace bodyguard for Roku for years on end until he grew old enough to defend himself; she’d grow as dull as a rusty spoon, and about as useful.  But she still desperately wanted to do something to help!  And last night it had occurred to her that the best way for her to honor her best friend’s memory, would be to share it; to share all the memories she had of Mai while they were growing up together.  To write them down, so they’d be preserved for Roku until he was old enough to read them and learn about what a wonderful lady his mother had been.

 

It was hard, though… and not just because she was terribly out of practice in her calligraphy.  It was hard because Ty Lee preferred to live her life in the moment, not worrying about the future and especially not dwelling on the past, because so many of those memories were awful:

 

She'd grown up as one of seven nearly identical sisters, and sometimes gone for days without hearing her own name called, being referred to by another sister’s name or just as “you there” until she felt like she had no true identity of her own. Getting noticed by Azula at the Fire Academy had been good at first, but after becoming the princess’s companion, she’d had to witness countless instances of Azula’s casual cruelty towards her and Mai, the servants, stray animals, and Azula’s own brother. Even her training in dim mak and chi-blocking had been tainted, until she’d finally decided to run away and join the circus before she had to learn the lethal moves Azula wanted her to learn.

 

Her few years at the circus had been wonderful. But then she’d been forced to leave her new home and join Azula on her mission, before Azula made good on the unspoken threats and her beloved circus was burned to the ground. And there were bad memories associated with the mission, too, including hearing and knowing what Azula was doing to the Kyoshi Warrior prisoners, and having to pretend she didn’t care.  And then, after finally having the courage to stand up to Azula to save Mai’s life, her own horrible time in prison…

 

But she was determined to write down everything she could remember about Mai and everything that had involved her best friend, one way or another. And if that meant remembering the bad things as well as the good, then so be it.

 

And after writing down everything she could remember about Mai… Ty Lee would spend another few days filling more scrolls with everything she could remember about Zuko.  Just in case.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Sokka and Suki came back inside from their sparring match in the palace guards’ training ground, and found out that Toph had just assigned her chosen agents to Zuko; after cleaning up and having breakfast, they went over to meet the agents, and gathered in the guest wing’s parlor.   “Greetings, fellow warriors tasked in keeping the Fire Lord and his son alive and well,” Sokka said, bowing to the Dai Li agents in the Earth Kingdom fashion for greeting strangers. “Allow me to introduce myself: Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, Warrior and Avatar Companion. Specializing in sword and boomerang!”

 

“And meat and sarcasm,” Suki added dryly, before addressing the Dai Li agents directly. “And I’m Suki, leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, but you’ve probably heard plenty about us already. Please, tell us about yourselves; in addition to your names, perhaps you could tell us how Toph found you and recruited you for her New Dai Li.”

 

The four agents nodded between themselves, and the tall man with graying hair, faint laugh lines around his green eyes and an extra rank mark on his uniform spoke first. “Agent Huong; squad leader.  Before Master Toph recruited me for the Dai Li, I had a career in the City Guard.  I suppose you could say I specialize in peacekeeping; my family has been in the Guard for generations.  I don’t have Master Toph’s ability to read heartbeats, but I’ve always had a knack for telling who’s lying or a troublemaker.”  Then he nodded to the next agent.

 

“Agent Renshu,” the next agent, a short and stocky fellow with thick brown hair and mild features, said.  “Used to do construction and well-digging for non-benders; then Master Toph showed up on a site and said she liked the way I felt the earth I was working with, and asked if I was willing to do some sneaking and fighting for the Earth King. Turns out I have a knack for combat, though I still prefer to find a more peaceable way if I can,” as he shrugged.

 

Huong put in, “What he means is, he doesn’t throw the first boulder, but he’ll definitely throw the last one.”  And the sober look in Huong’s eyes suggested that the last boulder had been thrown at least once.

 

Renshu shrugged, plainly preferring not to talk about it, then finished, “I’ve got pretty good tremor-sense too, though not as good as his,” as he pointed to the next agent.

 

“Agent Phan,” the next agent said; a scrawny-looking fellow whose most noticeable feature was the pair of thick glasses perched on his nose. “I’d come from Omashu to be a student at Ba Sing Se University a year before the walls were brought down.  Just after the city was liberated, I was helping to put the university library back in order when Master Toph appeared out of nowhere, took away my glasses and said she’d give ‘em back to me after I developed tremor-sense as good as hers.” He grimaced as he added, “It took three months to get my glasses back!  I’m still not as good as Toph at telling who’s lying just by listening to their heartbeats, but I can hear and feel who’s on the other side of any stone wall or anywhere in a house with stone floors, and no one can sneak up on me if they’re touching the ground.  Even if this guy still keeps trying,” as he pointed with a small frown to the last agent.

 

“Agent Guoliang,” said the last agent, a wiry guy with a shock of unruly black hair and a cocky grin.  “Used to be known as The Gecko, back when I was doing Earth Rumbles.”

 

“The Gecko!” Sokka shouted in delight.  “I saw your stuff back in Earth Rumble Six, when we first met Toph!”

 

“Always a pleasure to meet a fan,” Guoliang said as he grinned even wider.  “After the big showdown between Xin Fu’s gang and the Blind Bandit, I decided it was time to find different work and got a cousin to hook me up with running the trains in Ba Sing Se.  Paid well, but boring. So when Master Toph took on the New Dai Li, I looked her up and reminded her that scaling walls and sneak attacks were my specialty.  She put me through one heckuva retraining program to make me an agent, but here I am.”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

While Sokka and Suki were getting acquainted with the New Dai Li agents, Zuko was learning more about his son’s wet-nurse.  He found that the best way to do so was to sit quietly in a chair in his suite, pretending to read a message from the colonial governor of Gaipan while Roku napped in his sling, and while Katara and Ojia chattered on and on.  When he was alone with Ojia, her language skills seemed to be reduced to timid one-word answers with “your majesty” tacked onto the end nine times out of ten, but when Katara was there she was able to draw the woman into real conversation. 

 

He’d learned in this manner that Ojia had a husband who worked as a merchant in the Middle Ring and three children of her own, two boys and a girl. And just now Katara had been congratulating Ojia on her oldest child, a boy named Heng, being accepted into a highly reputable boy’s academy in the Middle Ring.  “You must be so proud!” she said encouragingly. 

 

“Oh, I am!” Ojia said, beaming from ear to ear.

 

Then Katara shifted to concern. “Isn’t it difficult for you, getting to see your family only on your days off?  I thought wet-nurses usually brought their children with them into the employer’s nursery.”

 

“That’s true of wet-nurses working in the Middle Ring, but in the Upper Ring, many noble families don’t want commoner children associating with their precious little ones,” Ojia said sadly, with a slightly bitter edge that she wasn’t able to mask completely.  Then she put on a face of determined cheer and said, “I’m luckier than most in my situation, in that my sister was quite happy to move into my house and help my husband raise our children. Meng takes care of them as well as I could, and she always reminds them that even when I’m not there, I’m doing all I can for them; Heng would never have gotten accepted into the academy if my previous employer hadn’t sent a letter to the headmaster.”

 

Listening in, Zuko pondered Ojia’s current situation, and how it was going to get harder for her in the near future.  Right now they had an agreement that she had one afternoon a week off to see her family (after Uncle, Katara and Queen Song had all sworn to him that while Roku might get hungry, he wouldn’t starve to death in only five hours), with her first afternoon off occurring in two days.  But once they left for the Fire Nation, Ojia wouldn’t be able to see her children at all, even if she had entire days off.  Perhaps he should tell her to bring her younger children with her?  He didn’t give a handful of ashes whether his son grew up playing with commoners; in fact, it might do him some good, and keep him from getting as shamefully elitist as Zuko himself had been growing up.

 

But then he reconsidered; not for his son’s sake, but for the sake of the other children.  Even now that the nobles responsible for Mai’s death had been identified and orders had already been sent to the Fire Nation to have them arrested, that was no guarantee that the danger to himself and his line was over.  Sokka, Suki and the Dai Li agents would do everything they could to keep Roku safe and Ojia safe as well, but every child in the nursery with him might as well have a bright red target painted on their backs.  And if worst came to worst and an assassin somehow got past all the guards… he wouldn’t put Ojia into the position of having to choose which child to protect, the Crown Prince or one of her own blood.

 

Well, he’d try to make her time away from her children brief, then.  Toph had already told him that when Huong and Phan worked together in questioning someone, they made a better lie detecting team than Toph herself.  As soon as he got back, they’d start interviewing possible wet-nurses for Roku, using the long list of questions that Queen Song herself had drawn up.  Allow three weeks for the interviewing to be done between guard shifts, and background checks to be done by his investigators; then once they found a good and trustworthy wet-nurse in his home country, he’d keep Ojia on for just another week more to ensure a smooth transition in care for his son. Then he’d send her back to Ba Sing Se in a speedy courier airship with a sack of gold for all her troubles; she should be away from her family for no more than six weeks, two months tops.

 

His musings and Ojia and Katara’s chatter were interrupted by a knock at the door, and the guard announced that his uncle wished to visit, along with two other members of Toph’s Dai Li.  Zuko raised an eyebrow at the mention of even more Dai Li agents—what, did Uncle have his own favorites he wanted to send with Roku?—but readily invited them in.

 

And then he had to hold himself very still in his seat, to keep himself from waking Roku by leaping up and grabbing for the swords that he wasn’t wearing anyway.

 

He knew that his reaction wasn’t fair to them.  He knew from all the letters with his uncle that they were members of Toph’s organization now, loyal to her and to protecting the citizens of Ba Sing Se. He knew that they had become regular customers of the Jasmine Dragon, and that they’d had long conversations with Iroh about the past and settled everything amicably between them.  He knew that a lot had changed in the last two years, and they meant him and his son no harm.

 

He knew all that, but he also knew too well that first impressions can last a long, long time.  So when he saw Longshot and Smellerbee, his first thought was Where’s Jet? Swiftly followed by the almost primal impulse to find the bastard and turn him into ashes before he could even lay those hate-filled brown eyes on Roku.

 

Longshot was as silently observant as he had been the first time Zuko had met him, on the ferry to Ba Sing Se.  He stopped in his tracks just after crossing the threshold, and touched Smellerbee’s shoulder; she instantly stopped too, though she seemed puzzled as to why he’d wanted her to.

 

And then Longshot looked Zuko right in the face, with those very expressive eyes of his.  Eyes that said, We mean you no harm. 

We all know what happened two years ago, but we don’t blame you for Jet’s death. 

We tried to stop him, but Jet was too far gone;, lost to his hatred and need for revenge.  If not for you, something else would have brought him to the attention of the old Dai Li and his eventual doom.

We also know that, if not for Jet, you and your uncle might never have been discovered and captured by the old Dai Li and Princess Azula.

We know this is awkward… for all of us.

But we have to face the past and acknowledge it, before we can lay it to rest.

 

Zuko nodded acknowledgement, and said aloud, “What happened, happened. No ill will, on either side.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Katara asked in puzzlement.  And that’s when Zuko realized that he’d been the only one to say anything aloud in that conversation.  How did Longshot do that?

 

“Um, long story; some other time,” Zuko finally muttered to her, before turning to Iroh with a wry smile. “Let me guess; you’re showing off your grandson to friends already?”

 

That is exactly what his uncle was doing.  Smellerbee and Longshot both cooed and ahhed over the baby (well, Smellerbee made the usual baby-appreciating noises; Longshot just smiled a little), but neither asked to hold him; in fact, Smellerbee looked horrified when Iroh suggested it.  Instead, they handed over the toy they’d brought for him to play with when he was older, a ball painted to look like a rolling tigerdillo. 

 

Zuko thanked them for the toy on Roku’s behalf, then set the ball on the table; he’d wait until after they’d gone to stow the ball in the small lacquered chest by his bed that was already filling up rapidly with gifts. He’d already stocked the nursery back home with plenty of toys for Roku, including a toy dragon that he’d specially commissioned to have made in the likeness of the dragon Ran. With all the toys people were giving Roku now since he’d been born here in the Earth Kingdom, the nursery would be filled to overflowing, but he would never refuse any gift from a friend.

 

Kuei had proudly presented him with both the toy chest and the first toy in it, a little stuffed version of Bosco. Iroh had followed suit with a set of building blocks and an entire armful of cuddly toys, including a cloth komodo-rhino (how he’d found that in the heart of Ba Sing Se, Zuko had no idea.) Then Toph had come by with a cute little badgermole, and Katara and Aang had come back from their outing yesterday with a cloth toy rabbaroo. And yesterday evening Song had given Roku, with a private teasing smile at his daddy, a toy ostrich-horse.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

That afternoon, after negotiating the last details of the fishing and hunting agreement with Kuei’s ministers and finalizing his tribe’s rights to follow the migrating rhino-whales into Earth Kingdom waters, Hakoda dropped off the official documents in his quarters and went to see what his children were up to.  And how Zuko and the baby were doing; he had a strong hunch he’d find them all together.

 

He found Katara in the Fire Lord’s guest suite, along with Aang, but not Sokka. He was told that his son and Suki were in a meeting with the captain of Zuko’s personal guard and the Dai Li agents who had just been assigned as bodyguards, discussing the Fire Nation capital and what the agents could expect when they arrived there. 

 

It didn’t take long for Hakoda to wheedle the baby away from his daughter’s arms and start humming an old Water Tribe lullaby to it, idly wishing he was doing this with children of his own blood. He hadn’t been pleased about learning that he’d have to wait a few years more before Sokka and Suki presented him with grandchildren, but he had accepted it as necessary for the entire world’s sake.  He eyed Aang, sitting at a portable pai sho table with Zuko, and wondered if Aang and his daughter would be giving him grandchildren first; he was sure Katara would be ready to marry and settle down with children soon, but the Avatar still seemed like a child sometimes.

 

Then Iroh came into his nephew’s quarters, his normally jovial wrinkled face set in grave lines as he held a scroll with the Fire Nation seal on it.  “We received a hawk-message back from the capital,” he told them.  “The guards sent to arrest Rozen and Hiromi for Mai’s murder… found the entire family dead, apparently of a combination of murder and suicide.  Rozen and Hiromi were found lying on white mats in their parlor, having committed hara-kiri together; their three children were found in their beds with their throats slashed.”

 

“No… no, not the children too!” Zuko’s face was slack with horror.  “How could they—I would never have hurt the children!”

 

“Th-they killed their own children?!” Aang and Katara were just as aghast, if not moreso.  “What kind of monsters were they?”

 

Iroh shook his head sadly.  “It may be that they didn’t believe Zuko would treat their children any better than his father or sister would have… or it could be that they thought a quick death would be preferable to living the rest of their lives in shame for what their parents did--”

 

“It wasn’t the parents.”

 

Hakoda didn’t realize he’d said that out loud, until he realized everyone was staring at him. Iroh asked for them all, “And what makes you say that?”

 

He handed the baby back over to Zuko, whose arms had been twitching for him ever since Iroh had first mentioned the children, and took a moment to put his thoughts in order. Then he said more firmly, “The parents didn’t kill their own children; not in that fashion.  Not when the mother had access to a poison that would have been a far gentler and easier death.” He could picture the scene in all its horror in his own mind, as he related it to the others: “The children were probably held hostage, with their captors telling the parents that if they would have to commit ritual suicide if they wanted the children to live… but once the parents were dead, the children’s throats were slit to keep them from talking too.  Send a hawk-message back telling your investigators to look for signs of forced entry into the house, probably from a window that could be reached with a ladder; someplace that wouldn’t be immediately obvious to people coming through the front door.”

 

Iroh and Zuko were both looking at him rather skeptically, and Iroh said gently, “While that is a nice theory, we--”

 

“No, let him keep talking,” Aang interrupted.  “Sokka’s actually a pretty good detective, and he had to have gotten that from somebody.  So what makes you so sure of that, Chief Hakoda, when I’m pretty sure you’ve never met any of these people?”

 

“I haven’t,” Hakoda admitted, “but I’m very familiar with misdirection and covering tracks. Perhaps you’re aware of what I and my warriors did to our ships, to cover our own tracks when we left our tribe to come to the Earth Kingdom’s aid?  In order to muster a decent fighting force, we had to leave our villages basically defenseless.  So, to direct the Fire Nation Navy’s attention away from our homes, we replaced all our banners and visible insignia… with the symbol for the Northern Water Tribe.”

 

Zuko looked astonished and rather appalled, but Iroh stroked his beard with a wry expression.  “Yes, Pakku said something about that at one of our meetings last year; he was quite upset when he found out about the deception. And quite indignant when you responded that you wouldn’t have had to resort to such deception to keep your tribe safe, if the northern tribe’s warriors hadn’t stayed in hiding behind their ice walls for all those decades, even when your tribe had repeatedly called for aid against the Fire Nation raids.”

 

Hakoda just snorted in response; he and Pakku had achieved a détente of sorts since that cranky old lobster-crow had married his mother-in-law, but they still didn’t particularly like each other.  Then he went on, “So I’m familiar with misdirection.  And from the very beginning, something bothered me about the confession you wrung from that midwife; she knew too much about the entire plot.  The only part she had to play was in causing the death of Mai and the baby in childbirth; there was no reason for Lady Hiromi to tell her minion that somebody else would be tasked with killing Zuko and making it appear to be a suicide.  The only reason would be if she and the other person would have to work together to accomplish their vile mission… and if so, she would have known the other assassin’s name.  But she didn’t give you a name, did she?” he asked Iroh.

 

Iroh looked horribly chagrined as he admitted, “No, she didn’t.  And I believed her when she said Lady Hiromi hadn’t told her the other assassin’s name; why didn’t I realize… I am a doddering old fool!” he cursed himself.  “I should have known better than to question anyone when I was so furious!”

 

“And you shouldn’t have just killed her after questioning,” Aang interjected.  “Now we can’t question her again, to find out the truth!”

 

Hakoda happened to agree with Aang, but he didn’t like the traces of superiority on that boy’s face.  So he asked the Avatar in a mild tone, “So you’d rather she had been taken alive back to the Fire Nation… and then put to death in a much more protracted and gruesome manner that would last several days, the usual punishment for regicide?”

 

The Avatar blanched as he turned to address Zuko and Iroh.  “I never have, and I never will, ask you for the name of the warrior who led the raid on my tribe that killed my beloved wife Kya and left my children without a mother.  Because if I learned his name, even if he was just following your monstrous father’s orders, then I would have to demand that he be turned over to my tribe… and his screams would last for days before we finally finished with him.”

 

Katara made a tiny choked noise, but Hakoda didn’t turn to look at her; he felt it more important to keep his gaze on Zuko and Iroh, showing more solidarity with his fellow widowers than with a monk who didn’t even eat meat. 

 

Zuko dropped his gaze to the baby in his arms, then said slowly, “As it so happens… the commander’s name was Yon Rha.”

 

“Zuko!”

 

“And he’s already dead,” Zuko continued, speaking louder over the Avatar’s outburst of protest. “He died in the first of the riots that erupted in his colony after the war.  If I remember right, he was one of those that got buried alive in his own garden, by guerilla earthbenders seeking revenge on the Fire Nation.”

 

“You anticipated Chief Hakoda making such a request, nephew?” Iroh asked grimly.

 

His eyes still on his infant son, Zuko said, “Katara and Sokka told me about the raid that killed their mother, soon after I joined their group.  After the war ended, I had access to all the military records… and reports of everyone who died in the riots.”

 

Hakoda nodded and gravely said, “Thank you for telling me,” though he could tell the young Fire Lord was holding something back. He guessed that Zuko had been thinking of putting Yon Rha on trial for war crimes, as he had done for the most vile and bloodthirsty high-ranking officers in his nation’s military; those who had ordered atrocities like burning entire families to death inside their homes, sometimes just as an example to others.  He remembered hearing that the Fire Lord and the Avatar had some disagreement about that; not about the trials, but about the death penalties enforced afterwards.

 

Aang protested, still sounding upset, “Can we not talk about so much death and vengeance right in front of the baby?  It’s probably bad for his development!”

 

“Roku is far too young to understand what we’re saying,” Iroh pointed out, but they all agreed to talk about something else instead, and the conversation turned to which parent Roku most resembled.  Zuko was firm in saying that Roku resembled his mother the most, having Mai’s nose and chin, but everyone else said he resembled his father more; he definitely had Zuko’s eyes, his baby-fine black hair was more like Zuko’s than Mai’s, and both Hakoda and Katara were sure he had his father’s cheekbones as well under the baby fat.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

The next day, as he had promised Aang and Katara, Haru came to the palace to give his condolences to Zuko and to get reacquainted with all of Team Avatar. And Hakoda, who shook his hand in the warriors’ fashion, observed he’d grown taller and stronger since the end of the war, and asked the teen to give his regards to Tyro in his next letter. Sokka gave Haru a manly slap on the back, Katara gave him a hug and another mild scolding about not staying in touch, Suki said he looked more handsome without the mustache (and quickly squeezed Sokka’s hand when he started to look upset), and Aang asked him if he’d heard from Teo lately. 

 

Ty Lee had never met Haru before, but she bounded out of her guest room long enough to greet him, tell him he looked cute, invite him to visit Kyoshi Island sometime, give him a hug and peck on the cheek, and then cartwheel back to her quarters. Haru stared after her departing figure and asked hesitantly, “Are all Kyoshi Island girls like that?”

 

“Ty Lee’s actually from the Fire Nation. But in either nation, she’s one of a kind,” Suki said with a smile.

 

“So what brought you to Ba Sing Se?” Aang asked, before giving a knowing smile.  “After seeing the Fire Nation, an Air Temple and so much more of the world, your village just seemed too small to stay in, huh?”

 

Haru’s return smile was a little wry, as he nodded to indicate that Aang had guessed right. Toph overheard and added loudly and cheerfully, “One thing you gotta say about Ba Sing Se is that it’s big! Biggest city in the world, and there’s always loads of work for good earthbenders.  Hey, c’mon, Haru, I’ll take you to see Zuko.  He’s not being unsociable, he’s just not ready to bring the baby out in public yet.” 

 

Once they were inside Zuko’s guest suite, Haru gravely gave his sincere condolences to Zuko for the loss of his wife, and said he regretted never having had the opportunity to meet Mai.  “I’d already moved to Ba Sing Se by the time your wedding invitation arrived back in my old village; my parents forwarded to me but the mail going to and from the village is so slow, by the time it reached me you’d already gotten married.  I heard it was a beautiful ceremony, though.”

 

“It was,” Zuko said with a sad smile of reminiscence.  “And we received your letter of congratulations and well-wishes after we got back from our honeymoon.”  Then the bulky over-robe he was wearing suddenly pushed outwards at the level of his stomach, and he looked down with a smile turned tender as he said, “Somebody just woke up… would you like to meet him, in the five seconds before he starts crying?”

 

Haru said he’d consider it a privilege, so Zuko opened the over-robe and gently picked Roku up out of his sling.  Toph, who had the most sensitive nose of the group, was wrinkling her nose even before Zuko opened his robe and announced that she’d get Ojia for him.  Haru looked down at the tiny babe cradled in Zuko’s arms and blinking up at him, and murmured, “He has your eyes.” Then he looked up again and asked hesitantly, “May I hold him for a moment?”

 

Zuko hesitated a moment.  “Have you ever held a baby before?”

 

“Not one just a few days old, no, but I’ve held babies that were of crawling age; the neighbors back home had seven children.”

 

“Well, with newborn children, it’s really important to support the head.  Position your arms like this…”  With all the people who’d asked to hold Roku in the seven days since his birth, Zuko had quickly become an expert in handing him over and receiving him back, and in coaching the less practiced people on how to properly carry newborns. 

 

It only took a few moments of coaching and careful handling, before Haru was holding Roku in the right way to support him and gazing down at the infant with wonder and wistfulness in his features.  He said softly, “Hello, Roku.  You have an amazing father.  You’re lucky to have him… and he’s lucky to have you.” He looked back up at Zuko as he said earnestly, “I know you probably don’t feel lucky right now, after losing your wife, but--”

 

“No, actually, I know just how lucky I am to have him,” Zuko interrupted, his smile bittersweet.  “If he hadn’t come early, if he’d been born back home… I’d have lost them both.  And probably be dead by now myself.  Instead, he’s alive and well, and he’ll stay that way because he’s going to be the best-protected baby on the planet.”

 

Roku started to fuss in Haru’s arms, but before he started really crying, Ojia came into the room to give him a diaper change.  Haru carefully handed the baby over to the wet-nurse, then turned back to Zuko with a somewhat sheepish smile.  “I know that as royalty he probably has a well-stocked nursery already, but I brought something for him anyway,” as he pulled a small stuffed cloth panda out of his belt pouch and handed it over.

 

Zuko thanked him for the toy on his son’s behalf, and after Roku’s diaper was changed and he went back into his carrying sling, Haru held the little panda and made it dance in midair above the baby as he watched with fascinated gold eyes, then tucked it into the sling with him.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

The next day, Hakoda and his family made a trip down to the docks to see the crews of the Southern Water Tribe trade ships. Hakoda needed to deliver the documents for the trade agreements he had made with the Earth Kingdom, and wanted to see how the more local trading was progressing under Bato’s direction; his children came along for the joy of seeing old familiar faces. 

 

When they arrived down at the docks, Bato and everyone present made a great fuss over greeting Katara, as they hadn’t seen her since the end of the war.  There were plenty of comments on how she looked just like her mother Kya now, and many congratulations on her achieving master healer status so quickly. And when she demonstrated for them the water-warming technique she’d invented, the crews were so amazed and proud of her that they were calling random and rather bewildered Earth Kingdom sailors off the docks to come and see what she’d accomplished.

 

All the tribesmen were glad to see Sokka, too, though it had only been five months since he’d left for Kyoshi Island with Suki. And when they heard of his and Suki’s mutual decisions to go to the Fire Nation and act as bodyguards to the infant prince for the next five years… There was some consternation, and several worried glances towards their chief, but they generally agreed that Sokka had made a wise decision.  Tatum said bluntly, “The last thing we need is for Fire Lord Zuko’s line to end, and the throne to go to some bloodthirsty firebender who still thinks his nation has every right to rule the world.  The Southern Water Tribe fought hard to end the war; maybe it seems a little unfair that now we have to fight to keep the peace, but the only time life is fair is when we make it that way.”

 

Eventually someone noticed that Captain Bunjiro of the Chihei, the Fire Lord’s royal yacht, was on the deck of his ship in the next berth over, and was staring curiously at their gathering around the main mast.  Hakoda hailed him over, and a few minutes later the firebending captain was aboard and being shown the new waterbending technique Katara had invented.   Knowing that Master Katara was a personal friend of the Fire Lord, the captain was very gracious and did his best to appear fascinated by the water-warming technique… but Katara could tell that he just didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. She could almost hear him thinking, What’s the big deal, when she can’t even get it to boil?  I could heat water hotter than that in my sleep! 

 

But the captain was very courteous, and was glad for the opportunity to meet with Katara and Sokka; the first for an update on how baby Roku was doing, and the second to let Sokka know that, as per the Fire Lord’s message, he and the crew were preparing quarters for all the extra people who would be traveling back to the Fire Nation with them. “The ship hadn’t been designed with so many guests in mind, but we’re being creative with what we have. Your rooms should be ready by the day after tomorrow, if you have luggage that you’d like to have sent down prior to our departure in two weeks,” he told Sokka.

 

“Great!  And y’know, if it makes things easier, you can just bunk me and Suki together,” Sokka said cheerfully.  And when everyone either raised their eyebrows or frowned at him, he protested, “What?  Just for saving space, to make things easier on Zuko’s poor hardworking crew!  The Dai Li agents will probably be willing to double up in rooms too.”

 

Bunjiro departed for his ship soon afterwards, and after another hour of visiting and catching up on news, Katara and her father and brother decided it was time to head back up to the palace.  But before they left, the crew assembled again and presented them with a present for the Fire Lord’s son from everyone aboard; a stuffed tiger-seal toy.  “We made it from samples of the trade goods we brought with us!  It turns out Kamik and Nanook are really skilled at sewing, almost as good as the women back home, and they put it together in only two days,” Bato told them with evident pride in the men’s work.

 

Suddenly, Katara knew exactly how Captain Bunjiro had felt. She looked at the lumpy misshapen thing that was supposed to be a tiger-seal, and thought to herself, Two days?  I could have made it in two hours, and done so much better at it!  But she kept a smile on her face as she said it looked fit for a prince, and thanked them all on Zuko and Roku’s behalf. 

 

Later, while riding the stone railway back up to the palace, she stuffed the toy into a sack and told her brother and father, “Not a word about the present to anyone when we get there, okay?  Not until after I get into my sewing kit tonight, and see what I can do about turning this into a toy actually fit for a present.”  Hakoda and Sokka saw the determined look on her face, and decided not to argue.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

As they were going back inside the palace, Sokka and his family met Ojia the wet-nurse on her way out; she assured them that she’d left little Roku asleep in his father’s arms and with a full tummy.  Katara wished Ojia a pleasant afternoon with her family, and they went to drop off the tiger-seal toy in Katara’s room before having a late lunch together.

 

They passed Zuko’s guest suite on the way to the dining hall, and he opened the door just as they walked past to talk to one of his guards with a rather harried expression.  “Go to the royal nursery, and fetch—Oh, Katara, you’re here!” as he spotted them.  “I thought you wouldn’t be back until dinner.  Would you help me, please?  Queen Song said I could make use of Qingshan’s nurse while Ojia’s away, but I can’t risk taking Roku to the royal nursery, not while Qingshan still has the sniffles!”

 

“Ojia said she’d just fed him,” Katara said, frowning as she still almost automatically followed the sound of the crying baby into Zuko’s suite, and Sokka and Hakoda followed her inside.

 

“She did, but he woke up a few minutes ago,” Zuko explained as they saw Roku lying on the bed, crying and kicking his tiny feet in distress. “He’s filled his diaper again!”

 

Katara gave him an inquiring look.  “And…?”

 

Zuko swept a hand towards first the baby, and then the changing table that had been set up in the corner.  “Well, obviously, somebody has to change his diaper!”

 

Instead of reaching for the baby, Katara frowned at first Zuko’s two personal servants, who were standing in the corner and looking rather helpless, than at Zuko himself.  “So why can’t they do it?  For that matter, who don’t you do it? Mai told me that you and she had secret what-to-do-with-a-baby classes.”

 

“Just on how to hold him safely!” Zuko protested.  “She always said we’d have a wet-nurse for everything else, because babies belong in nurseries!  And my valets don’t know how to do it, either; they’re both bachelors, and besides, this is women’s work!”

 

Sokka had been about to step up and tell them proudly that he’d had training on how to change diapers in an emergency, straight from the Earth Prince’s nurse the night before he’d committed to being Roku’s bodyguard, but at Zuko’s last words he stopped in his tracks and braced himself, mentally counting down.  3…2…1…

 

“Women’s work?” Katara said dangerously.  “Zuko, you’re the one who was bragging to me about how much more progressive your nation was compared to the Water Tribes.  You said that your people knew that women could be warriors, and didn’t put any restrictions on their bending or bar them from joining the military.  And now you’re telling me that yes, women are encouraged to do all the work that men can do… but men never have to do the work that women do?!  That’s just giving the women even more work, but the men less! How do you call that progressive?!” 

 

But-but-but…Sokka said so himself when Roku was born, there are some things men just can’t do!” the Fire Lord sputtered helplessly.

 

“He meant breastfeeding,” Katara growled.  “Because men’s chests can’t produce milk. But for everything else a baby needs, you have two hands as capable as any woman’s hands!  And as for it being ‘women’s work’, let me tell you something, Fire Lord. In the Southern Water Tribe, we have a saying: a man’s not a real man until he’s proven he’s at least as tough as a woman! That means he’s handled everything a woman would be expected to handle; all the dirty, nasty, or long and tedious jobs that nobody really wants to do but have to get done anyway.  That’s what they mean by ‘women’s work’!”

 

Zuko looked at her sourly.  “Like changing diapers.”

 

“That’s right.” She smirked. “So, Fire Lord, are you man enough? Tough enough?”

 

Zuko glared at her, while rolling up his sleeves. “I chased you and Aang across the entire world, I lost count of all the times we fought, I successfully infiltrated Pouhai Stronghold and the North Pole, and I faced down both my father and my crazy sister!  I can by Agni handle a stinking diaper!”

 

Katara nodded in satisfaction before heading for the changing table with Roku, crooking her finger at Zuko.  “This way, brave warrior…”

 

Sokka watched Zuko follow Katara over to the changing table, then murmured uncertainly to his father, “Dad… do the adults of our tribe really say that?”

 

Hakoda looked amused.  “The men never say it, but the married women do.” 

 

It took Zuko nearly ten minutes to do something that Katara could probably have done herself in less than two minutes, and at the end he was still looking rather nauseous, but finally Roku had a clean diaper on and was resting quietly in his sling again.  Katara smiled and told Zuko he’d done well for his first time, which made him stand up straighter and put an almost-smile on his face again. Then she followed Sokka and Hakoda out the door, in search of that late lunch they still wanted.

 

As they exited the guest suite, Sokka grinned as he heard the Fire Lord ordering his two valets to apprentice themselves to Ojia as soon as she returned, and learn how to change diapers. If he could learn to do it, then dammit so could they!

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

The next day, Mai’s parents returned from their grand tour of Ba Sing Se. Zuko greeted them civilly in the parlor, asked very courteously if they’d enjoyed their tour, and let them hold Roku for a few minutes. Then he announced that Aang was ready and waiting to fly them back to Omashu, because everyone was sure they were anxious to get back to the son they valued so highly.

The middle-aged couple saw the bared teeth in the Fire Lord’s smile, and wisely chose not to protest; instead they just went out to where servants were already loading their luggage and souvenirs onto the sky bison. Fire Sage Shyu met them in the courtyard, politely tendering his regrets that he would not be traveling with them this time. Shyu explained that it was necessary to the entire Fire Nation’s well-being that he accompany the Fire Lord back to the capital, so he could confirm for the other Fire Sages the details of Roku’s birth and his eligibility to the throne. (Iroh had also particularly requested his company aboard the ship; Shyu had visited the Jasmine Dragon for tea three times since his arrival, played a decent game of pai sho, and remembered the words to all the popular songs that Iroh had grown up hearing.)

 

Momo was already up in the bison saddle, alternately dodging the servants and burrowing curiously into everything. Standing next to Appa, Aang looked at the loads of luggage being strapped onto the saddle and winced. “There is no way I’m telling Appa to fly at top speed with all that extra weight,” he confided to Katara. “This’ll be a slow trip, probably about six days there and back.” He finished hopefully, “Did you want to come with me, sweetie?”

 

Katara looked hesitant, and finally shook her head.  “I don’t think so, Aang.  Appa doesn’t need my weight added to all that luggage… and besides, I don’t want to stop Roku’s daily warm-water-healing sessions for that long.  He’s doing much better now than when he was born, he’s already gaining a little weight, but I want to give him every advantage in health that I can before he and Zuko leave for the Fire Nation.”

 

Aang was disappointed, but said he understood, and gave her a kiss goodbye.  He tossed his own small sack of necessities up into the saddle, and helpfully gave Den and Niji Tsumari boosts into the saddle.  Once they were settled, he hopped up to his usual place at the reins, while Katara gave Appa a fond farewell stroke on the nose.  Then with a hearty, “Appa, yip yip!” the sky bison rose into the air, rumbling farewell to Katara and everyone else gathered below; they waved goodbye as he spiraled upwards a ways before turning southwest and heading out.

 

After Aang left, Katara got out her bone needles and sinew thread, and went to work on the toy tiger-seal.  She ended up having to take it completely apart, trim the pieces and re-sew them together, but in a few hours she had a toy that actually looked like a tiger-seal, if smaller than it had been before.  Hakoda was the one to present it to Zuko on behalf of his crew, but Katara took private pleasure in the way Zuko admired all the handiwork and showed it to Roku before setting it on the table by his bed.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Four days later, Zuko’s uncle and all his friends ganged up on him and tried to take his son away from him!

 

At least, that’s how Zuko saw it.  His friends and uncle saw it differently.

 

“Zuko, look at yourself in the mirror!” Katara said in exasperation.  “You’ve got circles under your eyes like a rabbiccoon!”  Under his right eye, that is; his scarred left eye looked the same as ever.

 

“You are exhausted, nephew,” Iroh rumbled with concern.  “You are simply not getting enough sleep while constantly minding Roku, and it is taking its toll on you.”

 

“Your aura’s looking really bad right now,” Ty Lee chimed in, almost biting her nails with worry.

 

“Aura, hell; your whole body’s going to pot, Sparky!” Toph snorted with her arms crossed in front of her, braced for an argument.  “You’ve lost weight in just the last two weeks, and don’t even get me started on the differences in how you’re moving lately.”

 

“It’s going to be months yet before Roku starts sleeping through the night, and so long as he’s sleeping with you, you wake up every time he does!” Katara gestured emphatically as she went on, “It wouldn’t be so hard on you if you did what every sensible mother does, and nap during the day while the baby’s sleeping--”

 

“Firebenders rise with the sun, we don’t take naps,” Zuko growled, glaring at them all.  “And Fire Lords don’t have time for naps!”

 

“Yeah, we know you go through enough paperwork every day to choke a sky bison,” Sokka said readily.  “Which is why you’ve gotta get more sleep at night!”

 

“And at least a little exercise during the day,” Suki added.  “Physical activity every day helps people stay healthy, but you haven’t done any firebending or sword-sparring since Roku was born, because you won’t take him out of his sling long enough for exercise.”

 

“Because my son needs me!” Zuko had the wall at his back as he clutched at the baby sling containing his fretting son, glaring at the small crowd of people in front of him—who had recognized the flight-or-flight instinct reacting to a perceived threat, and very prudently left a wide avenue open to the left, and running a hopefully more attractive option than throwing fireballs.  But they stood their ground instead of backing off; in the last few days each of them had tried separately to reason with him and failed, so now they were trying group tactics.

 

Zuko continued, his red-rimmed eyes narrowed and his teeth bared in a snarl, “His health is too fragile for him to survive on his own; he needs my body heat to stay alive!  Katara, you told me that yourself!”

 

“When he was just born, and weeks before he was due, then yes he needed your body heat to stay warm,” Katara said again.  “But he’s two weeks old now, and I’ve been strengthening his body and chi with every warm-water-healing session I give him!  He’s as strong and healthy now as any baby carried to full term, and he’s ready to sleep in a cradle, and in a nursery!”

 

“No, he’s not!” Zuko shouted at her, as smoke started pouring out from between his teeth.  “He’s my son, not yours, and I know him better than you; he needs me!”

 

Katara stepped back, her expression hurt for a moment.  Over to the side, standing between Team Avatar and the valets and wet-nurse cowering in the corner while keeping a firm grip on her husband’s arm (because royalty is just not allowed to cower away from clear and present danger), Song tsked a couple of times and murmured, “First time I’ve ever seen the father suffering from post-partum depression.”

 

“L-lack of sleep can do terrible things to a person’s mind; I’ve read scrolls about it in the medical section,” Kuei managed to say without his voice quavering too much, though his eyes were wide and his right hand kept grasping thin air in a way that suggested he really, really wanted to have a nice big bear standing next to him just then.

 

“Zuko.  You’re right,” Hakoda said, stepping to the fore of the group, his eyes locked on the teenaged father’s.  “You’re right; your son needs you.” At his audible siding with the young Fire Lord, everyone else gave him looks of irritation mixed with dashes of betrayal, but the smoke stopped billowing out of Zuko’s mouth.

 

Hakoda continued, “He’s going to need you every day of his life until he’s grown, and ready to stand on his own as a man and a ruler of men.  He will need you to guide him and teach him, and to stand between him and the world until he’s old enough to face it.  He needs you to be the Fire Lord, and to do everything in your power to ensure the Fire Nation thrives while continuing to turn away from war. To restore harmony to your people and the world, so that when your time is over, your son will inherit a nation at peace instead of war with its neighbors.  Do you understand? For his sake, you must be the Fire Lord.”

 

Zuko nodded grimly in response. Hakoda continued, “Just as I had to be the Chief of my tribe, even when all I wanted was to be a father to my children.  When Kya died… all I wanted was to huddle under a heap of furs with my son and daughter and keep them safe from the world.  It hurt too much to venture outside, to stand tall in front of the tribe and order them to pack up all their belongings; to lead the migration to safer territory, where the ice hadn’t been broken by raider’s ships.  It hurt until I thought I would die from it, but I did it, because the tribe needed me to be strong; if I hadn’t been strong enough to guide and rally them, fear and grief and anger over the raid would have ripped our community apart, and ultimately done worse to my family than the raid itself had.”

 

Katara and Sokka were staring at their father, almost in shock; they’d never heard him say such things before.  Hakoda had tears glistening in his eyes as he went on, slowly moving forward as he spoke, “I had to stand out there and be the chief instead of a father, when my children had just lost their mother.  When my daughter sobbed for hours while clinging to the necklace we took off Kya’s body before returning her to the sea. When my son could barely stir himself from his corner of the hut, could barely even eat with the grief choking him.  Kya’s mother moved into our home and did all she could for them, but they needed me, and I wasn’t there for them nearly as often as I wanted to be—as they wanted me to be.  So believe me, Zuko, when I say I understand exactly how hard your life is going to be from now on,” as he reached out and gripped Zuko’s shoulder, and Zuko let him.

 

A firm, fatherly squeeze to that shoulder, and then he released it and stepped back to stand with the others again.  “Roku needs you to be the Fire Lord, as well as his father.  And to be an effective Fire Lord… you have to be strong.  Able to bend those flames around your throne to your will, and to bend your council to your will when you know the right course to take.  So you have to take care of yourself as well as Roku, to be strong for him and for your nation.  And in order to be strong, Zuko…” Hakoda smiled wryly.  “You really do need more sleep.”

 

Having taken a cue from her father’s speech, Katara stepped forward again, her face solemn now instead of exasperated.  “Zuko, I swear to you on my life and my honor that, thanks to the water-healing I’ve given him and the constant care you’ve given him, Roku is now physically strong enough to sleep by himself.  We’ll make sure he’s snug and warm in his cradle… you’ll make sure, yourself, when you tuck him in to sleep in the nursery that Song had the servants prepare just for him.  And someone will be with him at all times; I and your uncle will stay in the nursery with him, for his first night there.”

 

Eventually, they all coaxed him into going with them down to the nursery wing. It became a small royal procession, with the Earth King and Queen leading the way and the servants in the rear, Zuko’s valets carrying Roku’s toy chest and assisting Ojia with her belongings. 

 

Previous Earth Kings had taken on so many concubines that an entire wing of the palace was devoted to nurseries, with a separate one for each age group from infanthood to adolescence.  Most of those rooms were unused or converted to storage now, but one room near the end of the wing, with a window facing the rising sun, was reserved for Qingshan’s use.  Queen Song had ordered servants to air out and properly furnish a room on the opposite side, with a window facing the setting sun and the distant Fire Nation.

 

Following their queen’s orders, the servants had decorated the nursery with a mixture of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation furniture and wall hangings.  The cradle was both made well from sturdy hardwoods, and decorated with elaborate carvings; the fine silk sheets made it truly fit for a prince.  After inspecting the room and giving it his reluctant approval, Zuko sat in the rocking chair by the cradle and began singing a lullaby to his son. Meanwhile Ojia quietly bustled about settling herself in, and more servants trotted in with spare beds for Katara and Iroh to sleep on.

 

As Zuko sang to Roku and settled him to sleep, Katara came up behind the chair, quietly warned him to keep a firm grip on his son, and then began untying the baby sling.  “Put him inside the crib, sling and all; that way he’ll have something familiar in there with him,” she whispered, and Zuko nodded acknowledgment.

 

Eventually, little Roku fell asleep.  Moving very slowly and carefully, Zuko stood up from the chair, moved the two steps over to the cradle and gently lay his son in it.  He tucked the ends of the sling under the cradle mattress so they couldn’t tangle around his son and possibly choke him; then he carefully drew the soft warm blankets up to that tiny chin, leaned in and gave him a feather-soft kiss goodnight.

 

“You should put one of his toys in there, so he’ll have company with him!” Ty Lee quietly chirped up, after blowing a kiss at the baby too.

 

“Good idea,” Zuko muttered, turning towards the toy chest.  And then he paused, bemused as a half-dozen different hands quickly reached into the chest before he could get there.  Soon a quiet argument ensued between most of the people present, as to whether Roku’s first sleeping companion and probably his eventual favorite toy should be a bear, a komodo-rhino, a rabbaroo, a badgermole, an ostrich-horse or a tiger-seal.

 

“Oh, for…!  All right, just to end this stupid arguing before you wake him up,” Zuko finally growled, and reached into the toy chest to pull out the little panda that Haru had given him.  Several different people pouted but kept quiet as he gently tucked the panda in with his son, then gave the baby another feather-light kiss before letting Hakoda, Sokka, Toph and Ty Lee lead him towards the door.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

 

Song and Kuei left Roku’s nursery as well and went across the hall to the one facing east, to play with their son Qingshan for a little while before tucking him into bed too. Sokka thought for a moment about popping in to see their kid too, because Qingshan was right at the age where babies started being fun to play with instead of just lying around crying all the time.  But then he reconsidered; due to Zuko’s exhausted and cranky state, it would probably be better to get his buddy to his own bed as soon as possible.  He joined the others in wishing the royal couple goodnight, as they kept heading for the guest wing.

 

They got as far as the double doors to the nursery wing before they heard, ever-so-faintly, the sound of a baby crying. Oh, slush! Sokka thought in dismay as he realized Roku had woken up and was crying for his daddy.  And naturally, Zuko had heard it even before they had; he cried out “Roku!” as he whipped back around.

 

That nice and easy walk through the palace suddenly turned into one helluva struggle, to keep Zuko from burning through the walls to try to get to his son.  Hakoda and Sokka tried to grab him and hold him back, but he was literally afire with the need to get to his offspring, his skin burning hot! Finally, swearing and flapping their singed hands to cool them, they backed off and let Toph earthbend the floor up around his legs, to hold him still long enough for Ty Lee to dart in and chi-block him.

 

Then they had to carry the paralyzed Fire Lord back to the guest wing, and explain to the extremely upset guards that had been left at his door that they had meant him no harm, really, even while Zuko was cursing them for traitors and threatening dire punishment once he could move again… yeah, that was a fun conversation!

 

But they eventually got him inside his room, and Sokka and his dad propped Zuko up into a chair and made him swear to behave and not go charging back to the nursery, before Ty Lee massaged him here and there to unblock him and let him move again.  Then the girls left, while Hakoda went to the teapot that Iroh had brought in and set on a brazier to keep warm while they were away. He poured a cup of tea and offered it to the Fire Lord with a quiet, “Here; your uncle said it’s a soothing blend.”

 

Zuko eyed the cup sourly instead of taking it. “What, are you planning to drug me to sleep?”

 

“Aw, c’mon, Zuko; your uncle made it himself!  Would he do that to you?  Look, I’ll prove to you it’s safe,” Sokka said as he got up and poured himself a cup, then sat down across from Zuko while pushing his buddy’s cup a little closer to his hand.  He took a long swallow of tea, then set the cup down and smiled.  “See?  Perfectly safe.  Tasty, too!”

 

Zuko shrugged, took a swallow of his tea, then set the cup down with a thoughtful expression.  “Tastes like jasmine and… something else.” And then he pitched forward.

 

“That ‘something else’ must be even stronger than I thought,” Hakoda said dryly as he leaned in just barely in time to catch Zuko, and keep him from smacking face-first into the table.  “Are you all right, son?”

 

“It just hit him so hard because he was already exhausted,” Sokka said sagely as he got up from the table.  Except, instead of getting up, he sorta went down instead, slithering out of his chair to end up leaning against it on the floor. “Though I guess it is kinda strong… lil’ help, somebody?”

 

Zuko’s two valets quickly took over his care, and got the unconscious teen stripped of his daytime clothing and tucked into bed even before Sokka was half-dragged, half-carried out the door by Hakoda.  “First time I’ll be putting you to bed in over a decade,” his dad muttered as they staggered over to their own guest rooms.

 

“Yup.  But hey, now he’ll sleep through the night for sure,” Sokka slurred, while trying to remember which leg was which; every time he thought he got it figured out, they tangled up on him again.

 

“That’s true.  But just so we’re clear on something… when you get to the Fire Nation, you’re going to let Zuko’s hired food tasters do that instead, right?”

 

“Yup, yup!  Hey, that one’s my left leg!  Whups, no, that one’s yours…”

 

As he was being tucked into bed (which was actually really comforting), Sokka said softly, “Hey, Dad?”

 

“Yes, son?”

 

“I just want you to know that you are, seriously, the greatest dad ever.  And probably the best chief our tribe has ever had, too.  I don’t think I’ll ever be as great a chief or dad as you are.”

 

Hakoda smiled.  “Thank you… and yes you will, son.  When your children need you to be, you will.”

 

“I love you, Dad.”

 

“I love you too, son.  Good night.”

 

.

 

Chapter 8: Looking Back

Notes:

Everyone, please bear with me; the Zutara scenes that some of you have been demanding will be coming soon! But first, since most of the party will be leaving for the Fire Nation at the end of the next chapter, I want to shine the spotlight on some Ba Sing Se/Earth Kingdom people and establishments while I still can. A few of the events mentioned in this chapter were first brought up in my story “New Dai Li”.

FairladyZ2005 wrote in a review at FFnet, "I'm not sure it's even a factor, but don't ever let the fact that this is going in a very different direction from Korra/Promise cannon stop you from ever finishing it."
My instant and joking reply was: Pfft! Since when has canon ever stopped a diehard Zutarian? :-D

But actually I don’t fit the category of “diehard Zutarian”, since I have several Maiko fics bookmarked/on my Favorites list, and I think it is possible for Mai and Zuko to stay in character and still have a good long-lasting relationship; to be content and sometimes even happy with each other. And for the folks who like B&D or S&M relationships—I don’t understand the attraction of that stuff at all, but we’ve got a wide world with many weird corners to it—anyway, Mai would definitely make a much more appropriate B&D or S&M partner for Zuko than Katara. (Please, folks, take the knife-girl instead.) But with all their many similarities and their many complementing differences, the way they can truly fit together like yin and yang, I do think Zuko and Katara can be even happier together.

But having said that: I’d like to assure everyone that Mai’s death in this story wasn’t purely a “Die for our Ship” death. I don’t want to give everything away now, but… Mai is going to be quite important to a very Serious Conflict much later on. A conflict in which the first move was made in the course of the canon series…

And in truth, I have let the new comic affect my story just a little. For starters, in the rough draft of chapter 7, I just had Aang flying Mai's parents back to Omashu. After reading the leaked pages of "The Promise", I had Aang inviting Katara to fly with him and calling her 'sweetie'... but Katara didn't. ;-) Chapter One was also updated to state that Mazu, the colony that’s going to remain under Fire Nation sovereignty, is not in fact the oldest colony; just the one that the Fire Nation needs the most for feeding its burgeoning population. There will be other, more noticeable nods to the comic and future-canon much later on.

 

The morning after Roku’s first night in the nursery, Aang returned from Omashu, and immediately conveyed an armload of official documents and fifty pounds of gennamite rock candy from King Bumi to the Earth King. Kuei said the candy was to satisfy Bosco’s enormous sweet tooth, but Aang hid a smile when he saw Kuei discreetly break off and pocket a small chunk for himself.

 

Munching a piece of the gennamite that Bumi had given him too, Aang made his way over to Katara’s quarters.  When she answered the door to his knock, he took one look at her and blurted out in dismay, “You look terrible!”

 

Her hair a mess and with dark puffy circles under her eyes, Katara glared at him and said sarcastically, “Thanks ever so much for the compliment.”

 

“Um.  Uh, sorry, I, uh… here, want some gennamite?” as he offered it to her.

 

She nearly swatted it out of his hand as she snapped, “Why would I want any of that stuff after being trapped in it for most of a day? You insensitive--” as Aang stared at her, shocked and hurt, she closed her eyes and visibly calmed herself before opening them again.  “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to shout at you.  I had a rough night with Roku in the nursery.  We finally persuaded Zuko that he was ready to sleep on his own instead of needing his father’s body heat all the time, so Zuko could get more sleep at night.  But Roku was really upset at sleeping in a crib instead of in his daddy’s arms; he cried nearly all night no matter what Iroh and I did to comfort him.  By the time he finally accepted the change and settled down to really sleep, it was only a few hours before dawn.”

 

“Wow; I’m glad I missed that,” Aang said sincerely.  Babies were okay when they were quiet, or smiling and giggling and being all cute, but not when they were crying all the time!

 

For some reason that made Katara glare at him again, before she said abruptly, “I’m going back to bed.  I’ll see you at dinner, not before.” And then she nearly slammed the door in his face.

 

Feeling hurt again, Aang stared at her door for a few moments before muttering to himself, “She’s just really tired right now,” and turning away to let his other friends know that he was back.

 

Sokka, Suki and Ty Lee all gave him a warm welcome back as they came inside from a sparring match, Suki and Ty Lee carrying Sokka in between them on a stretcher.  “It’s really tough to hold off two chi-blockers at once,” Sokka explained from where he was lying with a lopsided grin.  “But I lasted a good two minutes longer than the last time they double-teamed me!”

 

“Well, a good full minute longer anyway,” Suki corrected him with a smile.  “But he lasted long enough for other guards to hear the battle and come as reinforcements, if he’d been actually guarding Roku in the Fire Nation palace instead of a sack of rice in the arena.”

 

“And tomorrow it’ll be my turn to double-team with Ty Lee on you,” Sokka told Suki with a fierce grin.  “Let’s see how long you last!”

 

Ty Lee noticed Aang’s dismayed stare and said cheerily, “Don’t worry, I already massaged his chi points, so he’ll be on his feet again in a few more minutes.  See you at lunchtime?”

 

Toph was at work in her office down in the Middle Ring; Aang decided to swing by there later, after seeing Zuko.  He found Zuko in the nursery, cuddling Roku, who thankfully wasn’t crying anymore.  For a guy who supposedly had a full night’s sleep last night, Zuko still looked pretty bad, even worse than Katara.  But after saying good morning, he asked Aang if he was up for a sparring session.

 

“Well, I’m up for it, but are you sure you are?” Aang asked with concern.  “You still look really tired.”

 

“I’m fine,” Zuko said with a dismissive gesture.  “And I need the practice; it’s been weeks since I’ve done any serious bending.”

 

Aang finally shrugged and agreed to meet him in the sparring arena in half an hour.  The palace’s sparring arena was designed for earthbenders, with two rows of thick stone walls around it; benders understood that the first wall was for their use as ammunition, but the second and much higher wall was for protecting the palace from their antics in the arena.  The stone walls and lack of flammable materials also made it a great place for firebending practice; during one of their visits last year for treaty negotiations, Zuko and Aang had used it to stage an exhibition of the Dancing Dragon and other firebending forms for the Earth King’s benefit. 

 

Zuko turned up several minutes late for the sparring match, which was pretty bad since it had been his idea, but Aang kindly didn’t say anything; the airbender had heard somewhere before that having kids really slowed people down.  They agreed that Aang would stick to firebending only, bowed to each other and began. 

 

The first few volleys back and forth of fire forms and counter moves went all right, but then Zuko missed what should have been an easy block for him, and caught part of a fireball on his right bicep.  They’d both been using low-temperature fire as per usual for sparring, but a relatively low fire is still hot, and a direct hit would still burn.  Aang immediately called a halt to the match and rushed over, grabbing a ball of water from the drinking barrel on the sideline.  “I’m sorry, Zuko!” he blurted out as he wrapped the already reddened skin in water chilled almost to freezing.

 

“Don’t be; it was my fault for missing such an obvious move,” Zuko said through gritted teeth.  “Just heal it before Katara finds out, okay? She’ll probably yell at me for sparring without even any warm-up katas first.”

 

“Um…” Aang bit his lower lip in apprehension, then focused on the water around his hands and thought at it as hard as he could, Start glowing!  Make Zuko’s burn better!  But after several long seconds of thinking healing thoughts, when the water stubbornly refused to glow, he finally gave up with a gusty sigh.  “I don’t know how.  I never learned how to heal.”

 

“You never…” Zuko stared at him, his expression caught between incredulity and hard disapproval.  “You never learned something as important, as lifesaving, as healing with your waterbending?  Spirits, Aang, if firebending could heal like waterbending does, I’d make it mandatory training for every bender in the Fire Nation!” 

 

Aang retorted defensively, “Well, Katara didn’t teach it to me during the war!  Right after I learned how to use waterbending in combat, it was time to learn earthbending and firebending!”

 

“And build a zoo in the Outer Ring, and have dance parties with schoolchildren, and build sand sculptures… And what about after the war ended?  You and Katara were together for nearly two months before she left for the Northern Water Tribe for her advanced healer training, and I know you’ve been to both Water Tribes since then!”  Then Zuko shut his eyes and sighed, shaking his head slightly.  “Never mind; just freeze the water to ice to draw out more of the burn’s heat, and I’ll keep the ice cast on as long as I can stand it.”

 

Aang obediently froze the water into ice, and then took a clean towel from the rack by the drinking barrel and wrapped it around the ice cast to hold it in place.  And silently resolved that sometime soon, he’d have Katara teach him how to use waterbending to heal.  Zuko was right, he’d had other opportunities to learn since the end of the war, but he hadn’t; he actually hadn’t learned any new bending techniques in the other elements since that final battle with Ozai.  The Avatar was supposed to be a Master of all four elements, not just able to bend all four of them.  But he’d never actually been declared a master of anything besides airbending, and that was still the only element he did any real experimenting in.  Now that the treaty had been signed and the colonies should settle down and stop rioting, he really should do something about that, should restart his training in bending the elements… soon.

 

He meant to bring the idea of continuing his training up with Katara at dinner, but at first she still seemed a little irritated with him, and then they both got involved with Ty Lee in a discussion about how living and working in a circus was both like and not like traveling as the Air Nomads did, and he sort of forgot until bedtime that night.  Well, there was always tomorrow, right?

 

But the next day, when he saw Zuko at breakfast… the guy looked even worse than the day before!  His arm was okay, thanks to his keeping ice on the burn for so long, but his eyes, his walk, his listless gestures… it was like he hadn’t slept a wink!  Katara fussed over their friend, nearly spoon-feeding him his breakfast before she all but ordered him back to bed. And everyone who knew Zuko knew he must really be in a bad way, because he didn’t even protest all her fussing, just ate a little food and then got up and went!

 

Katara then told the royal chef to prepare some special Water Tribe soup for Zuko’s next meal that was supposed to work wonders for sick people; she gave him a long list of gross-sounding ingredients (including sea prunes) before declaring that she’d just make the soup herself. She marched off to the kitchen, but after breakfast and some hard thinking, Aang went in a different direction; straight to Zuko’s suite.

 

Zuko’s guards told him that the Fire Lord had instructed them that he wanted no visitors for the rest of the day, but Aang pulled the Avatar card on them, reminding them that back in the Fire Nation he’d had the privilege of seeing the Fire Lord any time he pleased, so long as Zuko wasn’t meeting with someone else at the time.  He’d never used the privilege to barge into Zuko’s bedroom before, but there was a first time for everything.  The guards frowned but let him in, and he found Zuko flopped down on the bed, just staring up at the ceiling, his expression utterly desolate.  Zuko glanced in Aang’s direction and growled a halfhearted “Get out,” before going back to staring up at the ceiling.

 

Earthbenders and firebenders both like to tackle everything head-on, but Aang preferred to think like an airbender.  So he sat down in a chair next to the bed and said without preamble, “Sometimes I think that whole horrible century of war was all my fault.”

 

That got a response out of Zuko; a sideways glance from his good eye and a grunted “Huh?”

 

“The whole war; it’s my fault.  I don’t know if I ever told you exactly how I ended up in that iceberg for a whole century…  See, I got my airbending tattoos only a week after I turned twelve years old; I was the youngest master airbender ever.  And only two days after the last tattoo healed up, the temple elders called me in to talk to me, and told me I was the Avatar.  And then they told me why they’d decided to tell me then, instead of waiting until I turned sixteen like for most Avatars; they were worried that the Fire Nation was going to go to war.  Air Nomads flying their bison over the Fire Nation islands were seeing lots of troops marching around and practicing firebending, and all of a sudden there were lots of metal ships being built.  They told me all this… and everything changed for me.”

 

Aang lowered his head, looking at the floor. “All of a sudden, none of the other kids would play with me anymore; they said my being the Avatar gave me an unfair advantage.  And all the elders kept drilling me in advanced airbending techniques, from dawn to dusk; Monk Gyatso was the only one who still saw me as a kid, not just ‘the Avatar’, and let me play pai sho and stuff.  It went on for weeks and weeks, and then one day I overheard the elders ganging up on Monk Gyatso, telling him that he had to stop protecting me.  The elders said he and I would have to be separated; they were going to keep him there but send me to the Eastern Air Temple!  It was just too much; I couldn’t handle it!  So… I ran away.”

 

Zuko blinked at him, then said slowly, “They were going to send you away from your home… so you ran away from home instead?”

 

“Away from all the responsibility they were trying to shove on me,” Aang corrected him sadly.  “When you’re an Air Nomad, home is where your friends are.  I’d lost all but one after learning I was the Avatar, and now they were taking him away from me too…I left a message with Gyatso, telling him that I’d find a good place to hide in the Earth Kingdom and then send him a secret message so he could come join me there.  But the day after Appa and I left, we ran into a really bad storm; the worst storm I’d ever seen in my life, and sweeping down on us from the north instead of from the south!  We tried to go around it but ended up right in the teeth of it.  We were knocked out of the sky, went into the water, I thought we were drowning… and then the next thing I knew, I was waking up and seeing Katara for the first time.  Somehow, the Avatar State kept me and Appa frozen but alive inside an iceberg until she broke us out.  So… that’s why the whole war was all my fault.  If I’d just stayed instead of running, I could have faced and defeated Sozin back then and the whole war wouldn’t have happened.”

 

While he’d been talking, Zuko had slowly rolled from his back to his side, facing Aang, and now his friend sighed and spoke.  “Aang, I can see why you feel guilty… but I can tell you right now, you’re dead wrong.  I’ve been through the palace records and even Sozin’s private journals, and I’m telling you right now, you could no more have prevented the war from happening than you could put out a Solstice Bonfire by throwing a single snowball at it.  Sozin had made plans; serious, twisted and brilliant plans.  He started making his war plans thirty years before you were born; that’s a lot of time to think of every detail and make plans for dealing with it, including a young Avatar who’d been trained in airbending but not much of anything else yet.”

 

Zuko rolled onto his back again, staring up at the ceiling.  “Sokka told me about Wah Shi Tong’s library, and the planetarium he found in there that helped him predict the solar eclipse.  You know that Wah Shi Tong only collects knowledge, never comes up with anything new himself, right?  That planetarium sounds a lot like the one used by the Royal Astronomers back in the Fire Nation.  But there used to be a planetarium very much like that at the university here in Ba Sing Se.  Until one hundred and forty-five years ago, when a ‘mysterious fire’ broke out at the university’s west wing and threatened to burn the whole place down.  But luckily, a few members of the Fire Nation ambassador’s staff were on hand; they contained the fire to keep it from spreading to people’s homes, and after a few hours were finally able to put it out.  The Earth King back then even thanked the ambassador and his people for all the lives they saved.” Zuko’s voice turned cynical. “But such a pity that they couldn’t save the astronomy wing, too; the planetarium, all those telescopes and delicate precision instruments… all the things that Sozin had secretly ordered destroyed.”

 

The cynicism grew deeper.  “And then, the astronomers themselves were killed.  Accidents were arranged, dinners poisoned, supposed robberies turned fatal… Sozin was a magnificent bastard of a strategist, no doubt about it. Within twenty years, every single astronomer in the Earth Kingdom was dead. And their records had been quietly burned, or carefully altered; Sozin didn’t want anyone knowing when the Fire Comet was scheduled to return, or how to predict its return again. Or how to predict a solar eclipse, a firebender’s greatest weakness, so enemies could take advantage of it.  Avatar Roku found out about the first Earth Kingdom city Sozin had taken over and declared a Fire Nation colony, but he never found out about the rest.”

 

Zuko rolled over to face Aang again.  “And if you’d still been in one of the Air Temples on the day of the Comet when the first mass attacks were launched, still with no training other than airbending, you’d probably have died with the other airbenders. Most of the troops attacking the temples flew from nearby launching points with boosted firebending power, but a few of them were riding dragons.  And with the Comet’s boost, a dragon could burn down a city the size of Omashu with just one blast!  But if you’d somehow survived… you could have maybe, possibly saved the people at whichever temple you were at, but that’s only one out of four; the attacks were all simultaneous, so there’s no way you could have saved them all.  Besides, if you’d manifested the Avatar State to save any of your people, that would only have told Sozin where to find you, and he had a flying task force ready to hunt you down.  This was back before the dragons all rebelled against Sozin when his queen dragon died, and he declared war on them in return.  How long do you think you and Appa could have fared against four master firebenders mounted on dragons? Especially when one of the dragon riders was a lightning-bender, Sozin’s own son, and no one had created a defense against lightning yet?” 

 

Aang blinked.  “Wait, Fire Lord Azulon had a dragon too?”

 

“No, not Azulon; he wasn’t even born until two years after the Comet, to Sozin’s last wife.  I’m talking about Prince Inazu; Sozin’s oldest son. He could make lightning so powerful, he once blasted through a city’s solid stone gates with just one strike, before walking right in to claim it for the Fire Nation!  Which is actually what got him killed, because one Earth Kingdom archer wasn’t quite overawed enough by his entrance, and put an arrow right through his neck.  But anyway, what I’m saying is that if you’d stayed instead of running, you wouldn’t have prevented the war.  You’d have only been one of the first casualties, if not on the day of the Comet then soon afterwards when Inazu and the others hunted you down.” In Zuko’s depleted state it seemed to cost him physical effort, but he reached out from the bed to lay a comforting hand on Aang’s forearm as he finished, “The war wasn’t your fault at all, Aang; it’s Sozin’s.  You’ve nothing to feel guilty for.”

 

Aang rested his free hand over Zuko’s and looked right into his friend’s eyes as he said softly, “And neither do you.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Zuko tried to pull his hand back, but Aang stubbornly held onto it while insisting, “I know the look of ‘feeling guilty’ when I see it, Zuko; probably because I’ve felt so much of it myself since waking up in this century.  You’re not just hurting deep from missing Mai, you feel guilty about her death, don’t you?  Thinking it was your fault somehow.” Aang had a strong hunch that the guilt had been eating away at Zuko since soon after Mai’s death, but he’d been able to keep it at bay before by focusing on his fragile son’s wellbeing.  But now that he wasn’t preoccupied with constantly keeping Roku warm and safe all the time, the guilt had come roaring out to trample him into a severe depression. 

 

Aang said firmly, “But it’s not your fault, any more than it’s my fault that most of my people are dead.  The fault belongs with whichever sick and twisted person out there who decided that they want your throne badly enough to kill for it.”

 

Zuko refused to meet Aang’s eyes as he said in a choked voice, “It is all my fault!  Because so much of my country hates me, for ending the war they were winning!  For not insisting that we keep the colonies that so many soldiers fought and died to conquer, and so many people call home.  You saw the riots in the colonies, Aang, but you haven’t seen the ones back home, all the protests, the people all condemning me as the worst sort of traitor…”

 

Aang cocked his head at Zuko.  “I didn’t see them, no, but I knew about them.  I guess I never told you this, but whenever I was in the Fire Nation, on the way to or from the capital, I would put on a disguise and visit a group of schoolkids in Keijiban City.  I’d ask my friends there, On Ji and Shoji, about how things are going, so I’d hear what the regular people in the street think, and not just what all the stuffy nobles in the capital think. Those kids told me about the riots, but for my last two visits they also told me that most of the rioting had just kind-of petered out.  Now most of the people still protesting are just a bunch of old diehards who can’t think of anything better to do with themselves; everyone else has either figured out that you’re clearly a better Fire Lord than Ozai ever was, or at least decided to make do with what they’ve got and move on with their lives.”

 

Aang sat back in his chair.  “I was going to wait until Sokka and Iroh were here to listen in before telling you this, but I think you need to hear it now.  I visited Bumi while I was in Omashu and told him about all the recent assassination attempts, and he thinks they’re all so recent because you’re such a good Fire Lord.”

 

Zuko pushed himself up on one elbow as he gave a disbelieving croak of, “What? That makes no sense!  Even for Bumi!”

 

“I know, it didn’t make sense to me either, until he explained.  See, when Ozai was the Fire Lord, he really ran your country into the ground.  The weapons factories were poisoning the environment, families were losing their fathers and mothers and sons to battle; it was all a big mess!  But you’ve brought most of your soldiers home, and even found work for a lot of them in turning weapons factories into peacetime industries that are better for the environment too.  Yeah, some people are still having it rough and complaining, but after Toph and I got the ball rolling for trade between the nations, your economy really picked up.  You’ve got artists and craftsmen singing your praises, as well as people who are just happy to have their families back together again.  You’ve made things so much better for so many… and now that you’ve done that, done all the hard work, now someone wants to just take what you’ve made for themselves.  Like a robber stabbing someone on the street just to take their money purse. It’s not about hating you personally, it’s just about wanting all the power of being the Fire Lord, without having to worry about fixing the nation’s troubles anymore.”

 

Zuko blinked a few times.  “That… that does make sense.  And I guess maybe the riots have been diminishing lately, but I hadn’t really noticed because we were too busy just surviving and keeping the assassinations quiet.  Anyone who thinks that all the nation’s troubles are over is dead wrong, because there’s still so much that needs to be done, but I can see why they’d think that.”  He seemed to straighten up and grow stronger while still lying on the bed… until he slumped again.  “But it’s still my fault that Mai’s dead; she’d still be alive now if she hadn’t married me.”

 

“Maybe she’d be alive, but she sure wouldn’t be happy.”

 

Both Zuko and Aang gave a start at the unexpected voice, and turned to see Ty Lee standing just inside the door, with a large sack slung over her shoulders.  Zuko blurted out, “Ty Lee?  The guards just let you in?”

 

“Um, not exactly,” as Ty Lee shifted guiltily from foot to foot.  “But they’ll recover really soon, and I’ll make sure Suki knows to give them lessons on dealing with chi-blockers.  They said you’d told them no visitors for the rest of the day, but I didn’t want to wait a whole ‘nother day to give you these, when I’ve been working on them for nearly two weeks!” as she slung the sack off her shoulders to lay it on the suite’s table.

 

“So what are they?  Scrolls?” Aang asked curiously as Ty Lee opened the sack and started pulling scrolls out, stacking them carefully on the table; there looked to be dozens of them inside the sack.  “What are they about?”

 

Ty Lee looked solemn.  “My memories of Mai.  Everything I could remember about her, from the day we first met at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls; what she liked, what she didn’t like, everything we did together, and everything she ever told me about.  I wrote them all down, so you can read them to Roku when he’s old enough to understand.”

 

Zuko sat up as she was speaking, then got to his feet, and bowed to her when she was finished.  He sounded overwhelmed almost to the point of tears again as he choked out, “Thank you, Ty Lee.  Thank you so much…”

 

Ty Lee shrugged uncomfortably as she gave a sad smile.  “It’s the least I could do, for you and for her.  She was your wife, but she was my best friend for years… and I meant what I said when I came in.  Zuko, if you hadn’t married Mai, she might have lived a long time, but she would have been miserable for most of it.”

 

As Zuko sat back down on the bed, Ty Lee abruptly flipped over backwards to do a handstand, then further bent and lowered herself until she was looking at them with her chin resting on her hands against the floor, but her legs were curled over her in midair.  It made Aang’s spine cringe just too look at her, but she seemed perfectly comfortable as she spoke again.  “Back when I was in the circus, some Earth Kingdom hunters came by and tried to sell the ringmaster an eagle-wolf.  Have you ever seen one flying in the wild?  They’re just wonderful, the way they soar, like they own the whole sky.  And if you’re lucky enough to see two of them dancing in a mating flight… they’re just incredible.  And even when they’re not flying and perched in a tree somewhere, they just have this look about them, you know?  They’re really awesome.  Except the one those hunters had brought in… it wasn’t awesome.  They said they’d found the eagle-wolf as a fledgling after killing his mother, and kept him in a cage until he was old enough to get his adult feathers with the fancy plumage they were after.  But the cage was too small for him, or he just fought too hard at being stuck inside it; the poor bird came to us with both wings broken, and his adult plumage was just pitiful, it was so drab. 

 

“The ringmaster said no deal, but the boy who fed the platypus-bear saw the bird and felt so sorry for him that he gave the hunters a gold piece for him, and then took him to his quarters to try to heal him.  After a few months the eagle-wolf’s plumage looked a lot healthier, and Madame Wong, the circus’ healer, helped re-break his wings and set them straight so he could fly with them.  But from the day they got him to the day I had to leave, that poor bird never flew an inch.  He’d been taken and caged so young, he’d never learned how to fly!  And nobody could teach him, either. Even when the other birds in the circus flew right past him, he’d just sit there on his perch and look miserable, like he still thought there were bars around him.”

 

Then Ty Lee flipped back to her feet, to look Zuko in the eye as she said in as serious a tone as they’d ever heard, “Mai was a lot like that eagle-wolf.  She was meant to soar, to be a great warrior; you know how good she was with blades, and I can tell you that when she was fighting, her normally dingy-gray aura just exploded with colors!  I remember she even complained once when the fighting ended too soon, that ‘victory was boring.’ But she was born to a cage; to people who didn’t think daughters should be warriors and expected her to just sit still and behave like a perfect lady all the time, and someday marry somebody important to her father’s career.  I know Azula was mean and even cruel a lot of the time, but when her parents found out about Mai’s knife-throwing and punished her for it, Azula’s the one who visited her house and let them know that the royal family approved of her knife-throwing, so they should let it continue.  Azula was the first one to open the door of Mai’s cage and let her out.”

 

Evidently, she’d been holding still too long; Ty Lee abruptly bounced up to stand atop the table, straddling the pile of scrolls she’d put there, then did a handspring across the room to end up wrapping herself around one of the posts of Zuko’s bed.  From there she continued, “But even when she was away from her parents, out of her cage, Mai almost never flew.  She never laughed, hardly even smiled; she said she was bored with everything, but I think that’s because she was afraid to start caring about anything, because she was afraid it would be taken away from her if she did.  Azula sometimes did that, broke or took away things I really liked, if she thought I wasn’t paying enough attention to her.  But you, Zuko,” as she looked him right in the eyes from only inches away, “you were different.  Mai cared about you, and when she was with you… without you, while you were banished, Mai was just sort-of surviving her life.  But when she was with you, she was really living it; loving you made her feel alive, and free.”

 

Zuko smiled; it was a sad smile, but the first hint of even mild happiness that Aang had seen from him in weeks.  “I asked her once, you know; asked her why she loved me.”

 

“And what did she say?” Ty Lee almost whispered, as Aang strained his ears.

 

“She just said, ‘Because you’re you, doofus’.” He smiled even wider in reminiscence. “And then she pinned my clothes to a wall with her daggers and…” He glanced between Aang and Ty Lee as if just realizing who he was talking to, and his cheeks pinked. “Uh, stuff happened.”

 

Aang was really curious about what stuff had happened, but knew it wasn’t a good time to ask.  So he just kept listening as Ty Lee told Zuko, “That’s why Mai turned against Azula to save you, back at the Boiling Rock.  She loved you, more than her own life; you were her life!  And if a fortune teller or even a Fire Sage had told her ahead of time that marrying you would make her a target for assassins too, she would have married you anyway, just to be with you and help you and protect you as long as she could.”

 

Aang said sagely, “That reminds me of something Iroh said to a customer of his at the teashop, last time I visited.  He said, ‘Being truly loved by someone gives you strength; truly loving someone gives you courage.’”

 

“Iroh’s really wise that way.  And it fits Mai perfectly,” Ty Lee said with a smile.  “So no more feeling guilty, Zuko, okay?  It’s not your fault she’d dead, and you helped Mai feel alive, every day she was with you; I think it’s better to have had a short but happy life than a long and miserable one.”

 

After considering that in silence for a few moments, Zuko said quietly, “Thank you, both of you; you… that helps, a little.  Um… Ty Lee, I don’t have to wait until Roku’s old enough to understand before reading those scrolls, do I?”

 

Ty Lee said with a smile that of course he didn’t have to wait, and when she and Aang walked out a few moments later, they left him sitting at the table instead of lying on the bed, carefully untying the ribbon on the first scroll.  Once they were outside the door, Ty Lee crouched down to massage the poor guards just lying on the floor glaring daggers up at her, apologizing for leaving them like that, but she’d just had the feeling that she really needed to see Zuko right away.  Aang told them, “And she was right; Zuko really needed to hear what she had to say.  Oh, um, Katara’s going to come by later with some food for Zuko; even if it smells disgusting, just let her in, okay?  She really means well, and it’ll just be easier all around.”

 

At lunchtime, Katara proudly proclaimed that Zuko had eaten every bite of the soup she’d made for him and was already visibly improving, and with another day’s rest he should be just fine again.  Aang just smiled at her, thinking to himself that the talks had probably done a lot more good than any Water Tribe soup ever could.  But either way, all that really mattered was that Zuko was getting better again.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

The next day marked the one-year anniversary of the official founding of the New Dai Li. Toph had rented the Jasmine Dragon for the afternoon to celebrate the occasion, and told all of Team Avatar that they were welcome to attend the party. 

 

Zuko came down, reluctantly leaving his son behind with the wet-nurse in the palace; Iroh had urged him to bring Roku down too so everyone could admire his grandson, but Zuko just wasn’t ready to bring his precious and vulnerable child out in public yet.  When he arrived, Iroh beamed at him, gave him a big hug, and then thrust a tea-server’s apron into his hands; Zuko sighed and rolled his eyes heavenwards, then smiled as he put it on and began serving the Dai Li agents who had already arrived.

 

Any mention of free food naturally got Sokka interested, so he was next in through the teashop’s door, practically dragging Suki and Katara behind him.  Aang came in next and with cheery waves and words of greeting to the New Dai Li, having met all of them before while helping them learn how to deal with artifact-spirits.  Toph showed up, flanked by her lieutenants Longshot and Smellerbee, and all three of them nearly staggering under the weight of massive trays loaded with pastries and other goodies. The agents already present gave the three of them a rousing cheer (as did Iroh and Sokka, though that might have been for the arrival of the food,) before rushing over to relieve them of their delicious burdens and spread them out on the buffet tables set up.

 

When the Boulder came in through the door a short while later, cheerily booming out “Let the party begin!” Sokka actually left his plate at the buffet to rush over and greet him. “Hey, Boulder!  Haven’t seen you since Zuko’s coronation!  So how’s life in the New Dai Li?”

 

The Boulder took a stance that somehow showed off his bulging muscles even through the expensive clothing he was wearing as he proclaimed in ringing tones, “The Boulder always enjoys a challenge!”

 

Toph, passing by with a plate loaded high with pastries, gave a snort of laughter and said, “Couldn’t resist, could you?”

 

Then the Boulder abruptly relaxed from his pose and gave Toph an almost teasing smile.  “Come on, don’t tell me you don’t miss those days sometimes, Bandit!”

 

“Yeah, sometimes I do,” Toph admitted, her own smile reminiscent for a moment.  “Hey, sorry to mix business with pleasure, but what did Lord Shao have to say about that warehouse fire this morning?”

 

“To me?  Nothing except for it being a great tragedy, of course.  But I overheard him say something very interesting to his personal aide,” as his smile turned sly.  “I wrote it up before I came down here, as well as some news Yáng Shēng had for me; Longshot can read it to you tomorrow, unless you want me to stop by your office for a more thorough debriefing.  Nothing that needs immediate attention, I think.”

 

“Hey; you were saying ‘I’ and ‘me’, instead of ‘the Boulder’,” Sokka said with a frown, almost poking him as if to assure himself that the person in front of him was real.  “What’s up with that?”

 

The tall and muscular earthbender started chuckling, while Toph almost brayed with laughter.  When she could get her breath back, she gasped, “Sokka, you’re not talking with ‘The Boulder’; you’re talking with ‘The Spokesman Formerly Known As The Boulder’!  These days everyone calls him Lord Pho Li.”

 

“His Majesty King Kuei granted me a noble’s rank and title, some land in the village of Xiehou to go with it, and a house here in the Upper Ring, all in thanks for my services to the kingdom during the war,” The Boulder—Lord Pho Li—explained.

 

“Actually so the nobles he associates with at court wouldn’t automatically dismiss him as just a peasant,” Toph interjected.  “Pho Li’s always been great at showmanship, like the persona he made for himself as ‘The Boulder’; that’s what makes him a great spokesman for the Dai Li, my representative at all the court functions.  If you heard him giving a speech now, you’d think he was born to nobility and lived all his life here in the Upper Ring, instead of growing up on a farm hundreds of miles from here.  All the nobles listen to him and treat him with more respect than they’d ever give a little blind earthbending girl.”  She cocked her head with a quizzical look in Sokka’s direction.  “You really thought he said ‘the Boulder this’ and ‘the Boulder that’ all the time, and not just for show?”

 

Just then they heard a small commotion at the door of the teashop, and turned to see a royal palanquin being lowered by its bearers so its occupant could step out. Queen Song came into the Jasmine Dragon with a smile, urging everyone to refrain from bowing as this was an informal occasion, and passing along her husband’s official congratulations to the organization for a successful first year.  She explained, “He would liked to have come here himself, but he’s holding a meeting with nearly his entire court this afternoon, and can’t spare the time.”

 

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The royal court was convening at that very moment in the palace’s largest audience chamber, though it took nearly an hour for all the gathered nobles to find their places and settle into ordered tiers.  Then a gong rang out sonorously, and everyone hushed and dropped into low bows or kowtows according to their station as the palanquin bearing the Earth King was brought in.  Followed by a second, heavily curtained palanquin, and then a third palanquin identical to the second; both the unexpected additions were as heavily guarded as the Earth King’s own conveyance.  The nobles couldn’t help whispering and muttering among themselves at the unusual sight, and the whispers grew louder when infant cries were briefly heard from one or the other of the palanquins.

 

The extra palanquins were sent off to either side of the throne, and set down by their bearers with the curtains still drawn to hide the occupants.  Kuei’s bearers carried him straight to his throne, and he seated himself with royal decorum before casting a stern look at the assembled court.  Instantly all the whispers died away, as everyone gave him their full attention.

 

Kuei began, “I know many of you have heard rumors about what has happened in this palace in the last few weeks.  Wild rumors about the Fire Nation starting their war of conquest again; that a grieving and enraged Fire Lord has blamed the Earth Kingdom for the death of Fire Lady Mai; that part of the palace itself has already been conquered by them, and the entirety of Ba Sing Se is next!  We are gathered here so I can tell you myself which is truth, and which is vile falsehood.  When you leave here, I expect only the truth to be told from now on.”

 

Like a history professor lecturing students, Kuei gave his court the straight facts about Zuko having ‘conquered’ a room in the palace to ensure his child would be born on Fire Nation soil, and have a legitimate claim to the Fire Nation’s throne. (And perhaps put a bit more emphasis than necessary on the first word of the phrase ‘pretended to arm-wrestle’, for his pride’s sake; he preferred to let them all think that he’d graciously let the Fire Lord win that bout, even if in reality he’d been hopelessly outmatched in the contest of strength.) Copies of the document ceding that single room’s control to the Fire Nation were made available to the tiers of nobles, with the room’s exact location and dimensions.  Kuei stressed that Fire Lord Zuko had made a personal promise to see even that miniscule bit of territory properly ceded back to the Earth Kingdom, after his son was confirmed a firebender and heir to the throne by the Fire Sages.

 

“And it is vile falsehood that Fire Lord Zuko blames the Earth Kingdom for his wife’s death,” Kuei said firmly.  “Instead, he has more than once thanked us, for saving his son!  It was Master Toph Bei Fong, leader of our New Dai Li, who detected the assassin before all was lost.  And it was Queen Song, working with the waterbender Master Katara, who delivered the prince from his dying mother and saved his life. Saved the baby’s life, and thereby foiled another, successive assassination attempt on the Fire Lord, that would have been disguised as his grief-stricken suicide over losing both wife and son.” There was a certain vindictive glee in his voice as he added, “Let it be clearly understood that the healing skills that Her Royal Majesty Song learned while living as a commoner far from Ba Sing Se, were vital in preventing the death of the Fire Lord who worked with the Avatar to end the war between our nations.”

 

Several nobles, those who had previously objected to Kuei marrying a commoner instead of a daughter of one of their noble houses, shifted uncomfortably or found reason to look down at their hands in their laps.

 

“You have noted the extra attendants to this meeting,” Kuei said with gestures towards the two covered palanquins behind him on either side.  “One of the palanquins contains my son, Prince Qingshan, and his attendant.   The other contains the Fire Lord’s son, Prince Roku, and his attendant.  The palanquins will not be opened for viewing, because the Fire Prince is still too young for public presentation yet--” and because Kuei knew that Zuko, every inch the overprotective father, would positively explode if strangers were allowed within twenty feet of his son when he wasn’t there on hand—“and because it does not please me to allow you to know which holds the Earth Prince, and which holds the Fire Prince.  You must assume that either one could contain your next ruler, and so both are equally precious and deserving of your loyalty and protection.”

 

Kuei stood up to his full height, looking sternly over his spectacles at the assembled nobility.  “I have given you the facts, of what has already happened.  Now I will speak of truths: It is imperative to keep the peace between the Fire Nation and our Kingdom.  To that end, it is in our best interest to ensure the reign and the line of Fire Lord Zuko continues.  I have occasionally heard, even to this very day, mutterings that merely declaring the war over, giving due monetary compensation and returning the colonies to us is not enough; that the Fire Nation must pay in blood and tears for the grievous wrongs they have done our kingdom.  To those of you who still harbor twisted dreams of revenge, accept this as truth: any attacks or attempted attacks on Fire Lord Zuko or his son Roku will be treated as attacks on your own royal family, and therefore high treason against the Earth Kingdom.” After pausing a beat to let that sink in, Kuei gave a cold smile.  “I don’t really need to spell out how traitors to the throne are punished, do I?”

 

Like a wave rippling outwards, every noble head in the room hit the floor in a full kowtow.  Kuei smiled, satisfied that he’d gotten his point across, and gestured for his palanquin bearers.

 

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By that time, the party at the Jasmine Dragon was in full swing… and Zuko had finally calmed down, after Song had told him about Kuei bringing Roku as well as Qingshan to the meeting with the royal court.  Song might have been counting on the presence of an audience to keep Zuko under control, but it had still been a near thing to keep him from rampaging right back up the hill to the royal palace.  She’d stressed repeatedly that Roku would stay with Ojia behind a palanquin’s curtains instead of out on display, that a palanquin bearing her own son Qingshan would be taken to the meeting as well, and that Kuei would allow no harm to come to either child. 

 

“And I know we didn’t consult with you about it beforehand,” Song had said apologetically, “but when he scheduled the meeting, originally Kuei was just going to set the rumor-mongers straight on how and why you’d conquered a room of the palace. I’d only heard this morning the mutterings that some people were looking forward to going to war again, now that the Fire Nation has reduced their military so drastically, so they could get their revenge at last.  We knew we had to stamp out that idea hard and fast, make it clear that any act of war would be considered high treason, and Yáng Shēng suggested putting both babies in identical royal palanquins.  And Yáng Shēng is right, people usually remember what they see even more than what they hear; the image of Kuei treating your child just like our own is going to stay with the nobility longer than anything he says to them.”

 

“Wait a second, back up,” Sokka had interrupted, getting between Zuko and Song to stare at the Earth Queen in disapproval.  “You’ve got people in your own household who’ve been muttering about getting revenge on the Fire Nation any way they can?  And you haven’t booted them out yet?”

 

“No, not in the palace,” as Song had shaken her head emphatically. “I heard the mutterings while I was at Chang’s Apothecary in the Middle Ring.  You see, I go there in disguise sometimes, to work with medicines and be a healer again.” She’d given a rather sheepish smile as she admitted, “There are times when I get so tired of all the bowing and ‘yes, your majesty’ that I hear in the palace, that it’s almost a delight to hear someone grumbling about their bunions or stomach troubles again.  But Chang’s shop is frequented by nobility as well as the middle class, so it’s also a good way to hear what the nobles are saying about us behind our backs.  Anyway, this morning two of our nobles were in there muttering about still wanting revenge—and yes, I’ve already given their names to Master Toph as people who bear further watching.  But that’s why Kuei decided to make it clear to everyone at the meeting that even when he goes home to the Fire Nation, Roku is under our royal protection.”

 

Sokka had been satisfied with her explanation, but Zuko had still been upset and angry.  “You still should have asked me first!  Even if he was guarded better than Qingshan, you still should have asked me before taking my son out of the nursery just to make a point to somebody!”

 

Song had just blinked up at him, her expression deliberately mild and far too innocent.  “Yes, I suppose you’re right.  And who knows what response you would have given to us, if we had just asked before taking…”

 

That had shut Zuko up fast.  After retreating a few steps, he’d given her a glare and a half-hearted growl of, “You fight dirty.”  Song had just smiled at him in response.

 

But now, after having calmed down, Zuko murmured to Toph while refilling her teacup, “I know Song’s no warrior; she’d be in trouble if she was ever discovered at that apothecary by the wrong people.  Do you have an undercover agent working there?”

 

Toph nodded and whispered back, “The delivery boy.  Plus Chang himself is White Lotus, and Longshot showed him how to use the miniature crossbow he keeps hidden behind the counter.”

 

Sokka was over at a table with some Dai Li agents, listening with interest as the agents talked about all the different artifact-spirits that they’d had to deal with in the past year.  A city as ancient and crowded with souls as Ba Sing Se was particularly prone to developing artifact-spirits in man-made objects over a hundred years old, but they were practically unheard of in the Water Tribes; their harsh environment usually wore out and destroyed possessions long before they’d aged a full century.  Some artifact-spirits the Dai Li had dealt with in the last year had been more annoying than anything else, such as the pair of fancy court-dress shoes had had been passed down in one family from mother to daughter until the day they’d decided to get up and go walking all by themselves; they had tripped up three people and spooked a few ostrich-horses before the Dai Li had been called in to take them away.

 

A few artifact-spirits had been downright entertaining, the most memorable one being the flute that liked to fly around the city playing bawdy songs by itself.  After the Dai Li had finally captured it, the flute-spirit had put on a performance for the Earth King and Queen, with an accompaniment; a penniless but cheerful minstrel from the Lower Ring taverns that Toph had hand-picked for the occasion, who’d blushed as red as a tomato-bean but obediently sang all the dirty lyrics to the flute’s melodies for his king and queen.  After a dozen little ditties that had Kuei blushing far redder than the minstrel and Song laughing so hard she could barely breathe, the flute-spirit had abruptly whizzed about to beat against the metal screens of the cage containing it, before switching to a slow, sad melody.  Its song had been so plaintive that Kuei had unlocked the cage himself, setting the instrument free to roam Ba Sing Se once more, before handing the minstrel a small sack of gold for his services.  At last report, the flute-spirit was hanging around in the Middle Ring’s fourth quarter, regularly scandalizing an old ladies’ sewing circle, but sometimes popped down to the taverns in the Lower Ring where it was always welcomed and applauded.

 

But some of the artifact-spirits they’d encountered were downright dangerous, and they tended to animate when they were least expected.  The Commissioner of the City Guard definitely hadn’t expected his sword to suddenly animate in the middle of a tense conversation with a corrupt city official, and slice the man’s head off on the spot!  The sword-spirit had evidently decided that some vigilante justice was in order, and worse, that anyone who tried to stop it from killing criminals was a criminal by association. It had rampaged through the Lower Ring, killing a dozen known criminals and two city guardsmen as well as seriously wounding Agent Peng.  Longshot had fired every steel-tipped arrow in his quiver and then resorted to swinging his bow to hold off its aerial attacks, until Toph could finally bring it down with a steel net and then encase it in solid granite until only the hilt was sticking out.  Both Toph and the Commissioner had wanted the sword exorcized by an Earth Sage and melted down immediately, but they’d been overruled by General Fong, and now the sword in a stone was sitting in an armory under tight guard, waiting for a situation so desperate that it needed to be drawn and let loose on the world again.

 

But the absolute worst spirit the Dai Li had dealt with in the past year wasn’t an artifact spirit; the worst battle the New Dai Li had ever experienced had unquestionably come at the hands of an oni.  A hideous man-eating demon, able to shape-shift to look like a human or other animals for short periods of time; able to even turn into smoke for a few moments, long enough to escape normal cages and traps. Agent Huong told Sokka, “After it was all over, we found someone had earthbent a tunnel from the Lower Ring clear into the catacombs beneath the Upper Ring; maybe smugglers looking for a new storehouse for their illegal goods, maybe grave-robbers looking for more ancient goods to loot, we’ll never know for sure.  All we know is that one of them found an old Dai Li storage chamber, one probably started back when Avatar Kyoshi first founded the order, picked up a stone jar that was covered with Earth Sage seals and warning labels, and then ignored all those warnings and opened it.  We know that much because we found the old jar, and the damn fool’s bloody sandals.”

 

Agent Chan took up the tale next.  “The first sign we had of trouble was of people suddenly going missing in the Lower Ring.  People come and go from there all the time, especially now that the war’s over, but most of the missing people were long-time residents and established businessmen; not the type to just up and walk away from their lives.  We couldn’t find a pattern at first, or any clues, but then we caught a lucky break.  When the oni got his fifth victim alone for dinner, he forgot to look up for potential witnesses.  A railway ‘bender pulled up at the Middle Ring third quarter’s terminal, white as a sheet, and claiming he’d looked down just in time to see a man in the Lower Ring suddenly grow to twice normal height with five times normal head size, and then pick up another man who was screaming and trying to run away, and stuff his victim right down his oversized gullet.  His supervisor almost fired him for drinking cactus juice on the job, but a coworker who remembered his grandma’s old stories convinced their boss to call us in instead.”

 

“But even after we had an idea of what we were up against, it took until the sixth victim went missing before we figured out the connection between them all.  Every last one of those victims had been an earthbender, but more than that, if you went back five or six generations every last one of them had an ancestor in the old Dai Li.  The oni was hunting down people whose only crime was that they were descendants of the people who’d trapped him in the first place!” Agent Huong’s eyes glinted angrily at the memory.  “If that tunnel had come out in the Middle Ring instead, that oni would have probably have been feasting three times a day; the old Dai Li were paid really well, at least ten times what I used to make as a guardsman, so most of them and their descendants live in the Middle Ring.  Anyway, once we found a pattern, we looked at old census records and talked to dozens of old grandmothers until we’d narrowed down the list of potential victims down to three; then we set up surveillance and shadowed those people day and night until the oni made his move for Meal Number Seven.”

 

Agent Nu Bei said heavily, “We had a ten-man squad following each potential victim, and as soon as the demon made its move, the whole squad jumped it at once.  We thought we could handle and trap it easily; we were Dai Li, and we’d been dealing with artifact-spirits for months already, right?” He shook his head. “We were so wrong… We managed to get the would-be seventh victim out of there in one piece, but Duyi broke his leg in two places, and I got this,” as he pulled his tunic collar aside to reveal an ugly-looking scar that started where his neck met his left shoulder and continued down his ribcage.  “Laid me up for the next three weeks, but I consider myself lucky; if I’d been an instant slower, I’d have been sliced in two instead. And Gyong…” he shook his head again before finishing bleakly, “We gave the parts of him we could find, an honorable burial afterwards.”

 

Chan took up the story again.  “So we regrouped, came up with a different strategy, and then went after the oni with everything we had.  Salt bombs, steel and blessed everything, we even got the High Earth Sage to bless some bottles of blasting jelly!  We were finally able to drive it into a double-layered steel sphere that Master Toph had made; she sealed the sphere the moment it was inside, and then we wrapped the whole thing in a dozen alternating layers of clay and rock salt before adding a final layer of solid granite.  Then we rolled the whole thing into a bending arena, where the Dragon of the West and the High Earth Sage could do their work.  The High Earth Sage had already made a sacred ring inside the arena; once it was centered in the ring, General Iroh poured flames onto the sphere and kept a steady heat on it while the sage kept casting the stones and consulting the spirits, until finally he said we’d killed it. And then, just to make sure, we rolled that big sphere down to the harbor and put it on a barge out to sea; once they were out far enough, the barge crew rolled it right off the edge into deep water.  Even if the demon somehow survived all that, it’ll never come back to Ba Sing Se again.”

 

“You’re talking about the oni we defeated?” another Dai Li agent asked as he came by the table.  “Yeah, that was a real tough battle, from start to finish.  Hey, I heard that you Water Tribes never have to deal with artifact spirits, because you don’t make things to last long enough; is that true?”

 

Sokka bristled at the agent’s condescending tone, but put a ‘stupid yokel’ smile on his face as he said, “Yup, that’s right, no artifact-spirits.”

 

“Well, tell you what; if you stick around in this city a while, the next fan-spirit I catch I’ll keep trapped long enough for you to take a look at it, so you can tell the folks back home what you saw with your very own eyes.” All the agents who’d been sitting at the table with Sokka started quietly groaning and shaking their heads, but the standing agent ignored them as he focused on Sokka with a superior-looking smirk.  “What do you say to that?”

 

Sokka widened that ‘stupid yokel’ smile as he almost chirped, “I bet that will be real exciting!  Almost as exciting as, say, fighting the Hei Bai spirit and getting trapped in the Spirit World for a day!  Which I’ve done,” as the smile turned into rather vicious grin.  “Or maybe even as exciting as beating up Wah Shi Tong to keep him from killing my sister!  Which I’ve also done.”

 

“Chao, you moron, that’s Sokka the Brave you’re talking to,” Huong said wearily as the other agent stared, then blushed bright red while backing slowly away.  “Did you really think Master Toph would invite random foreigners in off the street for our party?  Sokka, meet Chao, and now you know why Renshu wishes they weren’t related. Chao, meet your own face with your fist, okay?  And never ask again why Toph keeps you on surveillance duty most of the time; it’s because the less opportunity you have to actually talk to people, the less trouble you dig up for yourself.”

 

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A little while earlier, just before Song had told Zuko about the goings-on at the palace, Toph had led the New Dai Li in a small ceremony to honor their fallen; she’d placed a cup of wine and a pastry in front of a portrait of a young man, the deceased Agent Gyong.  She’d also given a small speech about how he was their first loss, and would probably not be their last, but those who died fighting the good fight would always be remembered, and would always be with them in spirit.  Now Katara sat with Toph as she commented, “That was a nice ceremony, earlier… I was thinking just the other day that it’s amazing how much you’ve grown up since the end of the war.”

 

“Yup, over two inches!  Not as much as Twinkletoes, who feels like he’s grown nine inches since then, but at least it’s something.  And I’ve grown in other directions, too,” as Toph grinned while unashamedly framing her bustline with her hands.

 

Katara rolled her eyes and said crossly, “I didn’t mean like that!  What I meant, Toph , was how you act so much more mature now… though obviously not all the time!”  Toph said nothing in response to that, so Katara went on, “I know that it felt like I’d aged over three years, in just that one year of fighting and traveling with Aang; I was almost surprised to realize I was still only fifteen years old at the war’s end.  To be honest, I hadn’t noticed that you’d matured at all in the months we were traveling together, but since then you definitely have; now, the way you act, you seem even older than me.”

 

“It’s the pressures of the job, Sweetness,” Toph said at last, her expression sober as she stared off at nothingness.  “When you take on as much responsibility as I have, you either harden into diamond from the pressure, or you crumble into dust.  There’ve been a few times, I’ll admit, when I felt like I was going to crumble… but I just gritted my teeth and reminded myself that Iroh and the Earth King both believed I could do it.  And that Aang had dealt with a lot of pressure as the Avatar, and Zuko had taken on about ten times more pressure in running the whole Fire Nation, so if they could handle it, so could I.  And it really helped that Uncle was always right here, for tea and wisdom whenever I needed it; I’m sure going to miss him, when he goes with Sparky and Itty-Bitty back to the Fire Nation.”

 

Katara smiled as she echoed, “Itty-Bitty?  That’s your nickname for Roku?”

 

“Yup.  I originally called him Stinky because of his dirty diapers, but Sparky really objected, and he got so upset I decided to pick another one.”  Toph frowned thoughtfully.  “I gotta tell you, I’m really glad that Sokka and Suki are going to be Itty-Bitty’s bodyguards for the next few years.  They’ll do their part to protect him from assassins, but they won’t try to protect him from the entire world; they’ll be there to tell Zuko to let him play in the mud and climb trees and stuff when he’s old enough.  Otherwise, Zuko would probably try to keep him wrapped in cotton forever, the way my parents used to.”

 

Katara gave her a sympathetic look, though she knew Toph couldn’t see it.  “You still can’t reconcile with them?  They still can’t accept you for who you really are?”

 

Toph gave a wry and pained half-smile.  “Actually, I think my dad does now.   When Gaoling started having serious artifact-spirit troubles about two months ago, more than the local earth sages could handle, my dad was the one who told the mayor of Gaoling to call me in.  I took four agents with me and we took care of the immediate problems, and then I picked a dozen local earthbenders for training to be Gaoling’s Dai Li.  Right now they’re all living in the caves outside Gaoling, living like badger-moles so they can unlearn everything Master Yu taught them and develop a decent tremor-sense; they’re due to arrive here in two weeks, to begin training in everything else a Dai Li agent needs.  Anyway, while I was there I had another talk with my parents, and my dad and I sort-of get along, now that he understands why I had to pretend to be weak and helpless for so long.  But my mother...” Toph’s voice trailed off until she finally shook her head with sad finality.  “She’ll never understand.  And probably never forgive me... Not that I need her forgiveness!” she added fiercely as she sat up straighter, the Blind Bandit’s rebellious streak surfacing once more.

 

“That’s right, you—wait a minute.  Why you had to pretend?” as Katara leaned forward inquisitively, then sat back again.  “Toph, I know this is probably a sore point with you, but I’ve been wondering this since the day you joined us.  Why didn’t you ever just show your parents that you were anything but weak and helpless?  I’m not saying you should have challenged your dad to a fight, like I had to with Master Pakku, but why didn’t you ever put on a display of really impressive earthbending for them, like building them a whole new house out of stone in just a few minutes or something?”

 

Toph stared in Katara’s general direction with incredulity, as if she couldn’t believe the question had even been asked.  “Because I wanted to keep my feet! Otherwise, I really would be weak and helpless!”

 

Katara just stared back at her, equally incredulous.  “…What?  Keep your feet?  That makes no sense!  Did you really think they would chop them off or something?”

 

Zuko chose that moment to intervene, saying quietly while placing full teacups between them, “Katara probably doesn’t know about foot-binding, Toph.  It’s not practiced in any other nation, and most of your travels through the Earth Kingdom during the war were through small villages, instead of cities full of nobles.”

 

Toph had been tensing up, bracing for a fight with words at the very least, but at Zuko’s words she paused before asking Katara, “Seriously?  You don’t know?  But how can you not know?  You spent an entire month right here with me in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se!”

 

“Where the fashion is for long dresses and robes that brush the floor,” Zuko quietly reminded them. 

 

“Well, yeah, but—Katara, don’t you remember that spa day we had, when afterwards those girls we passed in the street compared me to a clown and a poodle-monkey?” Toph still seemed incredulous.  “You really didn’t know what they were talking about?”

 

Katara spread her hands in bewilderment.  “I’ve never even seen a poodle-monkey!  I just thought they were saying those things to be mean!”

 

Longshot and Smellerbee had been sitting at a table nearby, enjoying tea and a quiet game of pai sho, but when Katara and Toph’s mutual agitation resulted in raising their voices, the couple joined the other Dai Li agents glancing their way in concern.  Out of the corner of her eye, Katara saw Longshot giving Smellerbee a look, one that must have been really significant somehow; Smellerbee just nodded once before they both abruptly stood up and walked out of the Jasmine Dragon, Smellerbee with a comment tossed over her shoulder of “Be right back; ten minutes or less.”

 

Toph blinked at Katara with her sightless eyes, murmuring half to herself, “You really don’t know.  And here I’d thought you always knew…”

 

“Knew what?” Aang asked as he came over, his expression mildly curious.  “Is everything okay?”

 

“Just a cultural misunderstanding being cleared up,” Zuko told Aang absently, while turning to go back to the kitchen with a tray of empty cups.  “Katara didn’t know about foot-binding.”

 

“About what?”

 

That stopped Zuko in his tracks, and he turned to look at Aang with much the same look of disbelief that Toph had given Katara.  “You don’t know either?  But you’re the one who traveled the world and had friends in every nation before the war!  You were even friends with King Bumi when he was a boy!”

 

“Yeah; so?” Aang said half-defensively, while Suki and Iroh also came wandering over to listen in.  “I never said I know everything about the other nations!”

 

Iroh commented, his expression grave, “And though he was born to a minor noble family, foot-binding isn’t something that young Bumi would have told Aang about, unless he had a sister going through it at the time.”

 

Aang blinked once, then cocked his head to one side and looked off into nothingness—or perhaps into his memories of a simpler, happier time—as he said thoughtfully, “Bumi said once that he had a sister, but she died a few years before we met.  He had an earthball that he never played with; he kept it hidden in his closet instead, and when I found it once and asked about it, he told me it had belonged to her.  But I can’t remember her name now…”

 

Toph’s expression was positively bleak.  “If she played earthball with him, it was probably only when their parents weren’t looking.  Because it’s such an unladylike pursuit…”

 

“What, earthball?” Sokka asked as he came ambling over as well.  “Well, most sports tend to be more manly in--”

 

“She probably means earthbending in general,” Suki flatly interrupted him.  “Or have you really not noticed, after all this time, that female earthbenders are almost as rare as female warriors in the Earth Kingdom?”

 

Katara had been growing more bewildered, and more frustrated with all the distractions pulling the conversation away from the main issue—what was this ‘foot-binding’ business, and what did it have to do with Toph lying to her parents for years on end?—And had been about to speak up rather sharply, but Suki’s words made her pause, and reflect… and the more she thought back through all their travels during the war, the more dismayed she became at the realization that Suki was right.  Other than Toph herself, she’d only seen four women earthbenders in that entire year of traveling, and they’d all been in the same place; aboard the same prison barge that Haru and his father had been on.  Four women, out of several dozen earthbenders being imprisoned there!

 

She said so aloud, and Zuko nodded sagely as he said, “That barge imprisoned earthbenders from all over the southwestern region.  Chances are those women had been from farming families; farmers have to be practical, and the benefits of having an earthbender on the farm would outweigh concerns over how ‘unladylike’ and ‘unmarriageable’ their women were.”  The words ‘unladylike’ and ‘unmarriageable’ had been said with definite contempt; it was clear that Zuko was mocking not the women, but the people who saw them that way.

 

Toph still looked deeply unhappy.  “There’s only one form of earthbending that’s considered ladylike at all, and that’s earth-painting, using special paints that have earth pigments mixed into them.  Because it’s done only with hand gestures, no foot movements at all, and it creates pictures of beauty… or so I’m told by you seeing folk.  I tried making an earth-painting once, because my tremor-sense is so good that I can tell the different earth pigments apart, but I could tell that everyone who told me it looked good was lying through their teeth.  And the one stranger I showed it to, the only one who was honest, said a three-year-old could do better with finger paints!”

 

“Toph, I told you, all artists’ first attempts are awful,” Queen Song said with some concern, having joined the conversation a few moments before.  “If you practiced earth-painting more… and accepted some advice on what colors go well together… you could become very good at it!  You’re already a master at sculpting; you know Kuei and I both love that statue you made as an anniversary gift for us.”

 

Katara was still trying to grasp this new information about Earth Kingdom culture, as she said aloud to Toph, “So… that’s why your father was so harsh with you, wanting to keep you under guard night and day, when he first found out you were the Blind Bandit?  Not just because you’d been fighting in the Rumbles, but because you were earthbending at all?  But I remember Master Yu saying that you were one of his students!”

 

“A private student, and only for breathing exercises and basic forms,” Toph corrected her somewhat bitterly.  “Just barely good enough for moving a pebble back and forth.  But it was better than nothing, and about two years into the pretense, I started going crazy from having to be weak and helpless and never bending all the time I was home.  So I persuaded my father that basic lessons in earthbending might help my ‘fragile constitution’; I claimed I’d overheard one of the guards talking about how it had helped his son. Mother was completely against me having lessons in anything so unladylike, but Father said I’d have a private tutor and nobody else needed to know. And it wasn’t like they weren’t already keeping me a secret from the world…”

 

“Found one!” Katara heard someone sing out from the teashop’s entrance, and she turned to see Smellerbee and Longshot coming back into the Jasmine Dragon, with a young woman wearing fancy clothes walking between them.

 

The young woman was smiling in a simpering way as she came inside, heading straight for Song with a swaying gait and tiny steps while saying, “I’m simply honored to be chosen by our gracious and glorious Queen as a representative of--” and then she stopped in her tracks when she saw Toph and Katara next to Song, and her face paled.  “You two!”

 

Toph smiled, for the first time since they’d started the conversation… and it was not a nice smile.  “I remember that voice.  How’s the poodle-monkey?”

 

Katara didn’t recognize the girl at first, but at Toph’s words, she leaned in and asked, “She’s one of the three that were making fun of you that day?”

 

The young woman tried to turn and run, but found Smellerbee and Longshot blocking her way.  So she turned again and all but threw herself at Queen Song’s feet in a kowtow, crying out, “Your majesty, I beg for mercy… and justice!  Those two tried to drown me and my friends two years ago, dropping us from a bridge and then making a huge wave to sweep us downstream! And all because we’d merely observed that one of them was Earth Kingdom, but had feet as big as her foreign friend!”

 

“Hey!” Katara said indignantly.  “My feet are not that big!”

 

Toph’s smile went from evil, to bitter.  “Compared to hers, they are.  Show her, Miss Poodle-Monkey.”

 

The young woman went from the kowtow to kneeling with her spine straight, looking haughtily at Toph.  “That’s Lady Xiangting to you.  I am most honorably married now; it was my husband’s family palanquin that your Dai Li henchmen stopped in the street, saying that my queen wished to present a perfect example of a noble lady to foreign dignitaries!”

 

Song’s expression was wry.  “And as it so happens, the agents were anticipating my wishes.  Fetch the lady a chair, someone…”  An agent hurried over with a chair as Song continued in a very pleasant tone of voice, “Lady Xiangting, your dress is lovely, a fashion perfectly befitting a young married lady. Now your queen would like you to show off your feet, for the benefit of these foreign dignitaries.”

 

Lady Xiangting almost preened at Song’s words, and then sat in the chair placed behind her and tugged at the skirts of her fashionable long dress, until the hem rose up just enough to show off her fancy shoes.

 

Nearly everyone in the shop stared at the fancy shoes, some of the male agents with obvious appreciation in their eyes, but Katara stared in sheer disbelief.  Those shoes were tiny!  Like a Water Tribe child’s first snow boots!  And coming to a triangular point in front, as if the lady’s toes were actually narrower than her heel instead of wider.  Katara was reminded of a puppet show she’d seen in a village once, during their travels though the Earth Kingdom; the play had featured a lady puppet among the cast, and that puppet’s fancy dress had shown two brightly painted, tiny points of wood poking past the hem.  Katara had thought back then that the puppeteer just hadn’t bothered carving feet for his creation, but now…! The shoes were highly decorated, with intricate embroidery and beaded designs; clearly more works of art than footwear, and not meant to be walked on for long periods.  But how on earth did Lady Xiangting’s feet fit in them?  Unless… “On tiptoe?” she found herself murmuring aloud.

 

Song smiled for a few seconds at Lady Xiangting’s proud display, and then said softly, “Yes, those are lovely, fashionable shoes… but Lady Xiangting, I asked you to show off your feet.” And her voice hardened on those last two words, making it clear that this was not merely a request.

 

Lady Xiangting lost her smile, looked around hesitantly, and then reached down to slip off her shoes.  Katara glimpsed what appeared to be bandages on her feet before she abruptly let the hem of her dress drop to cover them, and then looked around again, her expression increasingly embarrassed and desperate.

 

Then the Boulder—no, Lord Pho Li, Katara mentally amended--interposed himself between the young lady and the queen with a low bow, saying in his sonorous voice, “Your majesty, allow this humble servant to grant the young lady some privacy while unbinding.” When Song graciously gave permission, he swept off a nearby tablecloth and held it like a miniscule tent over Lady Xiangting’s lower legs, while murmuring something that Katara couldn’t hear.  Her face very red, Lady Xiangting bent over and began working on her feet again.

 

Still greatly confused, Katara glanced up and around, and noticed that while some men were still staring-while-trying-to-hide-it at Lady Xiangting’s feet, apparently eager to see what would be revealed, some of the men who’d been staring so eagerly earlier were now shifting uncomfortably and looking like they’d rather be elsewhere. But Aang and Sokka just looked as confused as she was, while Suki, Zuko and Iroh… they looked downright grim.

 

“Um, I’d just like to remind everyone that King Bumi decreed foot-binding illegal within the walls of Omashu, the first year after he took the throne from King Zhong,” Agent Phan piped up rather anxiously from where he was sitting at a nearby table. “And he’s said more than once that he won’t remarry until he finds a woman with feet bigger than his!”

 

“And if Bumi weren’t so obviously crazy in so many other ways, people might take his words seriously,” Zuko said sourly.  “But decrees like that coming from the same man who rides a pet gorilla-goat named Flopsy, and who once declared a national holiday in honor of two fish… I’ve no doubt the nobles of Omashu decided he was just being a crackpot again, and are still binding their daughters’ feet  behind closed doors.”

 

“It’s never been allowed at all on Kyoshi Island,” Suki said firmly.  “Avatar Kyoshi condemned the practice, and urged every High Sage and Earth King she dealt with in her long life to do the same, but they wouldn’t listen to her…”

 

And then Lord Pho Li murmured loud enough for Katara to hear, “You are brave, my lady.” And then he whisked away the tablecloth, to reveal Lady Xiangting’s naked –those couldn’t be feet!!!

 

But as she stared, she slowly realized that oh Great Ocean, they really were feet—or at least they had been, before they had been crushed, broken and twisted and horribly stunted and —

 

She didn’t realize she was on her knees with water gloving her hands and glowing moon-bright as it wrapped around those—those things that had once been feet, or keening wordlessly like an animal with tears running down her cheeks, until Suki gripped her shoulders to gently but firmly pull her away.  “Water-healing won’t work, Katara.  That was done to her years ago, when she was still a little girl.”

 

“They usually start when the child is between five and seven years old,” Song said with cool professionalism, her face a nearly expressionless mask, reminding Katara of how Yugoda had looked when they’d been discussing options for a terminal cancer patient.  “The girl’s feet are soaked in hot water for a long time to soften them, and the toenails are trimmed as far back as possible; then the feet are tightly bound, forcing the arch of the foot upwards and the smaller toes to curl under the foot.  Then the little girls are made to walk on those bound feet, over and over again, until their bones start breaking.  The bindings are kept on all the time to force the slowly healing bones into the new shapes desired, and replaced with even tighter bindings as the child grows up, to keep her feet from growing with her…”

 

The sounds of hacking and a familiar groaning reached Katara’s ears; she looked around to see Sokka wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, as he straightened up from the flowerpot he’d just vomited into.  “You people are sick!” he said accusingly, glaring at all the Earth Kingdom men in the room, many of whom refused to meet his eyes.  “I saw how you were looking at her; you were getting turned on by those—sick, sick, SICK!”

 

“In my home village, the Yu family were relatively wealthy merchants,” Song said dispassionately.  “They had three daughters, and they hired a professional to come clear from Gaodan and stay in their home, to bind their little girls’ feet.  My mother tried to talk them out of it, but they had ambitions for their children, plans to marry them off to even wealthier families, and would not listen.  Two months into the binding process, they brought little Lin into the clinic, delirious and half-dead already.  Mother sliced the bindings off to reveal that her left foot had become infected from an ingrown toenail, and the infection had turned gangrenous.  Lin died of septic shock, but the professional foot-binder said only that it was the parents’ fault for not calling her in to start the process sooner, because Lin was nearly eight by the time she had started; nearly too old to be made beautiful…”

 

“Beautiful?!  That—that’s disgusting!” Katara sputtered, pointing at those misshapen feet.

 

The stunted appendages were abruptly covered once more by the beautiful shoes, and Lady Xiangting stood up with her bandages bunched up in her hands and her dignity gathered around her like a cloak.  “My feet are beautiful,” she said firmly.  “My husband treasures them, and me.  It’s only you foreign barbarians who are too uncultured to appreciate such refinery.”

 

“Refinery?  You--” Katara started as her incredulity began turning to pure fury, but stopped when Toph laid a heavy hand on her arm, shaking her head.

 

Toph’s expression was pure bleakness. “Don’t, Katara. She really does believe that, every word of it.  And she has to believe that, believe that everything her parents put her through was worth it and the right thing to do, because that’s the way it’s been done for centuries.  And if she ever has daughters, they’ll end up having to believe all that too.”

 

The hot fury that had been building up in Katara turned to cold dismay at Toph’s words. But at the mention of daughters, the dismay turned back to fury again… but instead of hot fury, it was the bitter cold of an arctic wind.

 

Lady Xiangting had turned to go, and no one stopped her.  But as she left the teashop, Katara hurried to step in front of her, saying coolly, “Lady Xiangting.  Your body is your own business, and if you believe your feet are beautiful, than may you be happy with them.” Lady Xiangting gave her a gracious nod before trying to step around her, but Katara wasn’t finished yet. “But I will remember you from now on.  And every time I come to Ba Sing Se, I will seek you out and see what you have been up to.  Pray you have only sons, Lady Xiangting, because if you ever have daughters, and you try to do that to their feet… I will personally maim your hands to match them.” Lady Xiangting’s face, already naturally pale, turned bone-white as Katara finished sweetly, “Won’t that make them more beautiful too?”

 

Instead of replying, Lady Xiangting just hurried out of the teashop, with the swaying walk and tiny mincing steps that were probably all she could manage with those poor broken feet.  Katara now wished she hadn’t swept those three girls downstream after they’d been dropped into the creek, realizing now that they’d probably all had the same horrible treatment as children… But then, if she’d known that they would probably do the same to their own daughters, in the heat of outrage she might have done much worse.

 

“She really is a brave young woman,” Song muttered.  “To walk out of here like that, without rebinding her feet first… Once they’ve stopped growing, the women need those bindings for support, or every step they take is agony.”  She shook her head.  “Thank Oma and Shu that there are longstanding laws forcing all foot-binders to be licensed professionals, instead of just aunties and village elders, and decreeing that only those families rich enough to afford silk are allowed to have their daughters’ feet bound.  Otherwise, every mother in the land would be putting her daughter through that torture, no matter how poor they were, in hopes of marrying her off to a wealthier family. And you’d see women walking like that in the Lower Ring, and even through the rice fields.”

 

“So that’s why I pretended to be so weak and fragile for so long,” Toph said sadly.  “One night when I was five years old, my parents put me to bed, but as soon as they left I started sneaking out of the house, to go play with the badger-moles again.  I’d actually been planning to surprise my parents in another few weeks with some impressive earthbending; I had been practicing in the caves, making statues of things while learning how to see with my tremor-sense.  But that night, instead of going to their bedroom my parents went out to the garden, right next to the hidden hole I’d made in the wall for sneaking through.  They’d gone out there to discuss my future… and that’s when I heard about the foot-binding.  About what my mother wanted me to go through; she already had a professional foot-binder in mind, the same woman who’d bound her own feet when she was a child.  But my dad was worried; he said that one of his little sisters had died during the binding process, and he didn’t think I would survive it, being so weak and fragile already…

 

“I didn’t actually understand everything then, but I understood enough to know that the binding would break some of the bones in my feet, and I already knew my feet were really important to my earthbending.  I couldn’t let them take away my bending, just when I was really started to see with it!  So, starting from that very night, I became as weak as a sick cricket-mouse.  Every little pain sent me straight to my bed; every little cold laid me out for a week.  So long as I pretended to be weak and fragile, too weak to survive the foot-binding, then I could keep my feet and my earthbending whole.  By the time I turned ten years old, I was too old to begin the foot-binding, but by then…” Toph gave a small, resigned shrug.  “I’d been pretending too long; I couldn’t just stop doing it and tell them the truth.  So that’s how things were, with me being a weak and helpless girl by day and the Blind Bandit by night, until you guys came along.”

 

“But I-I just don’t understand,” Aang finally blurted out; he hadn’t barfed like Sokka had at the sight of those feet, but it had been a near thing, and he was still looking pale.  “How could-could something so horrible become a tradition lasting for centuries?”

 

“Especially a practice that kills one girl out of every forty that goes through it, even at the hands of professionals! Damned if I know; I just know it was one of the ways Sozin motivated the Fire Nation to conquer the Earth Kingdom,” Zuko muttered with folded arms as he stared out the window to the people in the streets; most of the ladies passing by were in palanquins, but a few were on foot, and every one of them had the same swaying, mincing gait. “He promised that we’d stamp out that cruel and barbaric practice, and save the lives and feet of millions of little girls.”

 

Phan, the former scholar and born in Omashu, cleared his throat before saying rather diffidently, “Actually, I did some reading on that when I first arrived at the university.  The practice has been going on for at least eight hundred years, and there aren’t many records left from back then, but I believe that the custom started after Queen Taki was born.  She was the only child of King Hanu, and born with small and deformed feet; to save her social embarrassment, her father publicly declared that such feet were beautiful and ordered all the ladies of his court to have their feet bound small to match hers.”

 

“I heard that the custom actually started with an ancient Earth King’s concubine, a dancer, who performed an erotic dance while on tiptoe,” Song said dryly.  “And the men of the court were so entranced by her that women started binding their feet to resemble her. But whichever way the custom started, I’m sure it didn’t really gain in popularity until the story of Yeh-Shen did.”

 

“Who?” Sokka asked, looking confused.

 

“Oh, it’s a classic spirit-tale, very romantic,” Toph said wryly.  “Yeh-Shen was a young girl with very tiny feet, whose mother and father loved her very much. But first her mother died, then her father remarried, and then her father died leaving her with her stepmother and stepsisters, who proceeded to turn her into a servant in her own home.  But she was such a good little girl, always obedient even when they were cruel to her, that the spirits took pity on her and one day a magic koi fish popped up in the garden pond to grant her some wishes; the only catch was that they all expired at midnight.  The magic koi made her a beautiful gown and dancing slippers to wear to a fancy ball that was going on in the city, turned a melon into a palanquin and some cricket-mice into bearers, and then sent her off to go to the ball. 

 

“Yeh-Shen met Prince Lu Yi there, he danced with her, and as the story goes, they fell in love on the spot. But when midnight came she had to flee the palace and hurry back home, as her palanquin and bearers reverted to what they’d been and her dress turned back to rags.  But the dancing slipper that had fallen off one of her feet and been left behind on the palace steps didn’t turn back to a cheap sandal at midnight; instead it stayed a beautiful, and very tiny, dancing slipper.  The prince announced that he would marry the girl who fit that tiny slipper, and searched all the houses in the kingdom until he found her again.  They got married, Yeh-Shen became a princess, and they lived long lives and had many children, the end. And the moral of that story is: be a good little girl who does what you’re told, and have really tiny feet, and you’ll end up marrying well.”

 

Katara had read that spirit-tale before, during that month they’d first stayed in Ba Sing Se during the war. At the time she’d read that story scroll, she’d smiled and thought it wonderfully romantic.  But now, seeing the results of too many women believing in the moral of that story, she only felt sick to her stomach.

 

An uncomfortable silence settled over the teashop, until Iroh broke it with a too-hearty voice, saying loudly, “Ahh, but I know an even better spirit-tale!  Allow me to share a little Fire Nation folklore with you all; the story of the Peach Boy and the Tiger-Dillo!”

 

Iroh spun a truly outrageous spirit-tale of a small boy who’d somehow sprung from a peach pit instead of woman’s body, and the adventures he’d had with a cowardly tiger-dillo, rolling across the landscape and from one incredible adventure to another.  By the time the story finally ended with Peach Boy winning a princess’s hand in marriage and the tiger-dillo living in the lap of luxury for the rest of his days, the mood of the teashop had grown merry again, and stayed that way for rest of the party.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

The next day, the Jasmine Dragon had perhaps its busiest day ever, from the moment the doors were opened in the morning to the very last call at night.  People lined up for blocks to come inside and enjoy a cup of tea, because it would be the last cup they’d ever have there; the Jasmine Dragon was closing its doors forever, two days before the owner was due to depart for the Fire Nation. 

 

Zuko had refused even more adamantly to bring his son down to the teashop on the last day of business for showing off, but Iroh had long anticipated that. A palace artist had drawn a portrait of newborn Roku in his proud grandfather’s arms, and the portrait was on display in the seating area.  The patrons who came in for a last cup of tea all saw the portrait and agreed that Roku was a beautiful baby, looking quite healthy for having been born so early, and Iroh had every right to be proud of him.

 

One patron kept looking around after being seated and told of the day’s specials, and finally complained aloud, “I don’t see him!”

 

“If you’re referring to Master Iroh, he comes out of the kitchen every twenty minutes or so to make the rounds of the tables and accept everyone’s well-wishes,” their tea server told them.  “He should be out in another ten minutes, perhaps less.  In the meantime, may I suggest the jasmine?”

 

“Not him; the Fire Lord!  I heard that he was going to be here today, serving tea, just like he did when he was banished and they were hiding here in Ba Sing Se.”

 

“Ah, I see.  Fire Lord Zuko is here today, but he’s staying in the kitchen, helping his uncle brew tea.  He’s not as wondrous at tea-making as his uncle is, but he does make a very good Oolong blend; some say that the dragons themselves told him the secret of that, along with the secrets of firebending.  Would you like a cup of Oolong?”

 

The minor noble pouted, “I’d been hoping to tell my friends and family that I’d been waited on by royalty today.”

 

The server, a tall and lanky fellow with a huge mustache under a nose that bore slight indentations from where spectacles normally perched, paused for a moment before saying brightly, “Well, if you tell them that you were, I’m sure your companion here will go along with the story.  Now, are you ready to order?  We really are very busy…”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Zuko did come out of the kitchen once, to meet a particular young lady who’d come up from the Lower Ring with a special invitation from Iroh in her hand.  When Bingwen alerted him, he stepped out to see her standing by the entrance, looking a little lost and overwhelmed by all the nobles surrounding her, dressed in such refinement that her best clothes looked like rags in comparison.  Mentally kicking himself for not making sure his uncle had sent her a fine silken robe with the invitation, Zuko brushed past the nobles looking scornfully at her and took her hand.  “Jin, I’m so glad you could make it today!”

 

She smiled at him as she said brightly, “For a last chance to see you and have some of your uncle’s delicious tea?  Wild hog-monkeys couldn’t keep me away.”

 

He smiled as he led her towards a table that Bingwen was hastily clearing for them, remembering the first time he’d seen her in the Jasmine Dragon:

 

It had been during his second trip to Ba Sing Se after the war, the first being to celebrate their victory and Ba Sing Se’s liberation as well as the reopening of the Jasmine Dragon.  The second trip, undergone without Mai because they’d realized that somebody had to act as a regent and hold the country together while he was gone, had been to open negotiations with the Earth Kingdom over war reparations and the fate of the colonies. 

 

The first three days of those negotiations had been anything but a success.  With King Kuei still missing, last seen roaming the countryside as a commoner, Ba Sing Se and the entire Earth Kingdom were without a ruler, and sailing rudderless.  Generals and politicians alike fought to fill the power vacuum and take control for themselves, or fought to keep others from taking control, and it seemed like the only thing all those arguing officials could agree on was their hatred and distrust of the Fire Nation in general, and him in particular. 

 

Aang did his best to help, insisting over and over that Zuko had fought as hard as any of Team Avatar for an end to the war, and that he knew very well how much the Earth Kingdom had suffered as a result of the war, having been a refugee himself.  But while a few nobles remembered seeing Zuko before as ‘Lee’, a humble tea server at the Jasmine Dragon, many more remembered seeing him riding on an ostrich-horse beside Azula, heading down to the docks to return to the Fire Nation after she’d successfully conquered Ba Sing Se from within.  Most of them were convinced that he’d been working for ‘Mushi’ at the Jasmine Dragon only in order to gather information for his sister, and one of them even asked his uncle—right in front of him!—if he really could be trusted to not betray them all again.  It had taken a lot of self-control to not burn something to ashes in response, and after the anger had finally burnt itself out, all he’d felt was a numb sort of despair.  It looked like he’d have to prove himself and his trustworthiness over and over and over again, a thousand grudge-holders like Katara to deal with, people who just saw him as everything they hated about the Fire Nation. And most of the people back home were even worse; they still saw him only as a traitor and usurper.  How could he ever lead his people back into peace and the world back into prosperity, when nobody would trust him long enough to give him a chance?

 

He’d been sitting in the back kitchen of the Jasmine Dragon, still in his official robes after yet another meeting of nothing but arguing and politely disguised vicious insults, and sinking deep into a self-pitying funk when his uncle had interrupted him with a hot cup of tea, a hot towel for freshening up, and the announcement that someone was hoping to see him.  He’d almost refused, but finally sheer curiosity—who in this city would actually want to see him?—drove him out to the serving area.  

 

And there he saw her, sitting at a table with tea and pastries set out for two, and with such a shy and hesitant demeanor that at first he didn’t recognize her as “…Jin?”

 

She looked up and saw him, and smiled; it was the first time anyone beside his uncle had smiled at him in days if not weeks.  Then she lost the smile and looked chagrined as she started to get up from the table and bow to him, as was expected of a peasant meeting foreign royalty.  “Oh, please don’t do that!” he said hurriedly as he sat down in the chair opposite her, while reaching up to grab the fire crown out of his topknot, the easiest thing to take off.

 

But now that he was sitting down with her… what the hells was he going to say?  He never knew what to say to women in general, let alone to somebody who’d first met him when he’d been living a lie.  He cleared his throat and began uncomfortably, “So…”

 

“So…” she returned, not meeting his eyes.  “So when you said ‘It’s complicated’, you were referring to this,” as she gestured to the crown he’d taken off but not pocketed yet.

 

“Um…” It took him a moment to remember exactly when he’d said “It’s complicated” to her, but then he remembered: right after that kiss by the firelight fountain. His stomach sank as he remembered all the things he’d done wrong, on that disastrous date they’d had last spring.

 

He sighed and admitted, “Basically, yes.  Jin, I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you the truth back then; sorry for a lot of things, really.”

 

“It’s all right,” she said softly, still not meeting his eyes.

 

“So…” as he frantically pawed through his memories for everything his uncle had ever told him about women, advice he’d scorned at the time; why had he been such an assholish idiot for so long?

 

And then his pathetic, needy inner child grabbed hold of his mouth and said before he could stop it, “Since you came up here to see me, does that mean that you don’t hate me too?”

 

He cringed at how pathetic he sounded, but at least it made her look at him again with a startled expression as she said, “No, I don’t hate you!”

 

He gave a wry smile as he sighed, “Well, you’re probably the one person in this city who doesn’t.  Everyone else takes just one look at me and thinks ‘evil firebender’.”

 

She gave him an equally wry smile in return as she said, “Lee, I—er, I mean, Zuko—I mean, Fire Lord—I mean, your majesty--”

 

He held up a hand to stop her verbal stumbling and said earnestly, “Please, just call me Zuko.  Or even Lee, if that’s easier for you.”  Even if he’d hated being called by that false name during the war, at that point he’d do anything to make the conversation less awkward.

 

“Okay… Lee, I never thought you were evil.”

 

It took him a few seconds to realize what that simple response implied; the thought clicked into place just as he was taking a sip of tea, and he narrowly avoided choking and spraying it all over the table.  After he got done coughing and sputtering, while Jin was eyeing him with alarm and asking if he needed a healer, he croaked out, “You knew?”

 

“Knew what?  Oh, that you’re a firebender?” Jin shrugged, “Well, yes, but I had no idea you were royalty!”

 

“You knew!” He stared at her in disbelief.  “But you—we—you…” He finally took a deep breath, and a moment to get his thoughts in order, and then asked, “How did you know?”

 

Jin smiled at him, regarding him thoughtfully.  “Well, mostly it was your looks.”

 

“My eyes, you mean.  And my pale skin,” Zuko said resignedly.  “I told Uncle I don’t know how many times that we couldn’t pass for natives; that gold eyes were just too rare in the Earth Kingdom, even after a century of colonization.  Usually only the nobility have skin this pale, and they’d never let someone from the colonies marry into their family.”

 

“Actually, I’m willing to bet that most people you met never noticed your eye color,” Jin said with that same thoughtful expression.  “Because they were too busy trying not to stare at your scar.  But my older brother has a bad scar on his face, too—not from any firebender; from an accident in the kitchen when he was a boy—so I already knew how to look past your scar, to see you,” as she lightly poked a finger at him, such a familiar and affectionate gesture that it startled him.  “So I saw the gold eyes, but it wasn’t just that; I was also referring to the looks you gave everyone.”

 

“Huh?” was the most intelligent thing he could come up with at the moment.

 

Her smile turned wry. “Lee, you looked at everyone like they were potential enemies, and you expected to be attacked at any minute.  There were a lot of refugees who acted like that when they first arrived, because they’d had to travel through occupied territory to reach Ba Sing Se, but it usually only took a couple of days for them to realize that they were safe now, that the walls would protect them.  Then they started relaxing, and looking for ways to fit in and make homes for themselves.  But you never relaxed; you just stayed tense, so sure you were still in danger.  But why would you still be in danger, safe behind our walls?  I didn’t understand at first, but then when you poured some tea for me, I saw your gold eyes, and then I knew.”

 

He stared at her, still trying to grasp the idea. “So you knew… and you didn’t turn us in?  Why not?”

 

Jin’s smile turned even more wry.  “Mostly because of your uncle, and the way he treated you.  Though to be honest, back then I didn’t think he was actually your uncle. You don’t really look alike from a distance, and since he stayed in the back brewing tea most of the time, I never got close enough to get a good look at his eyes.  I thought he was just posing as your uncle, a cover story to give everyone an explanation for your being together, and that he was as native to the Earth Kingdom as I am,” she finished with a self-deprecating shrug.

 

He learned forward with his chin resting on his hand, now highly intrigued.  “So why did you think that an elderly Earth Kingdom man would be traveling with a young man from the Fire Nation, when our countries were still at war with each other?”

 

She gave him another shy and uncertain look.  “Promise you won’t laugh?”

 

“I promise.”

 

“I thought you were together because you’d saved his life, just before deserting from the Fire Nation Army; that he was even the reason you’d deserted, when you’d stopped some other soldiers from torturing and killing him, and realized then just how wrong your nation’s war of conquest was.”

 

It took a lot of self-control on Zuko’s part to not react to the idea that she’d thought he was a deserter, a coward like all deserters were.  A few seconds later he was glad he had stifled his instinctive and explosive denial, because the rest of her explanation reminded him that not everyone runs away out of cowardice… and that he had indeed acted much like a deserter, when he’d gone to join the Avatar after realizing just how wrong his nation’s war of conquest was.

 

Jin’s smile turned even more wry.  “I had this whole scenario built up in my head:  Mushi had lost all his family, to the war or to some other disaster, and had been about to die when you’d saved his life.  While saving him from the firebending soldiers that were going to kill him, you did more than just get a horrible burn on your face; you ended up having to kill one of your own people in self-defense. Because you’d saved his life, Mushi took you and hid you away while you recovered from the burn as much as you ever would, and when you were well again, asked you what you were going to do next.

 

“You knew the honorable thing would be to go back and explain your actions, but you also knew that no one in your country would believe an old Earth Kingdom man had any right to be defended to the death… and that’s when you realized that the whole war was wrong.  But what could one lone soldier do, to stop the whole war?  Nothing, and trying to stop your people would only have resulted in charges of treason and dying anyway.  So Mushi convinced you to just desert your people’s army and join him instead.  He saw that you were a decent young man with a good heart, and he knew that when you deserted your nation’s army, you effectively lost all your family too. So the two of you swore blood oaths, to become like uncle and nephew to each other.  And then Mushi took his new little family to the one place in the whole world where you could live in safety, because there was no war here…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked down at the table as she mumbled, “My mother always said I was too much of a dreamer.”

 

He reached across the table to touch her hand as he said earnestly, “Sometimes, our dreams are all we have to keep us going.”  After three years in exile, he could testify to the truth of that.  He added with a pained smile, “And your story made a pretty noble young man out of the angry spoiled brat I know I was back then.  Now I finally understand why you’d asked someone like the old me out on a date. I just wish I’d lived up to your expectations…”

 

After a few moments of awkward silence, he prompted, “So, the firelight fountain… you actually knew it wouldn’t be lit that night, right?”

 

Her smile was sheepish.  “I wanted to test my theory… and you passed with flying colors, or flying fire-darts.”

 

He smirked at her. “You peeked after all, eh?”

 

She boldly retorted, “For a chance to see someone from another nation bend their element, for the first time in your entire life?  Wouldn’t you?”

 

“I guess I would have,” he admitted.  “But… if you knew I was a firebender and you were okay with it, once you were sure, why didn’t you just tell me?”

 

Jin lowered her eyes to the table again.  “I almost did… but then I realized that because I knew, I was putting you in danger.  When you walked away after saying it was complicated, I almost called you back to say I knew your secret, and you didn’t have to live a lie around me… and then I saw a shadow moving on a rooftop.  One of the Dai Li had been coming, to investigate why the firelight fountain was all lit up on an off night!  I realized then that it would never be safe for you to relax your guard and be yourself around me. And that the best thing I could do for you, to keep you safe, would be to avoid you from then on.  You never knew it till now, but I’m sorry I almost put you in danger,” she added softly.

 

So that’s why she’d never come back to the teashop, to redeem that coupon he’d given her from his uncle.  At the time, as the days had passed without her return, Zuko had been kicking himself hard for being such a rude idiot around her.  After admitting to himself and his uncle that the date had been nice, he’d started thinking that another date might be even nicer, but his rudeness and his idiotic attempts at juggling had burned all hopes of that to ashes…

 

He reached across the table to touch her hand again.  “Apology accepted.  And… can I show you something?” as he scooted back.

 

She looked up as he scooted further back from the table, to give himself room to maneuver.  Then he made three little fireballs, and used his bending to juggle them for her as she grinned.  “You’ve been practicing!” she said with delight.

 

“Not exactly,” he said honestly as he added a fourth fireball to the sequence.  “I can only do this with fire, instead of real balls.”  He added a fifth fireball to the sequence, and kept juggling them for another minute longer before he caught and extinguished them all in turn, to finish with a flourishing bow as she applauded.

 

After sharing their secrets, it was like they were old friends, and they talked for what must have been hours together about everything under the sun.  She eventually admitted to him that she would never have come clear up to the Jasmine Dragon on her own, if Iroh hadn’t made a special trip down to the Lower Ring to seek her out the day before, in hopes that she remembered them fondly after all.  “He told me you could use a friendly face here,” as she gave him a sympathetic smile.

 

“Uncle was right, as usual,” he admitted.  He also admitted to her that he had a girlfriend back in the Fire Nation, and their relationship was pretty serious; he’d already been thinking about asking Mai to marry him, when the time was right.  Jin said that was all right, she wasn’t jealous, and in fact she had a boyfriend herself; a printer’s apprentice, who was about to make journeyman status.  Zuko felt an odd protective urge at that bit of news, and decided to roll with it; he said to her quite seriously, “You tell him that if he doesn’t treat you right, he’ll have an angry Fire Lord to deal with.  And if he does treat you right, then I hope to have an invitation to your wedding someday.  I can’t promise I’ll be able to come, but…” Jin smiled and said she understood that a head of state had a busy schedule.

 

They’d had a pleasant afternoon together, until Jin finally boarded a train to go back down to the Lower Ring that evening.  Realizing that there was at least one person in the Earth Kingdom who’d accepted him for what he really was—and forgave him for being such a spoiled brat at the time—had given Zuko the courage to finally do what his conscience had been telling him to do for weeks already; to seek out Song and her mother Ping, the people he’s once stolen an ostrich-horse from, and tell them in person that he was truly sorry.  He’d sent them compensation and a letter of apology already, but as Mai and nearly everyone else in Team Avatar had rather emphatically told him, letters were just cowardly and inadequate for some things. 

 

The next morning Zuko’s personal yacht had pulled out of Ba Sing Se harbor with four ostrich-horses aboard as cargo, and his uncle along for the ride, and they’d set course for a small village in the northwestern region of the Earth Kingdom. And while apologizing to Song’s family, Zuko and Iroh had discovered that her new husband was the missing Earth King, and talked him into reclaiming his throne.  So the whole Earth Kingdom actually owed Jin a debt of gratitude for her kindness, even if nobody else would ever know it, Zuko thought to himself now as he led Jin over to the only empty table in the bustling chaos of the Jasmine Dragon’s last day.

 

Jin had never had the opportunity to meet Mai, but he’d talked about her a lot in the friendly letters they’d exchanged since that meeting, and after they sat down and Jin placed her order, she gave Zuko her sincere sympathies for the death of his wife.  “Is that him in the portrait, little Roku?” she asked as she pointed to the portrait Iroh had on display, of him holding his grandson. 

 

“It is,” Zuko agreed with a smile.  “Can you stay a few more hours, until after closing?  Then I can take you up to the palace so you can see him for yourself.”

 

Jin blinked at him, taken aback.  “The palace?  Me?  Zuko, I’m from the Lower Ring! I work in a flower shop for a living, remember?  They’d never let me past the palace gates.”

 

Their mustachioed tea server said quietly as he set a full cup of jasmine tea in front of Jin, “Please pardon the interruption, but I couldn’t help overhearing. And I’d like to assure you, miss, that it’s common knowledge that the Earth King has every confidence in the Fire Lord.  I’ve no doubt that the Fire Lord’s personal guests, whatever their rank in society, will be welcome in the Earth King’s palace.”

 

“See? Even the tea servers here know it’ll be okay!” Zuko said, while discreetly winking thanks to Kuei in his disguise.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

After enjoying her cup of tea and accepting Zuko’s invitation to stay and see the baby later, Jin followed Zuko back into the kitchen and quite willingly made herself useful for he rest of the day; she helped wash dishes and set up the tea trays for serving, and ran to the bakery nearby when they ran out of sweets to serve with the tea hours earlier than anticipated.

 

At the end of the long, long day, when they finally ushered the last customer out and shut the doors, the storerooms had been emptied of stock and there was barely any tea left at all.  But Iroh had carefully set enough aside for one pot of jasmine and one of ginseng; after the doors were shut, he brewed and served the tea to his nephew and all his exhausted servers.  They all gave a solemn toast to the Jasmine Dragon, another to Iroh, and a final toast to the future and little Roku, before taking off their aprons for the last time.

 

“I’m really going to miss this place, and you,” Kuei told Iroh wistfully as he prepared to slip out the back door and sneak back to the palace.  Over at a nearby table, Zuko was hovering rather awkwardly over Jin with a cold compress in hand, waiting for her to recover; when she’d found out that the lanky tea server she’d been working and joking with half the day was actually the Earth King in disguise, she’d staggered to a chair and come close to fainting dead away.

 

“And I shall miss you and Song, and Lady Ping… and even Bosco!” Iroh said with a faint smile.  “But the Great Wheel turns on and on, and we must all move with it.” 

 

After Kuei left, Iroh gave all his people their last paychecks and bid them farewell.  There was no need to collect his personal belongings from his rooms upstairs; everything had been packed away and delivered either to his temporary rooms at the palace or to Zuko’s yacht the day before.  Zuko and Jin waited in the street (with Zuko’s bodyguards maintaining a discreet distance) as he quietly shut the doors and locked them. In the hush of evening, the click as the key turned in the lock sounded abnormally loud and final.

 

A royal palanquin was waiting nearby, at Kuei’s insistence; Iroh hadn’t argued, knowing that everyone’s legs and feet would be aching by the end of this long last day.  The three of them climbed in, and when Iroh tapped the lacquered wood in signal, the bearers set off for the palace at a smooth pace.

 

As they traveled up the street, Zuko said quietly, “Uncle, I’m more relieved than I can say that you’re coming home with me now … But I also feel really badly for it.  I know you considered Ba Sing Se your home, and this teashop was your dream, and now you’re leaving them behind forever.”

 

“Oh, not forever, nephew,” Iroh said just as quietly, looking back one last time.  “I’ll return to Ba Sing Se again someday.”  But he wasn’t looking at the teashop as he spoke, but far past that, to the Outer Ring. To a lone tree on a hill, one that he’d visited yesterday morning with incense sticks and an offering, for a long talk…

 

Yes, someday he would return to Ba Sing Se… but for now, he had a nephew/second son and grandson that needed him. Iroh stopped looking back and faced forward, to future challenges.

 

Notes:

Yes, the late and unlamented Prince Inazu is entirely my own creation. But I refuse to believe that Azulon was Sozin’s firstborn, because that would make him roughly 150 years old (give or take a decade) by the time he died at Ursa’s hands, and his firstborn son Iroh should have been old enough to have witnessed the massacre of the Air Nomads. It’s been established in the world of Avatar that the most powerful benders are extremely long-lived, but one of an absolute monarch’s first duties to throne and country is to provide an heir and ensure continuity of rule, and Sozin became Fire Lord fairly young sometime during Roku’s training in other elements; he had to have had other children long before Azulon, but for one reason or another none of them survived long enough to inherit the throne.

Yes, the choice for the Boulder’s new name was a deliberate in-joke. And yes, the foot-binding is drawn from Real Life examples; it was widely practiced in China, which is actually where the story of Cinderella originated. I double-dog dare you all to Google on ‘foot binding’ for pictures and video clips; just don’t do it right after eating. I have -no idea- how those feet were considered erotic, but they were; men wrote poems praising the beauty of what they called the ‘lotus foot’, and a Qing Dynasty sex manual listed 48 different ways of playing with a woman's bound feet. And in real life as opposed to fiction, there were no decrees restricting the practice to only wealthy families, where the traditions started. Over the centuries the custom spread to the remote and rural areas of China until even the poorest mothers brought in aunties and village elders to bind their daughters’ feet (and at the hands of amateurs, the death rate increased; some estimate that one in ten girls died from it.) An entire nation thought such torture was perfectly normal, just a part of life for women. It kept them mostly in the home, because walking far or even standing for too long was painful, but that hardly mattered because a woman’s place was in the home, right?

Foot-binding isn’t practiced in China anymore, thankfully, but the practice finally died out only a few generations ago, and there are still a few elderly women walking around on horrifyingly broken feet. And other countries have practiced binding and reshaping skulls, piercing and stretching out lips, stacking rings to stretch out necks, binding corsets so tightly that they broke ribs and caused internal bleeding, silicon implants… It’s appalling what people do to themselves, and even worse to their innocent children (mostly the girls, too,) in the name of beauty and fashion.

For those of you wondering what Toph’s life would have been like if she hadn’t eavesdropped on that conversation and had been forced to undergo the foot-binding, I urge you to read the powerful and haunting “Life Bound” by clockworkchaos: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6361073/1/Life_Bound

Chapter 9: Departures

Notes:

At one point in this chapter, Aang makes reference to an event that didn’t happen in the cartoon series, but was portrayed in one of the comics that originally accompanied the first DVD sets. Check out the story “Relics” in the comics compilation, Avatar: The Lost Adventures, for the full story on traps-for-surviving-Air-Nomads.

The lullaby Katara sings is adapted from “Little One” by Sandra Boynton, a song from the seriously silly album Rhinoceros Tap (highly recommended for all ages and species, not counting mosquitoes.)

And many thanks to FairladyZ2005, for letting me use the concept of ‘Zuko the Dragoneye’ from her most excellent series of short stories, “Zuko: Crown Prince Chronicles”!

Also for those who may be interested, Chapter 6 has been updated, with a few paragraphs added to Aang & Katara’s scene just before they leave for the zoo.

Yesterday, the Jasmine Dragon had closed its doors for the last time. Tomorrow, the Fire Lord’s yacht was scheduled to weigh anchor with the high tide, and start the long journey back to the Fire Nation. The day after that, the two Southern Water Tribe vessels would depart with Katara, Aang and Ty Lee aboard, stopping at Kyoshi Island to drop off Ty Lee before returning to the Southern Water Tribe.

King Kuei’s servants and administrators had been doing all they could to ensure their guests’ departures would be as smooth and pleasant as their stay had been. Nonessentials and souvenirs had already been carefully packed for travel and conveyed down to the ships waiting in the harbor, which were being well-stocked with victuals and supplies for the long journeys ahead. A small barge had been prepared for Appa’s ease and comfort, to be attached to the larger Water Tribe ship by sturdy chains.

The ordinary sack that Ty Lee had used for holding the scrolls of her memories of Mai, had been replaced with an ornate chest inlaid with gold, black marble and ivory. Zuko sent two of his guardsmen down to the harbor with the chest, to be installed in his cabin aboard the royal yacht. Mai’s ashes rested in an even more ornate funeral urn, which would be carried down in the royal procession on the day of departure.

The New Dai Li agents that had become part of Zuko’s retinue spent the day tying up the last of their affairs in the city, saying goodbye to their friends and families for the next two years. Zuko had offered to bring their spouses and children with them to the Fire Nation, but discovered Toph had selected only bachelors for the extended duty. But one new member of his retinue did have a spouse and children; Roku’s wet-nurse, Ojia.

Zuko had arranged for Ojia to have the afternoon off before their day of departure, and when she prepared to leave after making sure Roku had a full tummy and empty diaper, he pressed a scroll into her hand. "Give this to your husband and sister. I’ve made arrangements with the hawk-tower keepers here in Ba Sing Se; they now have authorization to use messenger hawks for sending letters to you, and vice versa, up to three times a week."

"Thank you, your majesty," Ojia said with a timid smile and a deep bow.

"It’s the least I can do," Zuko said with a smile and not-quite-shrug, silently wishing he could tell her to just call him ‘Zuko’, like his friends did. Ordinarily, he wasn’t bothered by servants kowtowing to him and referring to him by his title or an honorific at all times; he’d grown up with that treatment, and accepted it as perfectly normal and even ordinary for most of his life. But when Ojia was holding his son and talking to little Roku, her voice went from subservient to warm and motherly as she called the baby by not just his name, but ‘cutie-pie’ and ‘little man’ and ‘dear, sweet boy’. He’d come to find it a little jarring when, after cooing over his son like a great mother-substitute while changing or feeding or burping him, she would turn around, see Zuko himself and instantly start talking like a servant again.

He shoved those thoughts aside again as he continued, gesturing towards the door, "I’ve also prepared a small surprise for your family. The palace kitchen staff has put together a feast for you and your loved ones to enjoy; one of them will go home with you tonight to deliver it. It’s the exact same menu that we’ll be eating here at the palace this evening; your family will literally be eating like kings!"

But when Ojia opened the door to his guest suite to depart, it was Zuko who was surprised, because Toph was standing there saying, "Hey, Ojia, ready to go? Hiya, Sparky; how’s Itty-Bitty?"

"He’s fine," Zuko said automatically, while unconsciously touching Roku dozing in his sling. "You’re going with Ojia?"

"Yup; figured I’d deliver the goodies and crash the family party so I can tell the kids some of the neat things their mom is likely to see in the Fire Nation. I can give them the tourist’s perspective, you know?"

Zuko was touched; it wasn’t often that Toph let her sympathetic and considerate side show to near-strangers like Ojia. What Toph hadn’t said, but he’d plainly heard behind her words, was that she’d be telling the children not to worry about their mother being so far away and among strangers. The Dai Li, Sokka and Suki would join his guardsmen in not only keeping Roku safe, they’d keep Ojia safe as well for as long as she stayed there. He thanked Toph for her thoughtfulness, wished Ojia a good afternoon with her family, and then went back to his never-ending paperwork, and the latest land dispute on one of the outlying home islands.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Toph knew Sparky had figured out one reason that she’d decided to invite herself to Ojia’s little going-away party, but from his relaxed stance and calm heartbeat, he had no idea of the other reason. Which was fine with her; she didn’t need him to be freaking out over stuff he couldn’t do anything about, stuff that her own people were going to handle anyway.

She’d created a stone sledge to carry all the goodies the palace kitchen staff put together for Ojia’s going-away party; once they were outside the palace gates, she lengthened it for passengers and invited Ojia to step on. She set a nice steady pace as they cruised down the slope towards the gate between the Upper Ring and Middle Ring; about half the speed she normally traveled at, to avoid unduly frightening the wet-nurse. Poor woman was going to be scared enough already…

"When you get home, Ojia, you’re probably going to find your family a little freaked out," she said abruptly. "That’s because your boy Heng was almost kidnapped today."

"Kidnapped?!" Ojia shrieked, as Toph felt every muscle in her body go stiff with fear.

"Yup. Two thugs tried to snatch him right off the street this morning, on his way to the boys’ academy. But one of my people stopped them, so your boy is home right now, safe and sound. And he’ll stay safe and sound, along with the rest of your family; I already had agents keeping an eye on them, but now I’m doubling the guard detail. My people will be working hand-in-glove with the City Guard to watch over your family, for every day that you’re away from them and in the Fire Nation."

Ojia’s breathing was so fast and shallow, Toph slowed the sledge’s pace to a crawl and created a small chair behind her, so she could sit down before she passed out. "In the Fire Nation… you think the k-k-kidnapping is b-because I’m working for the Fire Lord?"

"Most likely reason for it," Toph said bluntly. "You’re not nearly wealthy enough to pay a rich ransom, the usual reason for kidnapping family members, and the pedophiles always go for the easier pickings in the Lower Ring. Someone was hoping to take one of your kids to force you to do some dirty work for them, something like kidnapping or outright killing the Fire Lord’s son."

Toph wished mightily that she knew who that ‘someone’ was. After the would-be kidnappers had been encased from neck to toes in solid granite and given Toph’s full personal attention, they had sung like canary-pigeons and told her everything they knew about the stranger who had hired them to kidnap Heng. But everything they knew came to very little at all; the stranger had been masked, stifling their curiosity with piles of gold coins, and given them the address of an abandoned house for a rendezvous point. Toph had agents staking the rendezvous point out even at that very moment, but so far no one had shown up, and she doubted now that anyone would. The mastermind must have heard somehow of the kidnapping being thwarted, and was laying low, probably while planning another attempt.

Instead of voicing those disturbing thoughts, Toph said forcefully, "But that’s not going to happen, Ojia. My people are going to be watching over yours night and day, and I give you my personal oath as head of the New Dai Li that no harm will come to your family. And if you want further assurance, we can go straight to the High Commissioner of the City Guard so you can hear his personal oath too. He knows everything I know, and his guardsmen are just as committed to your family’s safety, because that makes the Fire Prince--a baby under the Earth King’s personal protection--that much safer as well. Do you understand? They may be scared right now, but they’re safe and well, and they’re going to stay that way for as long as you’re away on the most important job of your life."

Toph waited a few minutes for Ojia to take in the new situation and for her bad case of shakes to settle down, while silently wishing that she’d gone along with the High Commissioner’s suggestion of letting him break the news to the wet-nurse. She hated to admit it, but people were just more apt to believe in the word of a grandfatherly, stern-yet-benevolent man like the High Commissioner than to believe in the word of a blind teenaged girl, even if that girl happened to the Greatest Earthbender in the World. But finally, Ojia calmed down and said she was ready to greet her family with a smile, so Toph pushed off again and the sledge went sailing down.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Down in the harbor, Captain Bunjiro of the Chihei tried very hard to keep a frown off his face as Dai Li agents brought a large cartload of dirt aboard his good clean ship. Dirt, and rocks ranging from gravel-sized to small boulders. If he’d known beforehand that this was what the Fire Lord’s new earthbenders considered luggage…

He suppressed a sigh, and went to greet the New Dai Li in what he hoped was a cordial enough manner. After the initial introductions, he gestured towards the piles of dirt and rocks as he asked dryly, "Making yourself comfortable?"

"Making ourselves ready for combat at sea, if necessary," the senior Dai Li, Agent Huong, told him while flicking a finger to make a fist-sized rock rise up from the pile, and spinning it on his fingertip. "There have been reports of rogue waterbenders coming down from the Northern Water Tribe and turning pirate; if we encounter bender-enhanced pirate crews on the voyage to the Fire Nation, we intend to be ready for them."

"Always a good idea to think ahead," Bunjiro agreed politely, though privately he wondered how ready they’d truly be for trouble at sea, all things considered.

Huong gave him first a searching look, then a resigned-sounding sigh. "Captain, if we’re going to be working together to protect the Fire Lord, we need to be honest with each other. Go ahead and say whatever it is you’re clearly holding back."

Blunt and to the point without being aggressive; Bunjiro appreciated that. He said aloud, "I’ve heard it said that earthbenders get weak and seasick when they’re on the water, and the stronger the earthbender, the more seasick they get. You’ll have a hard time throwing rocks at pirates when you’re too busy trying not to throw your latest meal over the side."

Huong frowned. "The saying about seasickness isn’t strictly true; earthbenders are more apt to get seasick than non-benders, but not all of us do. I’ll admit I haven’t gone to sea before, but I’ve been in boats on lakes without a problem." Another agent piped up that he’d traveled from the city of Gaoling to Ba Sing Se by water, and been fine the whole way.

Bunjiro politely refrained from pointing out that the other two agents, one scrawny-looking fellow with glasses and the other short and stocky, were already looking queasy when the ship was still tied to the docks. It wouldn’t be the first time in his career that he’d had seasick people aboard, and the ship’s cook and doctor were experienced in dealing with them too.

Huong continued, "As for feeling weak, that’s from being cut off from one’s element. Which is the other reason we’re bringing this along," as he gestured to the dirt again, "to put earthen beds right under our bunks. Don’t worry, we won’t track it all over your good clean floors."

"And I’ll hold you to that promise," Bunjiro said, letting a warning note creep into his voice. "As for the rest… I’ll put empty barrels at the bow and stern, and both port and starboard of the main hatch; will that do for handy storage of your rocks?"

"Er…where are those places, exactly?" Huong said, looking about uncertainly.

Bright Agni spare him from complete landlubbers. Bunjiro sighed again, and gave the earthbenders a child’s lesson in basic shipboard terms: "The bow is the front end of the ship. The stern is the back end. Port is the left side, and starboard is the right side. And that’s the main hatch," as he pointed to it. "So you’ll have your rocks at both ends and on both sides of the ship; is that satisfactory?"

Two of the agents had started bristling, as if he’d insulted them somehow, but Huong sent them a quelling glance and they subsided. "That will be satisfactory, Captain. And I trust that, should any minor conflicts arise between my squad and your crew, you and I will be able to work together and resolve them amicably."

Bunjiro nodded. "We should get along well, so long as we all keep our minds on our mutual primary mission; keeping the Dragoneye and his son safe from those who would end his line."

The Dai Li agent in glasses piped up curiously, "The Dragoneye? You mean, the Fire Lord?"

"Of course the Fire Lord. …You mean you don’t know the story behind his eye?" Bunjiro asked curiously, as he gestured towards the left side of his own face.

Huong cocked an eyebrow at him. "The story we heard is that he was burned by his father, Ozai the Monstrous, just before being banished from his homeland for three years."

"Aye, he was; Ozai maneuvered his own son into an Agni Kai when he was only thirteen, barely the legal age for it, and substituted himself for Zuko’s proper opponent at the last moment. Prince Zuko tried to show respect for his father by surrendering to him, but Ozai already hated his son’s pure heart, and hated more the fact that his generals knew his son cared more for his nation and people than he himself did. Ozai ignored the surrender and the rules of the Agni Kai to burn half the boy’s face off, including burning out his son’s left eye, before banishing him for what he claimed was cowardice.

"But immediately after the boy was banished, before he started hunting the Avatar, his uncle the Dragon of the West took Prince Zuko on a hunt for dragons. You see, it’s a dark and terrible truth that slaying a dragon and drinking its blood for a full day and night, increases a firebender’s inner fire nearly tenfold to make them unstoppable warriors, almost as powerful as dragons themselves. At Fire Lord Azulon’s bidding, General Iroh had done that same dark deed when he was a youthful prince, which is why he’s called the Dragon of the West. And the general figured his nephew would need a dragon’s strength and power, in order to face and capture the Avatar.

"The hunt was successful, and Prince Zuko found the last two dragons alive. But instead of slaying one to drink its blood, the young prince hailed the dragons as equals, and told them his story. The dragons struck a bargain with him; they would aid him in his search and more, if he would overthrow his father when the time was right and forbid the hunting of dragons forever, so that they could live among men and teach them the secrets of firebending again. Then, calling upon Agni to witness the bargain and aid them in an ancient and powerful magic, the dragons filled the young prince’s burned-out and empty eye socket with a dragon’s eye--part of the essence of the very dragon that his uncle had slain--before sending him on his way.

"The story goes that the young prince was almost impossible to live with for the next three years, as he adjusted to having not just part of his body but part of his soul replaced with a dragon’s essence. He even raged against and insulted the uncle he loved, but the general understood, and stoically endured the insults; he had witnessed the dragons’ terrible bargain from a distance, and knew that the anger was from the spirit of the dragon that he himself had slain unjustly. But eventually Prince Zuko mastered and made peace with the dragon part of his soul, and when he had, the dragons whispered to his spirit from afar. They told him where he could find the Avatar, who’d run away and hidden himself in ice for a hundred years rather than face the world at war.

"The prince flushed the child-Avatar out of hiding, chased the boy across the world to spur him into mastering the elements instead of playing all day, and when the boy had mastered all the elements except Fire, pretended to kill the Avatar so he could go home again and uncover the depths of his father’s madness. And when he discovered that Ozai planned to burn the entire Earth Kingdom, including our colonies full of citizens loyal to the Fire Lord, he knew the time had come to overthrow his father. He joined forces with the Avatar and taught him firebending, and together they brought down Ozai the Monstrous and the Mad Princess Azula as well.

"Then Fire Lord Zuko kept his bargain with the dragons; one of the very first laws he made after ascending the throne was to declare dragon-slaying a crime on the level of mass murder and treason. He outlawed the sale of all dragon bones, blood and scales as well, with severe punishment for anyone caught with them in his possession. Only after those laws were passed could the dragons freely return to our nation’s skies again."

The Dai Li agents listened to Bunjiro’s story of his sovereign lord in silence, though two of the four had rather skeptical expressions. When he finished, Huong said neutrally, "That is quite an impressive story. May I ask where you heard it from?"

"From my cousin Hayao, who heard it from a traveling musician named Reijin," Bunjiro admitted. "But the story really came from the dragons themselves! Surely even in the Earth Kingdom you’ve heard of the time our Fire Lord rode dragonback across the entire nation, a month after his ascension to the throne?" When they nodded, he continued, "While the red dragon Ran carried him on that tour of the nation to show everyone that he had the dragons’ support, the blue dragon Shao stayed in the capital to examine the crowd of onlookers, and impart the tale of the Dragoneye to those who had enough gift of spirit to hear their mind-speech. Reijin was there in the crowd, and received the tale straight from the dragon that way… and he saw what happened to two generals who had also received the tale, but refused to accept it or pass it on it to others!"

"What happened to them?" the agent with glasses asked.

"They were eaten by the dragon, that’s what! General Mung and General Bujing were both eaten alive, right in front of the palace and in front of hundreds of witnesses, for refusing to accept and tell others the truth. After word got out of just why they’d been eaten, you can be damn sure that everyone who heard the story immediately told someone else about it. I’d be surprised if the true story behind the Dragoneye hasn’t reached Whale Tail Island by now."

Bunjiro leaned back against the rail as he continued, "But even before hearing the dragons’ story, I’d already wondered if his majesty was… a little more than human. And I’m not just talking about the way his left eye looks—though the shape and the way the scar tissue looks more like reptilian skin closer in should have been a dead giveaway, really."

The wiry-looking agent nodded as he volunteered, "I’d wondered myself how, after a burn that bad, he even still had a working eye on that side. So he had lost it to the fire, but then it was replaced…"

"Aye. But as I said, it’s more than just his looks; no ordinary firebender could survive everything that our Fire Lord has been through! Going for weeks on a raft without food or water, and that was after surviving the Ocean Spirit’s wrath at the Siege of the Northern Water Tribe. Getting hit by lightning—lightning flung with the power of Sozin’s Comet behind it, no less! I know the royal family boasts the world’s most powerful benders, but being a powerful bender doesn’t account for everything he’s done and survived. And there’s that habit he has of using swords, when most firebenders don’t bother with learning weapons; not when we can always make our own," as he produced a small flame above his palm to demonstrate. "But after I heard the story behind his eye, even that made sense!"

"How so?" Huong asked curiously, as all the agents suddenly looked more interested; perhaps they’d already been curious about their new liege’s eccentricity.

Bunjiro gave a small smug smile, as he extinguished the flame in his palm and flexed his fingers into claws instead. "It’s the dragon part of him. Dragons have fire, but they also have talons, and those dual swords are as close as the dragon inside him can get to having razor-sharp talons again."

The wiry-looking agent nodded agreement while the others jerked a little at his words in startled realization; as if Bunjiro’s words had finally sunk in far enough to dislodge their skepticism. "That… that actually does make sense," Huong said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Some folks think he uses them to show his support for non-benders, like Sokka the Brave, but if that was the case then he wouldn’t do that trick of running fire down the blades, something no non-bender could ever do. There’s also no denying that he has some sort of bond with dragons, after they showed up on the Fire Nation palace steps. And we know better than most people, how bizarre things can become when the spirits get involved in mortals’ lives…"

The stocky-looking Dai Li agent asked hesitantly, "The Fire Lord really survived a lightning strike? I thought only the Avatar could do that!"

"Yes, he did, and there’s no doubting that happened when it was witnessed by one of our Fire Sages!" Bunjiro smiled as he finished, "But that’s a story for another time, perhaps after we’re underway. I’ll tell it at dinner tomorrow while you’re eating with my crew; a great true story is always a good way to stir the embers and start a conversation."

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

That evening Zuko finally, with tired satisfaction, finished off all the paperwork that had piled up in just the two days he’d been helping Uncle Iroh first serve tea and then brew tea at the Jasmine Dragon. He took the twenty-three most immediate and urgent messages to the hawkery for speedy delivery to the Fire Nation, and he put the rest in the lacquered case that would be packed aboard his yacht. He had absolutely no doubt that the pile of work in his office back home was fifteen times worse than it had ever been, because his majordomo only forwarded to him the administrative duties that absolutely could not wait for his return. He idly wondered if all the paperwork was actually waiting for him in his office, or if the volume had grown so great that now it was stacked in piles—no, in bales in the hall outside… Well, he’d deal with that upon his return.

Duties finished for the moment, Zuko went to dine with Kuei’s and Hakoda’s families, though not with his own. Roku was in his nursery being minded by one of Qingshan’s nurses while Ojia was out (after the nurse had sworn of her own volition in front of Zuko and the Dai Li agents that she would care for his child just as she would for the Earth Prince.) And his uncle had said earlier that he’d be dining with Lady Ping, Queen Song’s mother, instead.

Iroh had also added that his dinner with Ping would be a private farewell party, and that Zuko shouldn’t expect to see him any earlier than breakfast tomorrow. Zuko was sincerely glad that Song made no mention at all of her mother during dinner, because it would probably have started him blushing again.

The Kyoshi Warriors Suki and Ty Lee had been invited to dinner as well, and both had arrived at the last minute breathless, slightly disheveled and grinning from ear to ear. They entertained everyone at the table with anecdotes of what they’d been up to that day; they’d had a "Kyoshi Girls’ Day Out", as Ty Lee gleefully termed it, in which they’d done everything from getting pedicures in an Upper Ring ladies’ salon to getting into a bar fight in a Lower Ring tavern. "You really should have come along!" Ty Lee said to Katara with a grin. "That one earthbender who called us ‘exotic beauties’ was fun to flirt with—and even more fun to fight with!"

"I’m not really the flirting type," Katara said primly, though Zuko thought he caught a rather wistful expression before she hid it under the primness. "Besides, I was busy today; Aang and I spent hours down in the harbor waterbending with the barge that was made for Appa. We needed practice in maneuvering and braking it both with and without Appa resting on it, before it’s hooked up to my dad’s ship for the journey south."

"And then she had to help Appa recover from seasickness when we made some waves out in the middle of the harbor to simulate high seas," Aang added with a worried frown. "I never knew sky bison could get seasick! And when they throw up from both stomachs at once—well, it’s really bad! I’d better just plan on taking him into the air whenever the waves get too high."

After dinner, Katara and Sokka walked back to the nursery wing with Zuko, while Aang went to check on Appa again. Zuko heated some water for Katara so she could give Roku another water-healing checkup, then glanced out the door to the balcony and the darkening sky beyond while trying not to frown. Ojia had left to see her family nearly five hours ago. And he knew that with Toph earthbending for her, Ojia’s trip to the Middle Ring to see her family would take even less time than before, when one of the earthbending palace servants had provided transportation for her. Nearly five hours now, and Roku was hungry; where was his wet-nurse?

Then he chastised himself for not being more considerate of Ojia. She was about to leave her family behind for at least six weeks, until he found an utterly trustworthy wet-nurse for his son back home; her own children were probably clinging to her skirts even now, begging for just a few more moments with their mommy before she went away! And everyone had told him repeatedly that Roku would not starve to death in less than six hours, or even less than eight hours. If Ojia didn’t return for another hour, he would not yell at her; he would be sympathetic, no matter how much his innards were twisting in knots at Roku’s hungry cries right now. He would not yell at her, so long as she showed up within the hour…

With a grimace of sympathy at Roku’s cries, Katara used waterbending to flow some warm water along her pinky finger as she placed it to his lips. The baby immediately latched onto her finger and began suckling, and she dribbled the water into his mouth as she cooed, "It’s not what you’re really hungry for, I know, but at least it will be something filling your tummy until Ojia gets here. There, there, little one…"

The water settled Roku for a little while, while the sun sank below the horizon. After a few good-night cuddles and kisses, Zuko put his son in the crib that had been made for him. Katara leaned into the crib to give him a good-night kiss too, and began singing a lullaby to him, one that Zuko had never heard before:

"Little one, little one, nighttime is nearing.

Little one, little one, it’s time for sleep.

Little one, little one, stars are appearing,

Silver and gold in the silent and deep.

The roll of the river, the song of the sea,

The hush of the darkening sky,

The rustling snowflakes, the whispering wind,

They all make a soft lullaby

For my little one, little one…"

It was a lovely song, though definitely Water Tribe in origin, with all the water references. Zuko smiled fondly—but then lost the smile when he noticed Sokka out of the corner of his eye. The Water Tribe warrior’s eyes were screwed shut, as if he was in pain, and tears were threatening to escape from those tightly shut eyes… but he was also smiling? At least, Zuko thought it was a smile, even if a really pained one… What was going on inside his best friend’s head?

When Katara finished singing, she lingered over the crib for just a moment with a wistful smile before turning away. And when she saw her brother’s face, she gasped in concern, "Sokka?"

Sokka finally opened his eyes, the tears escaping in trickles down his cheeks, but his smile grew wider. "You really do look at lot like her. Like Mom, Sis. She… it’s been so many years since she died, I’d sort-of forgotten what she looked like, but when you started singing… She used to sing that song for us, but I hadn’t heard it since she died. And when you sang it just now, I finally remembered her singing it…"

Zuko felt a lump in his throat as he watched brother and sister embrace in shared grief and nostalgia for the mother they’d lost. And he inevitably started thinking about his own mother, and what she’d used to sing to him before he went to sleep at night. He could still hear her sweet voice, echoing in his memory… Poor Roku would never know his mother’s voice at all, but at least he would know her face from the palace portraits, and he would find out what she was like from Ty Lee’s scrolls and Zuko’s own stories about Mai. Roku would grow up knowing his mother had loved him; Zuko vowed that with all his heart.

Roku settled down to sleep, and soon afterwards Aang came in looking for Katara, wanting her to help him with something. She left with Aang, but Sokka stayed with him, and they quietly shared precious memories of their respective mothers while watching the baby sleep in his crib.

Ojia showed up not long afterwards, just before the six-hour mark, and just as Roku woke up and let them all know that he was both hungry and wet below. But although she immediately settled in to feed Roku and make him comfortable again, even Zuko could tell that the wet-nurse was far from comfortable right now; she was barely masking great agitation. He waited until the most immediate concerns were met, but as soon as Roku had been fed and changed, he asked bluntly, "What’s wrong? Has something happened with your family?"

At first Ojia tried to deny that anything was wrong, but when Sokka scowled and said in hard tones that it was a real bad idea to lie to the Fire Lord—which mildly bemused Zuko; he hadn’t realized that Sokka had finally learned how to be intimidating—the wet-nurse broke down and told them about her own son’s near-kidnapping.

Zuko was both appalled and horrified! Not just at the depths that someone was willing to sink to in order to get to him and his son, but at the length of their reach as well, to have agents in the heart of the Earth Kingdom to do their bidding! But Sokka, who had snuffed out the ‘intimidating’ as quickly as a candle flame, was somehow able to calm both him and Ojia down by reassuring them that with Toph and her Dai Li agents on the case, Ojia’s family would be as safe as the Earth King’s own family.

"Because I’ve known Toph for years, and let me tell you, she doesn’t exaggerate one bit when she says she’s the Greatest Earthbender in the World. If someone ever made a scale for Awesomeness, they’d have to put her right at the top, or she’d just break the scale without even knowing it was there!" Sokka insisted, gesturing for emphasis. "She’s so tough that not only do onions not make her cry, she makes onions cry! Let me tell you about this one battle we were in, back during the war…"

One anecdote about Team Avatar’s adventures led to another, and almost before Zuko had realized it night had fallen over the palace, and he was yawning fit to break his jawbones. And Ojia was her usual calm, sweet and motherly self again; after putting Roku to bed, she very timidly suggested that perhaps it was time his majesty retired as well. His majesty gravely assured her that he would take the matter under advisement, ruined his attempt at dignity with another jawbreaker yawn, and then left for his suite in the guest wing.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

After saying goodnight to Aang, Katara found her feet heading towards the nursery wing instead of her own guest suite. Well, why not look in on him first? Roku was really a darling baby for his age; so long as his basic needs of food, warmth and a dry bottom were met, he hardly cried at all (except for that one first night away from his father, and they’d all been expecting that.) His sweetness made baby-minding a genuine pleasure instead of a chore, and since he’d be leaving with his daddy tomorrow, she might as well indulge herself while she still could.

She reached the nursery just as Sokka was leaving it, saying goodnight to Ojia inside, looking affable as could be… but as soon as he shut the door, he went from ‘affable’ to downright grim. "Have you seen Iroh tonight?" he asked her, and before she could get past her surprise at the abrupt change to give him an answer, he muttered, "That’s right, he’s gone off to a last night with his ladyfriend. Slush. Gotta find a… the garden! He said one of the gardeners, the one--"

"Sokka!" she hissed sharply, grabbing his arm to keep him from striding away from her. "What’s happened, that you need a gardener in the middle of the night?"

He stopped, sighed and turned back to her. "Not specifically a gardener, but I do need to find a White Lotus agent. We’ve got trouble for Roku already…"

Katara listened in growing horror as Sokka told her everything Ojia had told him and Zuko about her son nearly being kidnapped right off the street, mostly likely to use as a hostage to make Ojia cooperate with the kidnappers’ demands. "Toph told Ojia that the New Dai Li and the City Guard of Ba Sing Se are going to do everything they can to make sure her family stays safe," Sokka finished. "But the problem with both organizations is that they’re too well known."

She eyed him curiously as she asked, "How is that a problem, exactly?"

"The problem is that all they can do is react to any threat to Ojia’s family by stopping it; they’re playing defense, not offense, and that never works well in the long run. To go on the offensive against the people threatening Zuko’s family, they need information; who hired the thugs that were caught today, and what else they’re planning. But any unsavory characters who see them coming are just going to walk away fast in a different direction, instead of giving them information; you see?"

Katara nodded soberly. "You’re right, that is a problem "

"Yeah. But even after ‘Camp Old People’ freed Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation’s control on the day of the Comet, other than the Grandmasters, most White Lotus agents are still unknown except to each other," Sokka pointed out. "They could walk into just about any bar, opium den or gambling joint in the Earth Kingdom, and see and overhear a lot more than Toph’s people can. Iroh told me in a letter that he’d recruited one of the palace gardeners into the Order a few months ago; once we get hold of him, he can start getting the word out to every other White Lotus agent working in Ba Sing Se, and they can start hunting for the information we need!"

Katara nodded agreement with his idea, but said, "You’ll have to wait till morning to find him; I’ve never heard of a gardener working in the dark, and it would probably look suspicious if you went around in the middle of the night asking where some palace gardener lived."

"Yeah," Sokka agreed unhappily. Then he followed her back inside the nursery, with his affable smile back on his face, acting like he’d gone out just to find Katara and have her sympathize with poor Ojia.

And sympathize Katara did, remembering how horrible it had been for Aang when Appa had been held hostage for his good behavior in Ba Sing Se; how outraged and helpless he’d felt for so long. Given it was her son in danger, this situation had to be just as hard for Ojia, even if the Dai Li had stopped the kidnapping in time.

Ojia just accepted Katara’s sympathy with a tremulous smile, and said she was still worried about her son but she did feel better knowing that Master Toph and her agents were keeping them safe. Katara said she was being both brave and sensible, before going over to the crib to go peek in on Roku. The baby was sleeping peaceably, cuddled under a blanket next to his cloth toy panda, and looking as cute as could be.

The moon rose higher into the sky beyond the balcony, as Katara gave Sokka a conspiring glance before she walked over to the toy chest that King Kuei had given for holding Roku’s presents, and after a bit of rummaging, pulled out the toy tiger-seal that she’d put so much work into. Sokka smirked as Katara brought it over to the crib and oh-so-casually dropped it inside, within easy reach of the baby’s fingers whenever he woke up.

Then she very gently and carefully stroked a finger down the sleeping baby’s back, marveling anew at the little life before her. There was just something so fascinating about babies, so fragile and yet so determined to live, to grow and explore their world… She wondered idly how much his personality would resemble his father’s when he grew up; if he’d be just as dedicated, compassionate, determined, serious, loyal and—she smirked briefly—socially awkward, especially at telling jokes. She also wondered if he’d be a firebender like Zuko; was Roku’s body temperature already hotter than most babies, just as Zuko’s temperature always ran hotter than average, or was that just her imagination?

"N-no. I can’t do this," someone whispered behind her. Drawn from her idle musings, Katara turned in surprise to see Ojia rising up from the chair by the balcony that she’d been sitting in. The moon shone brightly behind her, casting her features into shadow, but Katara could still see the rising panic and fear in her face as she repeated, "I can’t do this! I can’t leave my own children in danger! I can’t!"

Sokka did his very best to adopt their dad’s sympathetic yet stern tone and stance, the one he used to chide warriors into doing their duty even when their hearts weren’t in it. "Ojia, we talked about this. Your children will be safe, now that Toph and her Dai Li--"

It was actually a pretty good imitation of Dad, but it wasn’t good enough this time. Ojia’s eyes were wild as she clutched at his tunic, hissing, "That’s not—you don’t understand! They’re my children! Everything I’ve ever done is for their sake, to give them a better life! But even getting the best education, eating like kings and wearing fine silks every day is worth nothing if their lives are in danger!"

Then she burst into tears, and turned from Sokka to grab Katara in desperation. "You understand, don’t you? Please, I know he listens to you; please keep them safe! I know I’ll be killed for this, but please make the Fire Lord spare my family! I’ll suffer his wrath, I know I deserve it, but my children are innocent! I beg you, spare them!"

Utterly appalled by the turn of events, Katara nonetheless assured her, "I swear, Ojia, no one’s going to hurt you or your family! I promise! I’ve known Zuko for years, and he would never--" but she was talking to the wet-nurse’s back, as Ojia yanked open the nursery door. She fled the room and the nursery wing in tears, even as both Katara and Sokka ran after her, calling quietly but desperately for her to come back.

Katara grabbed Sokka’s arm when he would have chased the wet-nurse down the hall, and sadly shook her head. "We can’t make her stay, Sokka. It would be turning her into a prisoner when she’s done nothing wrong, and when her own children are in danger…"

Sokka stopped when she’d grabbed him, and lowered his head in defeat. "I know, but…" His fists clenched in frustration as he continued, "Dammit, I thought I’d managed to get her past the worst of her worries; she seemed fine before you came in!"

Katara gave him a swift glare. "If you’re trying to imply that this is my fault--"

"No, no, I didn’t mean it like that!" Sokka protested as they turned back to the nursery.

Across the hallway, the door to little Qingshan’s nursery was open with the daytime attendant and the night nurse standing in the doorway, quietly talking to each other as one shift ended and another began. They exchanged glances and had their own quick conversation while the Water Tribe siblings talked; then the two servants nodded to each other, and the daytime attendant stepped back inside to stay with Qingshan, while the night nurse followed them into Roku’s nursery.

The nurse immediately prostrated herself and promised both Katara and Sokka that she would tend the Fire Prince for them that night, just as faithfully as she would tend the Earth Prince, because she knew from what had been said in the royal court the other day that was what the Earth King would want from her. "Thanks; we really appreciate it," Sokka said fervently, and Katara echoed his words.

"However, most regrettably, I can only provide care, not sustenance for the child; I was hired after Prince Qingshan began eating solid foods. I can call my esteemed colleague across the hallway to come in and feed him if he awakens in hunger, but she will not be able to go with him tomorrow to the Fire Nation," the night nurse said very apologetically.

"Understood… but you’ve bought a few hours to deal with this, and come up with a solution," Sokka said distractedly, while tugging at his wolftail. "C’mon, think, brain, think…"

"Shall we… inform the Fire Lord of the situation?" the night nurse asked timidly.

Brother and sister exchanged a look, then said together, "Not yet."

"Waking him up right now wouldn’t help at all, and probably make things worse. He’s had enough trouble already; let’s not add to that until morning at least. And hopefully by then we’ll have a solution for this problem, that we can give him at the same time," Katara said firmly.

"Right," Sokka said, nodding as his face brightened. "And I’ve got an idea already! Be back in a little while," as he turned and strode quickly out the door of the nursery.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Two hours later, cursing under his breath, Sokka pulled on the lead to the nanny goat-ox’s halter; the cursed critter was balking at just stepping through a stable doorway. "C’mon, you stupid beast! And if you head-butt me again I’ll… I’ll yell right in your big droopy ear!"

He’d love to do more damage than that, but he didn’t dare. Not after all the trouble he’d already gone through to get her! He’d ridden Appa from the palace down to the farmlands in the Outer Ring in the middle of the night, pounded on the door to a random farmer’s house until he woke somebody up, offered three times the standard price for a milking goat-ox if they sold one to him right then and there, then wrestled the stupid beast up onto Appa with the farmer’s help, tied her down and flown her back to the palace.

This goat-ox butted, she bit, and she’d pissed and pooped all over Appa’s saddle (and he just knew he’d be the one to clean that mess up, as it had been all his idea), but she was needed. If she could provide baby Roku with fresh milk and keep the baby healthy until they could find a wet-nurse in the Fire Nation, then he’d just deal with whatever else she did, with a smile. A pained smile, mentally tallying up all the favors Zuko would owe him after this, but he would smile.

The palace guard who’d volunteered himself to help Sokka with the goat-ox, after seeing them land in the main courtyard with the stupid beast panicked and bleating to high heaven, chuckled. "Just step back, sir. I’ve seen how they deal with balky goat-oxen in the marketplace," as he picked a pebble up from the gravel.

Sokka stepped back, but not quite fast enough, as the guard flicked the pebble at the goat-ox’s backside. With an indignant bleat, the animal jumped away from the stinging pain and into the stables, head-butting Sokka again in the process. "Ooph!"

Once they were inside the stables, it was another struggle to get the goat-ox penned up in a stall that normally belonged to an ostrich-horse, but one of the stable hands coaxed it inside with a handful of fresh grain. "Thanks, guys," Sokka said as he stepped back, grimacing while brushing at his tunic—eww, forget washing, this would just get burned.

"Happy to help, sir," the guard assured him. "Er… would this be for the infant prince?"

"Yep; the wet-nurse got so scared that she quit all of a sudden, so we need another source of fresh milk for the baby, for the trip back to the Fire Nation."

The guard nodded his approval of the idea, but the stablehand looked doubtful. "Going to the Fire Nation… that’ll be by boat, right?"

"The Fire Lord’s own yacht," Sokka confirmed. "Why?"

"Well, goat-oxen don’t travel well by boat," the stablehand explained. "They’re the best source of milk you’re going to find around here, but goat-oxen always get… well, seasick, even on the river barges. And when they get seasick and go off their feed, they don’t produce as much milk, either. You’ll probably need at least one more goat-oxen for the trip."

Sokka groaned aloud, then decided that one was enough for tonight; they’d buy one or two more goat-oxen at the marketplace tomorrow, on their way down to the .harbor.

He stopped by his room to change out of his soiled clothes, then headed for the nursery. "Katara? Katara, are you there? I got us a source of fresh milk," Sokka called out softly as he entered.

Katara wasn’t in the room, but the night nurse sitting in the rocking chair by the cradle whispered that she’d gone out to the balcony a while ago. Nodding his thanks to her, with a quick peek in on Roku (yup, still sleeping, still adorable), Sokka went out to the balcony.

Katara was out there, with moonlight shining down on her, and her ever-present waterskin resting on the balcony railing. Sokka lifted his eyes to the moon, remembering the Moon Spirit—sweet Yue, who’d watched over them all for so long; even if he and Suki married someday, he’d always love her too—then went over to his sister. She was facing away from the doors, hugging herself as if she was cold, which was odd; it was a nice spring night for Ba Sing Se, and positively warm for someone who’d been raised in the Southern Water Tribe. Maybe she was hugging herself for reassurance, from being all worried about Roku.

"Katara? Sis, it’ll be okay; the baby will do fine," as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "I got us a source of fresh milk for the journey; there’s a nanny goat-ox in the stables now, just waiting to be milked for Roku’s breakfast."

Katara looked over her shoulder at him, and smiled; a wry smile, but there was another emotion in it that Sokka couldn’t name at the moment. "Thanks, Sokka… but you’re a little late."

"What? Don’t tell me you found a goat-ox in the palace while I was gone! I asked before I left, and they said there probably weren’t any in the entire Upper Ring!"

"No, not a goat-ox. All animals do best on the milk of their own species; he’d stay alive on goat-ox milk, but he wouldn’t thrive on it. And Mai asked me to take care of him… so I will. Sokka, promise me you won’t freak out, okay?"

"Who, me? I’m Mister Calm, Mister Un-freak-able," Sokka said reassuringly as she turned around—

And he promptly freaked out. "Gaagck! What happ—Katara, what’ve you done?"

"What does it look like I did?" she asked tartly, as she headed for the door leading back into the nursery. "And I asked you to not freak out… so if you did anyway, Dad’s probably going to burst a blood vessel. Just great," she groused as she went back inside.

Roku had just woken up, either by hunger or by the sounds of Sokka’s freak-out, and was starting to cry. Katara gestured wordlessly for the night nurse to let her have the rocking chair by the cradle. The nurse did so, with a wide-eyed gasp at her new appearance—which comforted Sokka a little, as it proved that this was too worth freaking out over—and she sat down in the chair. "Sokka, go to bed or find something else to do for a while, okay? This’ll be easier without an audience, if you get my drift," Katara said as she took Roku into her arms.

Sokka didn’t need further urging; he was at the door and out into the hallway, so fast his shadow had to catch up to him. There are some things a guy just shouldn’t see his baby sister do. Lots of things, really, but this probably topped the list!

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Zuko woke up gasping, reaching out… then, when he came fully awake, he rolled over and sobbed into his pillow. Just a dream, another damn dream… Every time he dreamed of Mai’s face, her touch, her smile, he was reminded again of all that he’d lost.

Scrubbing the tears from his face, he got out of bed and put on a robe. After dreams like that, he needed his son. Needed to hold him, to feel his warmth and tiny heartbeat against his skin; to be reassured that some small part of Mai lived on, and he hadn’t lost everything good in his life again.

He walked down to the nursery wing, nodding to the guards posted at the double doors to the wing before going through them. But once inside the wing, he paused. Why was Sokka just sitting on the floor in the hallway, in front of the door to Roku’s nursery? And with that weird look on his face…

Sokka stopped mumbling to himself—something about his sister, it sounded like—as Zuko came closer, and tried to smile at him. A weird, anxious smile that instantly raised his hackles, something wasn’t right. "Uh, hey, Zuko; what’re you doing up? Sunrise isn’t for hours yet… You know, the whole ‘rise with the sun’ thing?"

"Couldn’t sleep," he said tersely. "Would you mind moving? You’re blocking the door."

"Oh, you, uh, want to see the baby? Um, now’s not really a good time for that…"

Something was definitely not right. "What’s wrong?!" he demanded, stepping closer.

"Nothing! Well, nothing’s wrong exactly, but…there’s been a change in plans, okay?"

"What change? In our departure time? But the tide will… is Roku sick?" he guessed with alarm as he started to push forward past Sokka, anxious to get to his son

"No, no, Roku’s healthy, he’s just fine!" Sokka said as he scrambled to his feet, again blocking Zuko from entering. "But listen for a moment before you go in, all right? Just listen… Okay, Ojia quit a few hours ago; she was just too freaked out by the thought of her family being in danger and needing bodyguards because of her taking care of Roku. Don’t be too mad at her, okay? She really thought she could do it, but right after bedtime she just broke down; burst into tears and ran out the door."

"She quit?!" Zuko echoed in dismay; dismay that was threatening to turn into panic, though he tried to fight it down. "But… how will we feed Roku?! He’s just three weeks old; he can’t be weaned yet!"

"Don’t panic; we have a solution. Actually, we came up with two different solutions, and mine would have worked but Katara chose the one she came up with, and well, I guess we’re going with that one now that she’s… oh boy," as Sokka tugged at his own wolftail in distress.

Zuko said firmly, "Sokka. Stop babbling and start making sense."

Sokka sighed. "Just… just go in and see for yourself. But I’m not going in there, and if you’re smart you’ll tell Dad and Aang that you didn’t see anything," as he stepped away from the door.

Zuko stared at him in utter bafflement, then shook his head and went into the nursery.

Katara was sitting in the rocking chair by the cradle, a blanket thrown over her front as if she was bundling up against the cold, and giving him an annoyed look. Uh-oh; what if his and Sokka’s raised voices had woken the baby? But Roku wasn’t crying yet…

"Sshh, little one," he murmured as she leaned over the crib. Then paused, and reached out to stir the empty bedclothes. "Where is he?!" as he stared at Katara.

"He’s right here, and he’s fine," she told him with that same annoyed look. And then he heard, from under the blanket… those soft noises, he’d heard them before, he…

Katara heaved a great sigh. "Oh, hells. You’re going to see this sooner or later; might as well get it over with now," as she tossed back the blanket.

And there was his infant son, little Roku… suckling at Katara’s breast.

Her… definitely larger breasts… wow…

"Yes, they’re bigger now," she snapped at him irritably. "That happens to most women, when they’re nursing."

Blushing red-hot as he realized he’d been staring, Zuko quickly looked away. His gaze now fixed on the far wall, he eventually managed to say, "You, uh, you, ah, you used your, um, water-healing to… to do that?"

"Yes."

His voice was really too high-pitched, too stutter-y and had far too many stupid pauses in it to be coming from him; what idiot had taken over his mouth and throat? The idiot stumbled on, "I, um, I’ve never, uh, never heard of, ah, of that being done before."

"Actually… neither have I." Katara’s voice softened. "I was standing out in the moonlight, waiting to see what Sokka’s bright idea for feeding Roku would be, when… it just came to me. And I knew I could do it." She half-chuckled. "Yugoda told me before I left the North Pole last month, that a healer’s life was full of surprises."

"In the moonlight… you think Yue had something to do with this?" as he risked a quick glance at Katara’s face, since she didn’t sound annoyed with him anymore. Memory came flooding back, of how he and his uncle had survived their escape from the North Pole.

They’d been stuck on a raft with no provisions, drifting with the currents, for nearly three weeks; by all rights, they should have died of thirst, starvation or exposure long before reaching shore. But they hadn’t died; thirst had been quenched by regular rainfalls, showers that swept over them just long enough to fill their boots (the only containers they had) before moving on. Hunger had gnawed at their bellies, but no less than five times in that three weeks, schools of fish had passed directly under their raft, close enough to the surface for Zuko to plunge his hand in and grab one. Once even a swarm of flying fish had passed their raft, and they’d managed to snag a few fish right out of the air.

The breath of fire technique that Uncle had invented kept them warm, but no firebending technique could be performed when exhausted. They’d had to do it in shifts, huddling together and taking turns firebending to keep each other warm and alive. But by the time they’d both become too exhausted to continue, they’d reached warmer waters and were within sight of land. Uncle had always said that Yue, the newly ascended/revived Moon Spirit, had been looking out for them; honoring his attempt to defend her from Zhao, and his part in her ascension/restoration. Zuko hadn’t believed it then—since when had the spirits ever done him any favors?—but in the years since then, sometimes he’d wondered…

"Maybe," Katara shrugged. "I can’t say for sure; it’s not like she came down and tapped me on the shoulder, and said, ‘Hey, here’s a way for you to really do what Mai asked of you!’"

His heart squeezed painfully at mention of Mai’s name, as it probably always would, but he focused past that as he asked, "What Mai asked of you?"

"Yes. I guess I didn’t tell you before; when she… Mai’s last words to me were, ‘Take care of him.’ I thought at the time she meant just making sure he survived, but that night at the Earth King’s party, I’d been telling Mai how much I love children. I think now that she was asking me to truly take care of Roku for her, and now I can honor her last wish."

Zuko turned then to look at her, very carefully not looking any lower than her chin, even if it meant he had to tilt his own chin up a little to be on the safe side. "Thank you. Really, thank you. I… I can’t tell you how much this means to me…"

She smiled at him. "It’s okay. And you’re welcome. Besides, I’m doing it mainly for this little star here," as she smiled down at the infant on her breast, and Zuko tried very hard to not follow her gaze down to wow those were big and beautiful… "How could anyone not love you, hmm? How could anyone not want to do everything they could to help you…"

After a moment of silence in which Zuko very determinedly pulled his gaze back upwards, she looked back at him with worry in her eyes. "Please, don’t punish Ojia in any way and tell the Earth Kingdom officials to do the same, okay? She was fond of Roku too, but she just couldn’t stand the thought of her children being in danger because of yours. She was crying when she left, almost hysterical, and I promised her no one would punish her…"

Zuko sighed, "That’s probably my fault. You were asleep when she was first brought to me, so you didn’t hear what I said then. Right after I told her she’d be well paid for her time, I told her that if she ever hurt Roku or betrayed me, I’d incinerate her. And her family."

"Zuko!" Katara frowned at him.

"I know, I know! But Mai had just been murdered, and I wasn’t thinking straight! I wouldn’t have actually done anything to her family, but she must have felt like she was in a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation. If someone got past Toph’s people and held any of her family hostage, to force her to betray me… I should have told her later that I hadn’t really meant it about her family, but…" He shook his head. "Too late now. I’ll talk to Kuei and Song, and let them know there are to be no repercussions for her for quitting without notice. And I’ll send her a parting gift of some sort, to show there are no hard feelings."

 

"Thanks. I knew you’d understand," as she smiled at him again.

Just then little Roku let go of the nipple he’d been latched on to, and gave a tiny yawn. Katara started to stand up with him, but Zuko hurriedly said, "Here, let me do it." He took his son in his arms (and if his hand brushed against Katara’s breast in the process, it had been entirely by accident), cradling him close. "Hey, little one… most precious gift from Agni… Ready to go back to sleep?"

Just then there was an unmistakable wet sound from Roku’s nether regions, followed shortly by an unmistakable smell. Zuko wrinkled his nose. "Ready for a diaper change first?"

Katara laughed softly as she started refastening her tunic. "All yours, new daddy…"

The night nurse had been hovering silently in the background while they’d been talking, but now she stepped forward, her arms out for the child. But Zuko waved her away; he could do it himself, and just then, he actually wanted to. Not that he still had anything to prove to Katara, really! He just… who cared why he wanted to do it this time?

Zuko took his son over to the changing table, then reached a hand out towards a candelabra nearby. With a flexing of chi, four fire-darts leaped out of his fingers to light the wicks of the four candles, giving him more light to see by than the nursery’s lone hour-marking candle had provided. He didn’t want to miss a spot while cleaning his son’s bottom; Katara had already given him dire warnings about diaper rash.

Once Roku was changed, another flicker of chi extinguished the extra candles, and he carried his son back to the cradle, already nodding off in his arms. "Leaves from the vine, falling so slow. Like fragile, tiny shells, drifting in the foam," he crooned, the only lullaby he knew by heart, as he set Roku carefully back into bed.

"If I may say so, Fire Lord… you’re a fine example of fatherhood," the night nurse said to him with a smile.

Startled, he looked at her. "Really?"

Katara smiled at him as she nodded in confirmation. "Really." Then her face split in a yawn. "Sorry," as she tried too late to cover it with a hand. "It’s been a really long day."

Zuko found himself yawning too. "Yeah; I think I can go back to sleep now."

They headed for the door together, after Katara told the night nurse to send someone to wake her up when Roku was hungry again. Just before opening it, Zuko paused and told her wryly, "By the way, if your father or Aang should ask, I didn’t see anything."

"That’s right, you didn’t," Katara agreed with a firm nod.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Iroh returned to the palace an hour after dawn, and after a bittersweet parting from Lady Ping. She was such a wonderful woman, with her fair face, her fine figure, her kind but fierce and forthright personality, and her stamina last night…

He thought to himself with a touch of melancholy that it was just as well that Lady Ping had never accepted his proposals; he’d seen over the past summer how that fine lady just withered in the heat like a moon lily, and known that she wouldn’t do well at all if she lived in the Fire Nation. But he knew they would always write to each other, about their lives apart and how their children and grandchildren were doing, and perhaps a few diplomatic visits could be arranged in the years to come.

He returned to the guest wing to find the parlor occupied by Hakoda, Aang, Suki and Ty Lee, all of them drinking tea while waiting for Katara and Sokka to emerge from their suites and Toph to arrive as well, so they could go together to breakfast with the Earth King and Queen. "According to the guard at his door, Zuko is down in the nursery already," Aang said to Iroh while considerately pouring some tea for him.

"Naturally," Iroh said with a smile; Zuko still spent most of his waking hours with his son. Iroh certainly didn’t begrudge him that, as they all knew the Fire Lord’s family time would be severely curtailed as soon as he returned to the Fire Nation and all his duties there. "I’ll go in a few minutes and see if we can pull him away long enough for one last meal with everyone."

But while he was still drinking his tea, Sokka appeared in the doorway, blearily rubbing his face and with his famed wolf’s-tail hairstyle in disarray. A palace servant followed him, quietly trying to ply him with a facial towel and hairbrush, but he was oblivious to the servant’s efforts as he stumbled into the parlor and flopped into a seat. "What happened, son?" Hakoda asked in alarm. "You look as though you’ve hardly slept a wink!"

"I had a few hours sleep, but yeah, I could use a few more," Sokka admitted. "But I told someone to wake me up now instead of letting me sleep through breakfast, so I could tell everyone the news. Last night was really busy; we had a crisis in the nursery just after bedtime."

"A crisis of what sort?" Iroh asked very calmly. He was sure his words had been said in a very calm tone of voice, even though he found himself on his feet and at the doorway already.

"No, it’s okay, come sit down again," Sokka said with a beckoning wave to him, while letting the servant brush and deftly retie the wolf’s-tail in his hair. Once Iroh had reseated himself, Sokka began, "Okay, I’ve got bad news and good news for everyone, but it’s really all the same news, just depends on your perspective…"

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

By the time Katara came to breakfast the next morning, she’d already fed little Roku twice more, and she was still yawning from lack of sleep. It was going to take a while to get used to her sleep being frequently interrupted like that, but even sleep-deprived, she was still a little…what was the word Toph had used once? Buzzed, that was it, when feelings of excitement and wonder lingered and made it hard to sleep or focus on mundane matters.

Katara had used her healing waterbending to do something that, as far as she knew, had never been done before; if it had, Yugoda had never covered it in her lessons. The water-warming technique, then use of bloodbending to create contractions in labor, and now this; that made three new waterbending techniques she’d created in less than a year! And on top of the combative waterbending technique she’d come up with on her own nearly three years ago, even before meeting Master Pakku; shearing razor-thin ice disks off the top of a column in front of her to make rapid-fire projectiles. Four new techniques pioneered and proven effective; now nobody in any tribe would dare claim that women couldn’t be waterbending masters! She would need to write up exactly what she’d done very soon, while all the details were fresh in her mind, and send the scroll to Yugoda for educating students in the future.

And more than being excited over having created a new healing technique, she was still in awe of how it had felt, to nurse little Roku. Feeling him drawing nourishment from her, she… she had no idea how to describe it. It had been a little painful at first, but when the pain had passed, she’d felt… There just weren’t any words in the language, to describe how she felt then.

She found everyone waiting for her at the breakfast table; all her friends and family, as well as the Earth King and Queen. And from the looks she was getting, everyone knew what she’d done—not that it wasn’t kind-of obvious, to everyone who could see how much tighter her tunic fit now. Painfully tight, actually; she’d have to get new clothes, really soon.

Toph cocked her head and ‘looked’ in Katara’s direction as she approached, saying with some concern in her voice, "You’re walking like you’re still pretty tired, Sweetness. Are you sure you should be up? We could get you breakfast in bed…"

"I’m fine, but thanks for the concern," Katara said, as Ty Lee jumped up from the table and rushed over to give her a hug. "Umph… careful; they’re a little tender!"

"Oh, sorry!" Ty Lee said as she hurriedly backed off. "I wasn’t thinking; I guess I’m just still amazed. Sokka told us, but… well, it’s incredible! And so wonderful of you, to do this for the baby," as she gave a more careful hug from the side.

"Katara’s a wonderful person," Zuko said with a smile. The first real, genuinely happy smile they’d seen on his face since… well, that they’d seen in weeks.

"One of the finest in any nation," Iroh said with a broad grin, as he raised his cup of tea to her.

"That she is," Hakoda said. And thank Tui and La, her father was smiling at her, instead of frowning. It was a worried sort of smile, but a smile all the same.

"You’re not angry with me, then?" Katara asked her father as she came closer to the table. Sokka jumped up and slid out a chair for her, and she sat down in it, rather enjoying the extra-considerate treatment. "At the very least, this means I won’t be going home with you tomorrow; I’ll be leaving today for the Fire Nation, instead."

"When Sokka told us, I was surprised at first, and upset… but I was never angry with you," Hakoda assured her. "And my surprise didn’t last for long. You’re a lot like your mother, ready to help anyone who needs you; she’d have done the same thing if she could have. Now, eat," as he pointed at the heavily laden table. "Nursing mothers--ah, nursing women need to eat more, to keep up their strength and feed the baby too."

"Yes, Dad," Katara said with a smile. Zuko was already passing towards her a bowl of peeled orangicots, one of her favorite fruit. And from the other side of the table, Iroh was passing her another treat, a dish of rice balls sweetened with red bean paste.

"So, what’s it like?" Toph asked brightly, as Katara started serving herself from the bounty. "Nursing a baby, I mean."

"Oh, no-no-nooo!" Sokka almost shouted, waving his arms frantically. "Not a suitable conversation for the breakfast table!"

"Why not?" as Toph grinned teasingly, and Song laughed out loud. "It’s about Roku’s breakfast, isn’t it?"

Aang groaned aloud, the first sound he’d made since Katara had walked into the room. He’d been so quiet, just staring at her… mostly at her increased bustline, but she supposed that was to be expected, and boyfriends were allowed to do that sort of thing. "I’m with Sokka on this one. Can we talk about something else?"

"Well, on a related subject…" Kuei pushed his glasses further up on his nose and smiled at her reassuringly. "Zuko told me you were concerned about what would happen to the wet-nurse, Ojia. Rest assured that, given the extenuating circumstances, she won’t be punished for leaving her duty without notice. Instead, we agreed that she’ll be given two gold pieces for every day she was here to feed him."

Which came to a healthy sum indeed, enough to clothe and feed Ojia’s own children for a long time… and likely also a niggling reminder of how much more she could have earned for her family, if she’d toughed it out and gone with Zuko to the Fire Nation. Katara smiled as she decided that was both reward and punishment enough.

"I didn’t say anything before, because I knew it would have to be by your own choice, but I’m really relieved that you’re joining us in going to the Fire Nation," Suki told Katara while passing her a platter of steamed buns. "Ojia was a kindly woman, but she wasn’t any sort of warrior; she wouldn’t have been able to serve as a last line of defense against assassins. And your water-healing is another huge asset, considering how fragile Roku’s health is right now."

"Hear, hear!" Sokka agreed readily, while snatching a steamed bun off the passing platter. "Suki and I can defend him against nasty people, but without you along, we’d be screwed if he caught a nasty cold."

Iroh agreed just as readily, but then urged them to speak of more pleasant things, so they passed the rest of breakfast speaking of innocuous topics such as the sort of weather they could expect on the way back to the Fire Nation. After breakfast, Iroh and Zuko went off to the nursery, to be sure all the baby clothes, toys and other supplies Queen Song and others had given them were packed before leaving for the ship that afternoon. Katara was about to follow after them when Aang stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Can we talk outside?"

They went out to a balcony, looking out over the rings of Ba Sing Se. Katara sighed as she turned to Aang. "You’re not happy about this, are you? I’m sorry, I know this wrecks the plans we made for traveling together after seeing the South Pole again, but… this is what I need to do. Roku needs a wet-nurse, and in Mai’s last words to me—her last words to anyone, her dying wish—she asked me to take care of him. Now I can do that for her."

"I… I guess I understand," Aang said slowly. "I just wished you’d talked to me about it, first… Katara, how long were you planning to do this? Until you get to the Fire Nation, and Zuko can find a new wet-nurse there? Or until Roku’s weaned?"

Katara admitted, "Honestly, I wasn’t thinking that far ahead when I did it. It was just… in the moonlight, this felt so right…"

"And now, in the daylight?"

"…It still feels right. As for how long… Mai asked me to take care of him, Aang. So I’ll do it for as long as it takes."

"Until he’s weaned, then," Aang said glumly. "Because I know you, Katara; now that you’ve started doing this you’re not going to just hand him over to someone else to nurse, are you?"

After a pause, Katara smiled wryly and shook her head. "You’re right, I wouldn’t. Even just thinking about it just now, felt wrong." She looked around them both. "Can you see anything, um, spirit-y floating around us right now?"

Aang looked around, then shook his head. "Not right now, no. Why; did you feel something touching your spirit?"

"Maybe," she said hesitantly. Because when she’d thought about just handing Roku over to a stranger waiting in the Fire Nation to nurse him… it felt like something had jabbed at her heart with a sharp No! But she knew well, from more than just her lessons with Yugoda on mental health, that sometimes people blamed the spirits for making them think or feel things that were really all their own thoughts and feelings.

Aang looked around once more, then shook his head and turned away from her to lean on the railing, scowling. "So you’re going to be stuck in the Fire Nation for at least a year, until he’s fully weaned! That’s another whole year we’ll be apart, after you just finished your Master Healer training at the North Pole! It’s not fair!"

"Aang," Katara said warningly, "You’d better not be feeling jealous of a newborn baby… And besides, who said we’d be kept apart? You told me yourself, you’re at Zuko’s palace often enough that you have your own set of rooms there, all decorated in the Air Nomad style. There’s no reason at all why you can’t stay there even more often, now that the last treaty is signed. The Fire Nation colonies should finally settle down and stop rioting, once everyone knows exactly when and how the Earth Kingdom is taking the land back, and just how fairly they’ll be treated by both governments. You won’t need to keep flying everywhere on Appa to settle disputes and keep the peace, or at least not nearly as much as you have."

"Yeah, but… I was really looking forward to taking you with me all over the world again! There’s so much more to do and see, than we were able to do when I was training to master the elements and we were all working to stop the war. So many places that I haven’t looked yet, for airbenders in hiding. And so much fun that I was looking forward to sharing with you…"

"You can still look for airbenders even when I’m not there with you. And as for fun, well, we’ll just find fun stuff to do in the Fire Nation!" Katara shrugged. "There’s always Ember Island; we had a lot of fun there…" she paused, thought it over. "I admit I don’t know much about Fire Nation politics yet, but if Zuko tells his court he’s taking a few days off to take his family and friends to Ember Island, they should just--"

"See, that’s what I’m talking about!" Aang said angrily, jabbing a finger at her. "It’s not going to be just you and me; it’s going to be you and me and the baby and Zuko!"

"And you’re jealous! Jealous of a newborn baby!" Katara tossed back at him. "Do you realize how childish and immature you sound right now?" Then she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, took a deep breath, and tried a new tactic. "Aang, has it occurred to you that this is an opportunity for me to seriously practice real motherhood, before you and I begin raising children of our own?"

Dead silence. She opened her eyes to see Aang staring back at her with eyes wide as saucers. He finally echoed, "…raising children of our own?"

She frowned. "Don’t tell me you haven’t even thought about that yet. …You really haven’t, at all?"

"Of course I’ve thought about it!" he said hastily. "I just… c’mon, I just turned fifteen! That’s a little young to start raising children!"

She nodded emphatically. "That’s right; it should be at least a few years in the future. Why, we haven’t even gotten married or built ourselves a home and settled down somewhere to live yet! And of course those have to come first." She cupped his chin and smiled at him. "We have years ahead of us, Aang; plenty of time before we start our own family. I’m just going to get some practice in for later, while helping Zuko and keeping my promise to Mai."

He smiled back at her, or tried to. "Okay."

"Good. Now I need to get to packing," as she turned back to go inside. Then she turned back again to say, "Here’s something else to consider, too. I already resigned myself to the idea of having to share you with the whole world, whenever your duties call you away. If I can share you with the people who need you, can’t you do the same for me?"

She knew better than to wait for an answer to that, after he’d already been so stunned by just the idea of eventual fatherhood. She went back inside and to her room, to pack what little hadn’t already been packed and waiting for the trip back home to the South Pole.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Aang stared after Katara’s departing figure, still feeling a little stunned. He could still hear her voice echoing inside his head, "…before you and I begin raising children of our own?" Some part of him knew that he shouldn’t be so staggered by the idea, but… raising children was for old people.

You didn’t settle down in a temple to stay until you were actually kind-of tired of traveling; until you’d seen enough of the world to give you a lifetime’s worth of memories, and had plenty of adventures for making stories to tell children at bedtime. Not a single one of the monks who’d raised Aang at the Southern Air Temple had been less than fifty years old!

Okay, when he’d gone there to choose Appa from the sky bison herd there had been some nuns at the Eastern Air Temple who hadn’t been all gray-haired and wrinkled, but… Endless Sky Above, he and Katara were still teenagers! They had their whole lives ahead of them; did Katara really think it was already time to settle in one spot and devote all her days to taking care of children? Weren’t there other things she wanted to do first, other adventures she wanted to have or accomplishments she wanted to achieve while she was still able?

Aang knew that lots of ground-dwellers started having families when they were still really young, like Zuko and Mai. But he’d always figured that those two had gotten married and started having babies so soon only because they had a duty to do so, because of those ‘rules of succession’ that royalty has to put up with. Yeah, over the past year or so there had been a couple of Earth Sages and even Fire Sage Shyu had been hinting about Aang needing to ‘do his duty’ that way, to start breeding airbenders in order to bring back the Air Nomad culture and restore balance to the world, but…but if he did that, just started breeding lots of airbending babies, that would mean he’d given up hope. And he hadn’t given up yet!

Aang firmly believed that he wasn’t the very last airbender alive; that more descendants of the Air Nomads still lived in hiding somewhere. He’d accepted now that all four Air Temples had been attacked and the people living there massacred on the day of Sozin’s Comet, but less than half the Air Nomads he’d met or heard of had actually stayed at the temples; all the younger adults had wandered as they pleased all over the world, and there’s no way they would have all been found and killed in a single day! Okay, maybe some of them had been caught later in traps baited with Air Nomad relics, like that time Zhao had actually netted Aang for just a few minutes in the mountains, but not all of them would have been suckered in that way.

If they grew out their hair, and wore a hat or headband and long sleeves all the time, even a fully tattooed master airbender could blend into a populace and disappear. Airbenders who just weren’t that good and had reached traveling age before receiving all their tattoos, would have an even easier time blending in. And even if they’d died sometime in the last hundred years, their descendants would still be airbenders! Most of them, anyway! But after a hundred years of war and hiding their heritage and abilities, they wouldn’t just jump up waving their arms and start shouting that they were ready for advanced airbending lessons; they’d wait a while, a few years even, to be absolutely sure the war was really over and they wouldn’t be killed or imprisoned on sight anymore.

Now that the treaty had been signed and everyone knew what was going to happen and when, the riots in the colonies should settle and stop. And then Aang would be free again, free to travel the world and search for airbenders; it would hurt to have to do it without Katara by his side for the first year or so, but that wouldn’t stop him. And after he found the hidden ones, he’d teach them any or all of the airbending skills they would have lost in a century of hiding, and all about the Air Nomad culture they’d lost as well. The Eastern Air Temple would be a good place for that; the architecture and landscape there were the most hospitable for ground-dwellers and people with poor airbending skills, and Guru Pathik could help him with teaching Air Nomad culture to others.

And after he saw to the restoration and repopulation of at least the Eastern Air Temple, then… If Katara thought they’d be settling down in just a few years but he hadn’t been thinking they’d do that for another thirty to forty years, maybe they could, um, split the difference? A compromise of, say, fifteen to twenty years from now; they’d be in their early to mid-thirties then. Still pretty young for it, but given how busy and even crazy their lives were, by then they’d have had so many adventures they’d never run out of stories to tell to children at one of the Air Temples!

Yeah, when they were in their early thirties; that would be a good time to settle down and start raising children. Having come to grips with the idea and resolved it for the moment, Aang picked up his staff from where he’d left it lying against the balcony rail and headed back inside. He paused in mid-step as another thought struck him… and then continued inside with a smile and nod to himself. Yes, it would actually be good for Katara, to nurse and raise little Roku for his first year. Doing that would get her used to raising children who weren’t hers by blood, and to saying goodbye to her babies after they were weaned. Those were both important parts of the Air Nomad culture, after all…

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

There wasn’t much left for Katara to pack; most of her things had already been taken down to her father’s ship in the harbor. Iroh said at breakfast that he’d already sent messages down to the harbor, to both Hakoda’s lead ship and Zuko’s yacht, telling the crews about the abrupt change in her travel plans and requesting that her luggage be transferred between the ships.

Katara asked a servant for paper, ink and a writing brush, and after she finished packing, she sat down to write a letter to her Gran-Gran, explaining what had happened and why she wouldn’t be coming home with her father after all. It was a hard letter to write; Katara really missed her grandmother, and she knew from their letters over the past year how proud Kanna was of her granddaughter and how much she’d been looking forward to seeing the young woman and master waterbender Katara had become. But Gran-Gran had been the village midwife for years, and knew as well as or better than anyone how important it was to nurture the next generation; she’d understand why it was so important for Katara to do this, even if it kept their family apart for another year or more.

Just as she finished signing the letter, Zuko knocked on her door. "Katara? Will you be ready soon? I don’t mean to rush you, but we were thinking of leaving an hour earlier than planned, so we could do some shopping for you on the way down to the docks." She opened the door as he said, "You’re going to need new clothes now, right?"

"I sure do," she agreed with a wry smile. "Everything’s way too tight now!"

It was amusing to see how Zuko’s gaze started to drop down to her chest before he stopped himself, and determinedly brought his eyes back up to her face while his cheeks turned pink. "Song says we’ll probably have to go to the Middle Ring for the right clothing; she hasn’t seen any shops in the Upper Ring that have nursing robes. I guess because most noblewomen hire wet-nurses from the Middle Ring instead of, er…"

"Right," she said wryly. "Anyway, I’ve still got some money left from--"

He held up a finger to stop her, saying firmly, "I’m paying for everything. I insist. And even if I didn’t, Uncle would. He just sent a messenger down to the Commerce Council’s office to get the names of their most recommended clothing shops in the Middle Ring; the runner will meet us at the railway terminal with the information."

"Are Sokka and Suki ready to leave early, too?" Katara asked. Then she reconsidered, and smiled. "For a chance to go shopping again? Sokka’s probably already waiting for us."

When the ink was dry, Katara rolled up and sealed the letter to her grandmother, and gave it to her father for delivery. As he accepted the letter, Hakoda said with that same worried sort of smile, "I know she’ll miss you as much as I will, but I’m sure she’ll agree you made the right decision." By that time, everyone leaving that day was all packed and ready to travel.

Ignoring formal protocol, the Earth King and Queen met them for farewells on the steps of the palace. After saying goodbye, Queen Song pressed a wrapped packet into the Fire Lord’s hands. Zuko looked down at it, then whispered just barely loud enough for Katara to overhear, "Roast duck?" Song nodded, smiling. "You’re never going to let me forget, are you?" She shook her head, smiling even wider. "Good. Thank you," he whispered, before bowing to her and to Kuei, then turning to go down the steps.

While the Earth King and Queen stayed behind, everyone else came with them to the stone railway station, including Hakoda and Ty Lee. "Will you be leaving today after all?" Katara asked her father.

Hakoda shook his head. "No; the men are enjoying a final day and night here, and I won’t change their plans on such short notice. But I’d rather accompany you while shopping and then down to the docks to see you off, than just sit about the palace trying to keep that bear from chewing on my boots again." Iroh overheard them and chuckled, while Sokka grimaced and Katara gave her brother a look of sympathy. No one quite knew why, but Bosco just homed in on Southern Water Tribe-made boot leather.

They made a sizeable procession down to the railway terminal nearest to the palace, where an earthbender-powered train had been reserved and was waiting for them all. After they boarded, Aang sat down next to Katara and said with a sheepish smile, "You were right, Katara; I was being selfish earlier. And not really thinking it through, either… I’ll really miss having your company for the first year that I’m searching for hidden airbenders, but you’re doing the right thing, becoming Roku’s nurse until he’s weaned."

"I’m so glad you understand, Aang," Katara said with a relieved smile, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Do you think you’ll find time to visit the Fire Nation soon?"

"I was just thinking about that, actually. Since you’re not going down to the South Pole with your father and the rebuilding there is already going so well, there’s not really any reason for me to visit right now. I think I’d better make another round of the colonies instead, and make sure everyone knows the treaty has been signed and they can keep their homes. But I’ll make sure to come to the Fire Nation capital too, nine days from now; Zuko said that’s how long it normally takes for his high-speed yacht to get there from here." Aang grinned as he finished, "Maybe I’ll meet you on the docks there!"

When they reached the Middle Ring railway terminal, the party split up. Rather than delay their procession with an activity as mundane and trivial as shopping for clothes, Fire Sage Shyu and four of Zuko’s guards would be continuing down to the docks with Mai’s ashes, escorting the Fire Lady’s remains with all due solemnity and reverence aboard the royal yacht. And while they were down there, they’d pay their respects to the Water Tribe ships and make sure Hakoda’s men got the message that had been sent down from the palace earlier, and had offloaded Katara’s luggage to Zuko’s vessel.

As everyone else disembarked from the stone railway in the Middle Ring, they were met by a messenger with a list of clothing shops specializing in maternity and nursing garments. The messenger also had a palanquin ready for the Fire Nation royals to get into, but once someone said aloud the address of the nearest clothier, Toph said, "Why not just walk? The weather’s good and the shop’s only three blocks away from here."

Holding Roku in his arms, as he’d been doing nonstop since leaving the palace, Zuko hesitated. "There’s a stiff breeze, he could get cold…"

Iroh chuckled. "With all the blankets you and Katara have wrapped him in? Not likely, nephew. Now, may I hold him as we’re walking?"

 

It made for quite an unusual procession through the Middle Ring row of shops; Fire Nation royalty, Water Tribe nobility (as Iroh referred to them, and Sokka said it sounded nice) and the Avatar all chatting and walking and window-shopping like commoners, while Earth Kingdom agents worked side-by-side with Fire Nation guards and Kyoshi Warriors as their security force. Ty Lee and the four Dai Li agents fanned out ahead to scout for potential trouble, while Toph and Suki constantly checked their rear to see if anyone was following them with harmful intent. Sokka had been ready to do rear guard duties with Suki, but she told him, "This is your last chance to spend time with your father for a long while; enjoy it." Soon enough they came to Shuma’s Clothing for Mothers; one of the most highly recommended clothiers on the list they’d been given.

Once they got over the shock of being visited by foreign royalty, the shop proprietor and all her assistants all but fell over themselves to wait upon their party. In short order Katara was bustled behind a folding screen, divested of her too-tight clothing, and measured and fitted for maternity underclothing. She sighed in relief after they’d helped her don one of the maternal support undergarments they had in stock; so much more comfortable for her current state!

"My own design," Shuma said proudly. "Superior to anything you’d find in any other shop in Ba Sing Se, if I do say so myself. I have another one of this model in stock, if you’d like."

"I’ll take both of them," Katara said immediately, rejoicing at the thought of having a spare to wear while the other was being laundered. Then a thought hit her, and she asked, "Wait; how much does one of these cost?"

Shuma quoted a price, and Katara gulped. She’d seen fancy dresses going for less than that! With such a high starting price, there was no doubt that even an hour’s worth of bargaining would still leave the price at more than she’d ever paid for anything in her life. "I guess I can make do with--"

Iroh’s voice floated over the screen, saying firmly as Katara blushed, "We’ll take both of them."

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

It was normally unthinkable for a man to even set foot inside a clothing store that sold women’s apparel of such an intimate nature. But Iroh had walked in and sat down as nonchalantly as if he owned the place, and since his uncle was still holding Roku, Zuko swallowed hard and followed them in, reminding himself that a Fire Lord could do anything (except stop blushing.)

Sokka, on the other hand, balked at even stepping under the awning, instead deciding hurriedly to check out a shop nearby that sold toys for children. Aang and Hakoda went with Sokka, while the Dai Li and royal guards assigned themselves posts outside the shop and Toph and Suki came inside.

Ty Lee started to come inside the clothing shop as well, but then she changed her mind and cartwheeled after the men, announcing eagerly that she hadn’t bought a toy for Roku yet. Zuko started to call after her that Roku already had plenty of toys, then stopped himself and shook his head, smiling. He’d never been able to talk Ty Lee out of doing anything before, so why bother trying now?

After they put some new garment on Katara—something she really liked, judging by the happy sigh they heard coming from behind the screen—and the shop proprietor quoted a price for it, Zuko blinked at the high starting price. He had no idea how much maternity clothing would cost in the Fire Nation, but he knew that was almost as much as two weeks’ rent for the small apartment he and his uncle had once shared in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se. Then he blinked again at his uncle, after Iroh had said firmly that they’d take both the garments in stock. Without even trying to bargain!

Yes, they could afford to pay all that and more, but normally his uncle loved a good bargain. When Zuko leaned close and quietly asked him why he hadn’t even tried to bring the price down, Iroh looked at him wryly and whispered back, "Are you prepared to spend time arguing the merits of women’s undergarments?"

Toph overheard that, naturally, and laughed out loud. "Tell you what, guys; let me do the haggling for everything else!"

"Please do," Zuko said fervently, still blushing deep red.

Then Katara started trying on outer clothing. The proprietor (no doubt flushed with victory over the already-confirmed sale of the undergarments) took a fancy green gown from out of a glass-covered display case, a gown that looked fancy enough for a minor court function, and took it behind the screen. A few minutes later, Katara stepped out from behind the screen with the gown on, and asked their opinion of it. Well, it was okay to look if she was asking him to… For the first time in a very long time Zuko let himself really look at Katara from head to toe, and bright Agni she was so beautiful. She’d been beautiful before, but now she was almost glowing…

It was a good thing Toph had already volunteered to do the bargaining, and immediately stepped up to do so. Otherwise Zuko would have just blurted out that they’d take it, at any price. As soon as he could remember how to use words again, that is.

Twenty minutes of bargaining later, the fancy green gown had been bought. In the meantime, Katara began trying on plainer robes for everyday wear…and Zuko couldn’t help observing that she still looked beautiful in each one. It wasn’t wrong to just notice that beauty, was it? He shouldn’t feel so horribly guilty just for observing that someone besides Mai could be beautiful. Because that’s all it was, just an observation, nothing more…

After the second robe had been bought and as Katara was preparing to try on a third, the toy shoppers came back. Still standing well outside the shop entrance, Sokka called in gleefully, "Look what we got for Roku!" as he held up a cloth-covered toy animal that looked like a baby sabertoothed moose-lion, Ty Lee held up a brightly painted spinning top, and Aang held up—well, well; now they were making stuffed toys that looked like Appa! A huge one, too, nearly three times Roku’s size; big enough that the baby could pretend to ride him, which was no doubt what Aang had in mind.

While Sokka and Aang still stayed outside, Ty Lee just danced right in, tossed the top to Zuko and then bounced over to where Katara was trying on clothing, talking excitedly about how the color of that third robe really brought out her complexion. Hakoda also came into the shop with his gift for Roku; a small wooden rattle. He shook it above Roku’s head, and the baby’s eyes tracked the rattle with fascination; one tiny hand squirmed out of his blankets to wave in its direction. "May I hold him for a while?" Hakoda asked both father and grandfather.

Zuko readily agreed, as he always had when Hakoda had asked before; the Southern Water Tribe chief had gentle, steady hands and plenty of experience in fatherhood. But the look on Hakoda’s face was almost solemn this time, instead of smiling indulgently, as he took the baby in his arms and sat down in the chair Iroh had just vacated. He didn’t say anything, just gazed thoughtfully at Roku, with occasional glances at Zuko as well.

But Hakoda’s smile returned later, after a few minutes of shaking the rattle for the baby as Roku burbled happily for him. "Strong and healthy," he murmured. "And he shall be well loved…"

Setting the rattle down, he began lightly tracing symbols on Roku’s forehead with the tip of a finger; first an arc that connected one wee wisp of eyebrow to the other, then a tiny crescent in the very center. "Roku, son of Zuko. Blessed by the sun soon after your birth; now you are blessed by the moon as well," he told the baby solemnly. "And may the ocean carry you safely wherever your life’s journey takes you."

Zuko had picked up the rattle as soon as Hakoda had set it down, checking it over for splinters or poor sealant or anything else that might make it dangerous when Roku inevitably picked it up and put it in his mouth. But it was a good quality rattle (and he admitted to himself that he really did worry too much, like Uncle kept saying, but how could he not worry?) So he hadn’t really been paying attention to Hakoda’s gestures and words at first, but he began listening when he heard his name mentioned.

Zuko hadn’t studied the Water Tribes the way his uncle had, but he knew a ceremonial blessing when he heard one. He decided from the talk about the ocean carrying them safely that it must be a travel-blessing, for the journey home to the Fire Nation. And blessings weren’t freely bestowed when people were upset; he smiled in relief that Hakoda wasn’t troubled anymore by Katara’s decision to become Roku’s wet-nurse.

Iroh leaned down next to Hakoda and the older men began talking quietly together, but at that moment Katara stepped out from behind the screen again with the fourth nursing gown, a robe of solid brown suitable for traveling in. "I wish they had something in blue," she said wistfully as she modeled it for them.

"We’ll have one made for you in the Fire Nation," Zuko assured her. He told the proprietor, "Write down all her measurements, and all the directions for sewing a good quality nursing gown, on scrolls of paper or parchment no wider than this," as he demonstrated with his hands the maximum size of paper; as much as could be rolled up and stuffed inside a messenger hawk’s tube. He’d have the measurements and directions sent straight to the palace, so the royal seamstresses would have dresses in blue ready for Katara by the time they arrived in the Fire Nation. And one or two dresses in red, too; she looked really good in red…

The proprietor smiled at him with her eyebrows raised. "Your majesty wishes me to simply give away, some of my trade secrets?"

In other words, the information wasn’t free, and he was expected to pay dearly for that parchment. He sighed. "Toph, would you handle this too?"

"Hmm?" Toph said distractedly, her blind green eyes wide as she seemed to lean in his uncle’s direction. "Oh, right; more bargaining. Okay, Shuma; how much do you think it’s worth?" as she switched back to full haggling mode. Zuko wondered briefly what she’d been so distracted by, then decided it must have been some noise from outside the store; nothing bad, apparently, because his guards and the Dai Li agents hadn’t moved from their posts.

While Toph was bargaining for the instructions, Roku began to fuss, his mouth puckering. "I believe he’s hungry again, daughter," Hakoda said with a wry smile.

Katara came over and picked up Roku with a smile. "Well, no better time than right now to find out how well these new clothes will do the job," she said as she took the baby behind the screen. Soon Zuko could hear the faint sounds of infant suckling coming from behind the screen, and Katara’s voice saying with satisfaction, "They do just fine!"

"Glad to hear it," Zuko mumbled, blushing again.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Eventually, with a significantly lighter money pouch and their arms full of purchases, the party made their way back to the stone railway station. They’d sent their specially-reserved train on ahead of them with Fire Sage Shyu and Mai’s ashes, but Toph said confidently that passenger trains ran down to the harbor all the time, and she was sure the stationmaster could provide them with a private railway car for the trip.

She stone-skated ahead of the party to make the arrangements, and when they arrived they found that the stationmaster had provided them with not just a private car, but a two-car railway train all to themselves. And that one of the three earthbenders assigned to moving the train was their old friend Haru; he personally assured Zuko that their ride down to the harbor would be as gentle as floating.

Everyone boarded, and the railway benders got their conveyance moving just as smoothly as promised. After several minutes of earthbending from his position on the right rear corner of the last car, Haru was surprised to hear a voice coming from above him, saying cheerfully, "Hi! Can you talk and push at the same time?" Haru looked up to see Ty Lee perched on the edge of the train car’s roof, as easily as if she did it every day.

Haru glanced at his work partner Mengyao, who gave a why-not shrug back, and then said to Ty Lee, "I don’t generally do that, but these are special circumstances, so what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, lots of things!" Ty Lee said gaily. "For instance, what’s your favorite kind of tea?"

"Uh, jasmine."

"And what’s your favorite color?"

"Green; the shade of green you find on new bamboo shoots in the spring," Haru answered her, while trying to ignore the knowing smirk his work partner was giving him. When asked, he also told her what kind of soup he liked best, miso soup, and his favorite type of dumplings.

Then Ty Lee asked him, very earnestly, "Now that the war’s over, what do you think of the Fire Nation?"

Haru almost lost his bending concentration, but recovered in time that hopefully the people inside the train didn’t notice the slight shudder in their ride. Mengyao dropped the sly smirk he’d been giving Haru, and turned a wary look up at the pretty interrogator for a moment before turning to Haru again, waiting for his answer.

Haru chose his next words carefully. "The fact that the war is over now doesn’t erase all my memories of Fire Nation oppression, Ty Lee. They held my father prisoner for over five years, when he’d committed no crime at all; that’s hard to forgive. But Fire Lord Zuko is proof enough that not everyone in the Fire Nation is callous and cruel; that many of them are even good people, just like most of us here in the Earth Kingdom. Now that the Fire Nation is making reparations for all the damage they did, I’m willing to accept that they’re allies now instead of still seeing them as enemies. After a hundred years of war, peace is too precious to throw away for the sake of vengeance."

Mengyao looked satisfied with his response, but Ty Lee looked a little disappointed. But only for a moment; then she brightened again and said, "Have you ever thought about going to see Kyoshi Island? They’ve got a shrine to Avatar Kyoshi there, you know; she was the last Earth Kingdom Avatar!"

"So I’ve heard," Haru said with a polite smile, while inwardly praying fervently to Kyoshi on the spot; asking the past Avatar to give this particular Kyoshi Warrior a spiritual tap on the head or something, and end this increasingly uncomfortable conversation. How many more miles until they reached the harbor terminal? Would anyone inside notice if he doubled their speed?

Ty Lee leaned down towards him, her perch now so precarious that he had to stifle an anxious impulse to grab her and bend open a temporary door so he could stuff her back inside the train. She said earnestly while staring intently at him, "You should really go on a vacation there! I’d be happy to show you around Kyoshi Island; there’s lots to see there, and lots of really great people to talk to! And if you ever get tired of big-city living, well, Kyoshi Island always has work for good earthbenders! Think about it, okay?"

And with that, she easily pulled herself back up onto the car roof, and then flipped backwards out of sight, presumably going back to whatever window she’d come out of in the first place. After she left, Mengyao lifted an elbow between their rhythmic bending shoves to give him a friendly nudge, with a smile halfway between a smirk and sheer admiration covering his face. "How do you do it, man? One look at you, and she was all but ready to start having your babies, when you were barely even smiling at her! Not that I blame you for not wanting that one; I’ve heard some pretty nasty stuff about those she-male warriors, and even worse about the island they live on. But this isn’t the first time I’ve seen girls just about hanging off of you, when you don’t even try to encourage them! What’s your secret?"

Haru just shrugged. "If I knew what it is that’s got the ladies so interested in me, believe me, I’d share it with you! I used to think it was the mustache, but I shaved that off months ago."

But he knew he was lying; he knew why some women made such a point of coming on to him, instead of any guy he was with at the time. It was because he wasn’t the one leering at them, using lame pick-up lines or making crass suggestions; he treated them like people, instead of as prospective sex-toys and progeny-bearers. But he’d also learned to keep his mouth shut about that; scolding other guys for how they treated women had never really helped that he had noticed, and it usually led to trouble for him that he just didn’t want, not here in Ba Sing Se. This city was supposed to be a fresh start for him, and he wasn’t going to screw that up if he could help it, not after what had happened already…

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

When they reached the harbor terminal and disembarked, after thanking Haru and his fellow railway workers for such a smooth ride, the party found Zuko’s royal palanquin waiting for them just outside the terminal. Zuko climbed in with Roku, and Katara handed him the diaper bag, though hopefully he wouldn’t need it as she’d changed Roku just before their arrival at the terminal. With her father leading the way, their procession headed down the docks to where Hakoda’s vessels were moored.

Katara and Sokka went aboard the lead ship with their father and Aang, so Katara could give the crew her goodbyes and make sure all her luggage had been transferred off. Bato met them at the head of the crew that was aboard at the time, greeting Katara with worried eyes that widened considerably at the sight of her new figure. "The Fire Nation guards told us the palace’s message was valid instead of a prank, but… Katara, have you really thought this through?"

"Yes," she said firmly, even if she really hadn’t thought it through before she’d begun using water-healing on herself. She’d thought it through since then, and was still convinced she’d made the right decision. She arched an eyebrow at Bato as she said with a warning note to her voice, "You’re not doubting my ability to protect a baby from danger at least as well as Sokka, are you?"

"No, not at all!" Bato said with hands raised as if to ward off the very thought, or at least Katara’s temper. "But if you intend to stay with the child until he’s weaned, well, that will be many months from now, and so much can happen in that time…"

"It’ll be okay, Bato," Aang piped up confidently. "Katara can handle basically anything! And we agreed that she should have this experience; it’ll be good for us later." Katara gave Aang a grateful smile for his support.

Katara was in the middle of receiving some careful and decidedly awkward goodbye-hugs from men that she’d known all her life, when Zuko’s voice carried over from the dock. "Katara? I don’t mean to rush you, but I think Roku’s hungry again." She looked over to see Zuko poking his head out of the palanquin, looking anxious as Roku’s hungry cries emanated from within the heavy silk drapes.

Smiling and waving her last goodbyes to her father’s crew, Katara went back down the gangplank and straight to the palanquin. Zuko hastily exited as she climbed in, and firmly tugged the curtains shut to give her privacy for nursing.

She soon had Roku situated and suckling—a sensation that still awed and amazed her; she wondered if she’d ever become so used to it that she hardly noted it anymore, and she really hoped not—but as the baby drew in his nourishment, she listened to the world beyond the curtains. The Chihei’s first mate had accompanied the palanquin bearers to the railway terminal, and she heard the man clear his throat before saying hesitantly, "I humbly crave your pardon, Your Majesty, but the tide is turning even as we speak; it would be wise to leave soon, before we lose the tide’s advantage."

"Understood, Jian," Zuko said from just outside the palanquin curtains, and then, "Enjoy the ride, Katara," as the palanquin suddenly rose into the air at some unseen signal, startling her a little at the abrupt motion.

But she apparently wasn’t as startled as the first mate was; she heard him gasp, like he’d just seen a spider-snake swing down out of a tree right in front of him, before uttering a shocked, "My lord? You—she can’t--"

Now Zuko’s voice grew annoyed. "Jian, there is a time and a place for protocol and rules about royal palanquins. There is also a hungry heir to the throne in there, while the Fire Lord out here once walked across most of the Earth Kingdom on these same two feet. And weren’t you just telling me we should beat the tide out from the docks? So stop looking like you’re about to lay an ostrich-horse egg, and get moving! I want the ship ready to cast off as soon as we’re all aboard." The first mate babbled apologies before his footsteps hurried away, over the sounds of Sokka’s snickering nearby.

It was just a short distance to the dock where Zuko’s yacht was moored, and Roku hadn’t stopped nursing from her when the palanquin’s movement stopped, indicating they’d arrived. Beyond the curtain, one of the bearers said very apologetically, "My lord, I fear that the boarding plank is too steep and narrow for us to bear your child aboard in perfect safety."

Katara started to call out that she and Roku would be out in just a few more minutes, when Toph spoke up instead. "Huong, what’s the distance to the deck of Zuko’s fancy boat?"

"About thirty feet up and over, sir," Huong responded instantly. "A modified Maneuver Twelve could do it easily."

"Good. Sparky, tell your guys to set the ride down and let Huong and Guoliang strut their stuff!"

Katara felt the palanquin being lowered and set down on the dock, then heard the muffled clacks of stone hitting wood, while Toph murmured, "Slow and steady, boys." And a moment later she felt the palanquin being lifted into the air—and up, and up, much higher than before! Now intensely curious, she poked her head out of the palanquin curtains and looked forward to see Huong gripping both the forward poles, and smiling reassuringly at her—while rising straight into the air! But how?!

Aang’s voice came from below, sounding amazed as he said just what Katara was thinking; "How are they doing that, Toph? I thought only airbenders could fly! Well, airbenders and Azula!"

"Not just Azula; that cranky oldster Jeong Jeong flew over Ba Sing Se on fire-jets, on the day of the Comet. Well done, guys!" Toph said with evident satisfaction in her voice as the flying earthbenders finished rising straight up, then sailed over several feet to deposit Katara, palanquin and all, on the deck of the Chihei while Captain Bunjiro and several crewmembers just stood there gaping at the sight.

"And hearing tales of that firebending technique inspired you to you devise a new technique for your own element, eh, Master Toph?" Iroh said, his voice filled with admiration as it carried across the water. "I saw small stone platforms under their feet, Avatar, and they’re using their stone gloves to hold the palanquin. Bend the stone into the air with toe and finger movements, and they rise with it, yes?"

"Got it right, Uncle Dragon! The technique doesn’t do much for me personally, but some of my guys can get a lot of mileage out of it." Katara smiled to herself as Roku finished nursing and she tucked everything back into place; it seemed she wasn’t the only one to have created new techniques after observing benders of other elements.

She stepped out of the palanquin with Roku in her arms, and went to the railing to look down at the dock. Aang and Hakoda were already walking up the boarding plank to her, but Ty Lee remained on the pier and occupied with giving goodbye hugs to Sokka and Suki, while Toph said to Iroh and Zuko, "I’m not big on mushy goodbyes, so… Take care of yourselves and Itty-Bitty, okay?"

"You take care of yourself too, Toph," Zuko said, looking as awkward as Katara had ever seen him.

But for Iroh there was no awkwardness at all; he stepped up and swept Toph into a big platypus-bear hug, while saying gruffly, "I shall miss you greatly, Toph; it has been a true pleasure to see you blossoming into a young woman, and into a great teacher and leader of men."

Then Iroh let go of Toph only to reach a hand back and grab Zuko by the front of his royal robe, and all but yanked him forward. Zuko took the unsubtle hint, and gave Toph the hug that Katara knew they’d secretly both wanted. He muttered something that Katara couldn’t hear from on deck, then gave her an extra squeeze before letting her go. Toph muttered something as well, and then gave him a punch in the arm that had him rocking back on his heels and all his guards automatically tensing for combat, before they both grinned affectionately at each other.

Then Zuko nearly got knocked off his feet again, when Ty Lee bounded up and tackle-hugged him. Toph’s farewells with Sokka and Suki also involved arm punches and hugs, but Katara paid little attention to them because by then her father and Aang had reached her, and she was involved in giving them one-armed farewell hugs while carrying Roku.

Aang tried to give Katara not just a hug but a kiss as well; she turned at the last moment to make it a kiss on the cheek, acutely aware of her father standing right next to them. Hakoda gave her a fatherly kiss on the forehead, but his hug was both awkward and somehow desperate, as if he thought for some reason that this would be the last time that they’d see each other. She tried to reassure him by saying, "I’ll be fine, Dad. I’ve spent months in the Fire Nation before, remember? If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that most of them are good people just like us. And for those who aren’t, remember that I’m a waterbending master!"

"And a very powerful one, if I may say so," Captain Bunjiro said as he approached and bowed to her. "Everyone has heard the Fire Sages’ tale of how you defeated the Mad Princess in single combat, even when she had the power of the Comet to fuel her bending. Your luggage has already been put in the cabin we’d set aside for the wet-nurse, my lady; directly across from the Fire Lord’s cabin."

Katara thanked the captain for his thoughtfulness, and her thanks were echoed by Zuko when he stepped aboard the ship a few minutes later. Katara handed the new father his son, then grabbed her own father’s hand and pulled him to the dockside railing, while using her free hand to summon a column of water from the harbor below. She froze the top of the waterspout to ice, then stepped onto it with Hakoda and brought them both quickly down to the dock, where Toph was waiting expectantly. "I knew you couldn’t leave without forcing one last hug on me, Sugar Queen," the earthbender said, though her smile belied the grumble in her voice.

"Oh, like you’re really complaining about it," she teased as she gave her friend a solid hug, and accepted a punch in the arm—a much softer one than usual—in return. After accepting another careful-but-still-enthusiastic hug from Ty Lee, she created another waterspout and rode it back up to the ship, just as Aang came gliding down to the dock where she’d been standing. Aang gave her a startled look in passing, like he hadn’t been expecting her to go back aboard so soon, but Katara remembered the first mate’s warning and knew how important it was to take advantage of the tides, especially for a vessel with as deep a keel as Zuko’s yacht.

She made a two-point landing on the yacht’s deck, neatly bending the excess water back over the side, and then turned to wave to her father, Ty Lee, Toph and Aang as they stood there on the dock. Off to her right, she noticed Captain Bunjiro approach Zuko with yet another bow as he asked, "Your orders, my lord?"

Cradling his son in his arms, Zuko said simply, "Set a course for the Fire Nation. We’re going home."

TBC

Notes:

Yes, my unseen OC Reijin the minstrel—the one who first started spreading the tale of Zuko the Dragoneye—took a few stray facts and his people’s fascination with dragons, and spun one heckuva minstrel’s tale from them. Hey, he got free drinks and eats wherever he told that tale for the next few weeks! But he inadvertently created the ATLA world’s first chain letter in the process, with that implied warning that anyone who refused to spread the tale would suffer a terrible fate like the two generals did, so now the story has far outpaced its creator and he’s not getting much of anything from it anymore. Not until he sets the whole thing to music, anyway! Or turns it into a script for a play… ;-)

Chapter 10: Getting There Is Half The...

Notes:

Given that it usually takes several years to become truly a master at armed and unarmed combat, has anyone else wondered why all the Kyoshi Warriors we saw in the show were only teenaged girls? I did, and you’ll read the answer I came up with shortly.

A door slamming open, four frantic steps to the railing, followed by “Hyuurrggh…”

 

Captain Bunjiro made a show of glancing at the sun’s position in the sky, before commenting dryly to his first mate, “Forty-five minutes since the last time; he’s five minutes late.”

 

Jian stared at the Dai Li agent Phan draped over the railing in mixed curiosity and distaste as he exclaimed, “Seriously, how can he still be throwing up?  It’s been hours since the last meal; he should have nothing left to throw up! Except maybe his own intestines!”

 

A few minutes later Hau, the ship’s medic, came to join Bunjiro and Jian with an expression of clear frustration.  “I’ve tried every known remedy for seasickness on that one in the last four days; ginger root tea, chewing dried chicle tree sap, three different acupressure treatments and even sucking on lemon-olives, and nothing’s worked!  His friend Renshu responded to treatment on the second day and is back on duty, but Phan…. If he doesn’t improve soon, I’ll be forced to sedate him for his own good and keep him unconscious for the rest of the journey!”

 

“Might as well do it now and get it over with,” Bunjiro advised.  “I’ve heard that some earthbenders never get over seasickness, even after weeks at sea; he’s probably one of them.  And if he knew it was an option, he’d probably be begging you now to put him under and keep him asleep until he’s back on solid land again. Just let the Fire Lord know your intentions first; he’s probably in his cabin…”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Zuko was indeed in his cabin, looking over some paperwork while occasionally glancing over to where Katara was lying on the bed with Roku.  Baby and nanny were napping together, Katara’s soft snores (not that she’d ever admit to snoring, and Zuko would certainly never tell her she did) a quiet counterpoint to Roku’s baby breaths.  Katara normally took Roku back to her cabin across the hall for naps, but today Zuko had pointed out that he had a perfectly good bed right there, much more opulent than the bunk in her cabin, that he wasn’t using during the day. 

 

There was a discreet knock on his cabin door, just barely loud enough to be distinguished from the other constant shipboard noises.  He quickly got up and opened the door to find Sokka standing there; putting a finger to his lips to indicate the need for quiet, he ushered his friend inside and closed the door again.

 

Sokka saw his sister sleeping on the bed, but only nodded in understanding; everyone knew that Katara frequently napped when Roku did, because he frequently woke her up at night for feedings and diaper changes.  He whispered to Zuko, “Hey, I heard something kind-of funny today, from one of the crewmen.  Did you know there’s a rumor going around that your scar is actually a dragon’s eye that got magically stuck on your face?”

 

Zuko smiled wryly.  “Yeah, I’ve heard that one.  It started sometime after my dragon-back trip across the Fire Nation; I overheard a few servants talking about it two months later.  I was going to call a council meeting to dispel the rumor, but Mai told me to just keep my mouth shut and let it spread, and after I wrote to Uncle about it, he advised the same thing.”

 

“Not that I’m disagreeing with their advice, because the story is actually sort-of cool-- once you get past the creepiness factor—but why’d they say to let it spread?”

 

“Because I’m an absolute monarch who’s also a teenager, one who was banished for over three years and started my reign hopelessly out of touch with the Fire Nation’s political landscape,” Zuko admitted. “I’ve done my best to catch up on everything I need to know, but nearly every day, I have to deal with noblemen who’ve been in politics for decades longer than I’ve been alive.  I need every advantage I can get when I’m dealing with them. If they think I’m secretly part dragon, that automatically makes them respect or at least fear me more than they would otherwise.”

 

A bittersweet smile passed over Zuko’s expression as he remembered the secret coaching Mai had given him, to reinforce the Dragoneye rumor without ever saying a word about it.  Turning his face slightly to the right when talking with contentious courtiers, putting the scarred eye in the center of their view while keeping the rest of his face expressionless; making it seem like the dragon in his soul was rising to take an interest in the conversation.  And Mai had been right, when he did that, some courtiers shut up a lot faster than they normally would. 

 

Then he went even further than that, following his uncle’s advice, even though he still felt foolish every time he did it.  About once a month he went down to the kitchen, demanded a raw slab of meat, and cooked it himself with his breath of fire and bare hands right in front of the kitchen staff.  The servants had just stared at him in appalled silence the first time he’d done it, but the second time, the cook had handed him the ostrich-horse steak with a knowing look and a quiet, “The finest cut of meat, fit for a royal dragon, my lord.”  (It was a pity that dragons weren’t known for eating fire flakes by the handful, too; he still had to sneak those from the kitchen pantry in the middle of the night, to keep the private snacking stash in his office well-stocked.) 

 

Sokka brought Zuko from his musings back to the present with a casual, “So, what’s the deal with this ‘Music Night’ your uncle is organizing?”

 

“Music Night?” Zuko exclaimed in dismay—and loud enough that he woke Roku, who started crying while Katara sat up and frowned at him.  But blast it to cinders, Uncle Iroh had promised he wouldn’t spring one of those on this trip and rope him into playing the tsungi horn again!

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

“Nephew, I promised that I would not attempt to persuade you to participate in a Music Night during our trip, and I shall keep that promise,” Iroh said calmly.  “You do not even have to attend the Music Night I’m organizing, if you do not wish to.”

 

Zuko sputtered at him for a few seconds more before throwing his hands in the air and stomping off. It was a real struggle for Iroh to keep from smiling at the fit of frustrated temper, so much like the old days during his banishment.  Not that he missed those days, really, but nostalgia occasionally knew no reason.

 

A few hours later, after establishing that they had enough experienced liuqin, pipa, flute and drum players aboard to make tomorrow night very enjoyable indeed, Iroh stopped by his nephew’s cabin, ostensibly in search of Katara.  He casually invited her to Music Night, suggesting that she and her brother could teach the crew a few Water Tribe songs.  “I’m, um, not very musically gifted,” Katara said with a blush and downcast eyes.

 

“What are you talking about?  You have a beautiful singing voice,” Zuko said abruptly, with a look of something like disbelief that she or anyone else could think otherwise.  When Katara stared at him in surprise, he blushed far redder than she had, almost as red as his scar as he stammered, “I mean, when you sing lullabies for Roku!  I’ve just noticed, that’s all.”

 

“Well, then!  Perhaps we can start the evening off with a few lullabies for the baby, before his father puts him to bed,” Iroh said cheerfully.  And when Katara agreed to the idea, Zuko smiled… before giving Iroh a very dirty look, as he realized he’d just been roped into attending at least the first part of Music Night after all.  Iroh just beamed back, entirely unrepentant.

 

He left the cabin in a fine mood indeed, having observed again how close his nephew and the young waterbending lady were becoming.  Right now their mutual focus was on Roku, but there was indeed potential for a much closer and more passionate relationship, just as he and Hakoda had seen on the day of their departure from Ba Sing Se.  

 

He thought back to that day, and his first glimmering of that potential.  Before the shopping spree in the maternity clothing shop, Iroh had thought that Zuko’s clear happiness that day stemmed purely from relief, just like his.  Ojia had been a fine wet-nurse, but a kind and caring waterbending master---one skilled and powerful enough to have defeated Princess Azula on the day of Sozin’s Comet!—would be not just a good wet-nurse but a last-ditch defense against assassins.  Given there had been so many assassination attempts in the last eight months, that last-ditch defense might well be needed.  Katara’s decision to accompany them to the Fire Nation had certainly helped to ease a few of Iroh’s many worries.

 

But then Katara had stepped out from behind the screen wearing the store’s fanciest nursing robe, and asked their opinion of how she looked.  Iroh had thought she looked very pretty, and promptly said so.  Then he’d turned to his nephew, to see if Zuko agreed with him…

 

But Zuko had just been standing there, slack-jawed and staring, his expression so dazed and awed and—when had Iroh seen that expression on him before?  It certainly wasn’t a typical look for Zuko, but he knew he’d seen his nephew like that once before…

 

On his wedding day.  When Zuko had finally been permitted to see his bride, in all her wedding finery.  The normally gloomy Mai had been particularly radiant that day, even ever-so-slightly smiling in public, and as she’d taken her place by his side Zuko had looked just like that…

 

Well.  This changed things considerably.

 

Toph had given a most unladylike snort, but she’d been half-smiling as well, while turned somewhat in Zuko’s direction.  Then she’d turned back to the shopkeeper and immediately began bargaining with her over the price of the robe.  Iroh had been glad she’d volunteered to do so, because right then he would not have been able to give it his best effort, his mind instead buzzing with possibilities.

 

Soon afterwards Hakoda and the youngsters who had gone toy-shopping had returned.  Hakoda had asked permission to hold Roku, in what Iroh had assumed was some would-be-grandfatherly wistfulness; Hakoda had no grandchildren, but rumor had it that he’d recently hinted to Sokka and Suki that they should start producing a few for him. 

 

But after a few minutes, Iroh had noticed Hakoda tracing some symbols on the baby’s forehead, and overheard the solemn words spoken in blessing.  He’d frowned in thought again; the words seemed familiar, but from where?

 

And then he had remembered the scroll he’d read long ago, in his studies of the Water Tribes, that described that blessing.  It was part of the ceremony performed by the chief of the Water Tribe after a baby is born, formally welcoming the child into the community. 

 

He’d leaned close to Hakoda to whisper, “Accepting him as an honorary tribe member?”

 

Hakoda had sighed and whispered back.  “More like accepting the inevitable.”

 

For a moment, he hadn’t understood.  What did Hakoda think was inevitable?  Then the Water Tribe Chief had glanced first at Katara as she emerged from behind the dressing screen, and then at Zuko as his nephew once again focused on Katara like a compass needle on the way north.  Hakoda’s expression had borne the unhappy but resigned smile of a man who knows his daughter will make her own choice, regardless of whatever he might wish for her.

 

In deference to Hakoda’s apparent unhappiness with the situation, Iroh had kept the hopeful grin off his face and out of his voice as he asked in a whisper, “You think they’ll eventually marry?”

 

Hakoda had nodded slowly. “She already loves this child, his son.  We’ve spent years apart, but I still know my daughter. Last night she sacrificed her body and her freedom to become Roku’s mother-substitute, but every smile and gesture she’s made this morning tells me that she’s genuinely happier now than she was at the prospect of returning home with me and Aang, her supposed boyfriend. And I remember the way Zuko would look at Katara, when he thought no one else was looking, back in the Western Air Temple…”

 

“How did he look at her back then?” Iroh had asked, eager to learn more.  He’d not been present to witness his nephew’s decision to finally join the Avatar, or his struggles to gain acceptance among Aang and his allies.  He’d waited in that prison as long as he could for Zuko to realize his true destiny, but finally taken the opportunity afforded by the eclipse and broken out, to summon the White Lotus organization to prepare for battle. 

 

At their reunion outside Ba Sing Se, Zuko had eagerly told Iroh about meeting the dragons and learning the ancient truths of firebending, but he’d been very unwilling to talk about his other experiences with Team Avatar, even though all the youngsters with him had evidently regarded him as a friend. 

 

In conversations with Toph and Aang over the past year, Iroh had learned quite a bit about Zuko’s adventures with them between the Day of Black Sun and the return of Sozin’s Comet; they had even told a second-hand version of the story of Zuko’s adventure with Sokka, breaking Hakoda and Suki out of the Boiling Rock prison.  But they had always carefully skirted around any talk of how Zuko had gotten along with Team Avatar’s waterbender.   Perhaps Hakoda, though reportedly he’d been with his children and Zuko only for a few days before they were separated again, could tell him more…

 

“With hopeless longing,” Hakoda had admitted with a small sigh. “Oh, as soon as he noticed anyone looking at him, he wiped that look off his face in favor of another; either one of humble gratitude for being allowed to join his former foes, or a look of grim determination to teach the Avatar firebending so Aang would be prepared to face the Fire Lord.  But twice in those few days I was with them, I caught him looking at Katara with the same look I’ve seen on many a young man with an unrequited crush. Very much unrequited, because Katara had as little to do with him as possible, and spoke harshly to him when she spoke at all; of all the children at the temple, she was the most unwilling to forgive Zuko his past sins, even after he and Sokka rescued me from prison.”

 

“Really?” Iroh had blinked at him in surprise.  “By the time I saw them together, just before Sozin’s Comet, they seemed to be good friends.”

 

“She must have finally forgiven him after witnessing his actions when Azula’s forces attacked the temple; he certainly fought bravely on our side that day.  So they’ve been friends ever since then,” Hakoda had nodded.  “But now…” He’d sighed again, while looking down at Roku in his lap.  “I never imagined my first grandchild would be Fire Nation, without a drop of Water Tribe blood in him.  But the Ocean is deep and holds many mysteries, and sometimes we can only ride the currents to where they lead.”

 

Then they’d ended their conversation, by mutual silent agreement, when Zuko came back in their direction after another conversation with the shopkeeper.  They hadn’t had another opportunity to talk in privacy before his departure, but Iroh hoped that in the four days since their conversation, Hakoda had lost some of that unhappy resignation and thought of at least a few of the potential benefits, both for him and for his tribe, if the Fire Lord became his son-in-law…

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Music Night had been fun!  Katara didn’t know why Zuko seemed to hate such occasions; she thought them every bit as enjoyable as her tribe’s gatherings during the Days of Darkness, when everyone had extra time on their hands. 

 

As Iroh had promised, they’d started Music Night with gentle lullabies while Zuko sat in with little Roku in his baby sling.  Iroh and Captain Bunjiro had sung the Fire Nation lullabies while the crew played soft accompaniment; Katara had sung the Water Tribe lullabies while Sokka patted a drum to the beat and Suki, who must have heard them sung while she’d lived in the Southern Water Tribe for a year, strummed along on a liuqin.  Zuko had looked somewhat disgruntled but resigned at the start, but by the second lullaby he’d started relaxing and even smiling a little.  After the fifth lullaby he announced in a whisper that the baby had fallen asleep, and nodded cordially in response to everyone’s quiet goodnight wishes as he took Roku back to his cabin.

 

After Zuko and Roku had left, they’d switched to non-nursery songs and ballads.  When Iroh had asked them to share some other Water Tribe tunes, Sokka had sung for the crew the first thirty verses of ‘The Drunken Shaman.’ He’d been ready to sing all 200 increasingly funny verses of that song, but Suki had nudged him and pointed out that it was just an ordinary night, not one of the tribe’s Days of Darkness, and this Music Night probably wouldn’t last more than a couple of hours.

 

The crew had taught them some nice Fire Nation songs, too, like ‘Cherry Blossoms’ and ‘Four Seasons, Four Loves’, but Katara was pretty sure they’d been deliberately censoring themselves; there had been a couple of times that a crewman had started to suggest a song but then quickly stopped himself, usually with a glance in either her or Suki’s direction.

 

After about three hours, the group had broken up with smiles and goodnight wishes all around, as everyone had gone to their beds.  Katara had managed to get a decent nap in before Zuko woke her up with an apologetic knocking on her door; Roku was ready for another feeding.

 

She’d shooed Zuko back to bed, taking over Roku’s care for the night, and fed and changed the baby before rocking and singing him back to sleep in her cabin’s cradle.  But she wasn’t quite ready to go back to sleep herself; the full moon had passed, but at three-quarters full she could still feel it’s gentle tugging on her spirit, rousing her too much to go back to sleep just yet.

 

After making sure Roku was sleeping soundly and warmly tucked into his cradle, she left the cabin and went out on deck for some fresh air.  It was a beautiful night out; the sky was cloudless, showing thousands upon millions of stars twinkling overhead.  The moon had climbed high over the horizon, and cast a luminous glow over the gentle waves. 

 

Jian, the crew’s first mate—whom Katara had found was actually a decent fellow, if a little too obsessed with protocol and proper behavior—noticed her on deck while he was making his rounds, and came over with a short bow.  “Is everything all right, Lady Katara?’

 

“Everything’s fine,” she assured him.  “The baby is safe asleep in his cradle; I’m just not sleepy at the moment, and stepped out for a little fresh air.”

 

They chatted for a minute or two about their mutual enjoyment of the evening’s entertainment, before Jian took his leave of her to continue making his rounds.  But he paused after walking only a few feet away, and over her shoulder Katara heard him say with a nearly audible frown, “That’s odd…”

 

Just as Katara was turning to see what he found odd, she heard hurrying footsteps from another direction, and a crewman whose name she couldn’t recall ran right up to Jian and saluted.  “Sir, the helmsman requests that you please come to the bridge!”

 

Jian hurried off with the crewman, but Katara paused a moment before following, to look in the direction Jian had been looking.  Peering at the eastern horizon, she saw a thick bank of fog.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Jian noticed Lady Katara following him to the bridge, and did his best to be polite while dissuading her from following.  She might be the Fire Lord’s personal friend and wet-nurse to the infant prince, but he didn’t need any civilians poking their noses into ship’s business.

 

He climbed the ladder to the bridge, pointedly closing the door at the top behind him, and went over to the helm.  “Is this about the fog?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Hiro the helmsman said, frowning outwards at the night.  “The weather conditions aren’t right for a fog that thick.  It’s drifting westward, and given the wind speed, our current heading will take us through the edge of it. Permission to alter course to avoid?”

 

“Permission granted,” Jian said instantly.  “Fifteen degrees westward; give that fog a wide berth.”

 

“Yes, sir,” as Hiro turned the wheel controlling the rudder.  They both felt the minor shudder and heard the ship’s faint metallic grumblings at the abrupt course change, but the Chihei had been built for moving fast and smoothly; Jian was reasonably sure that they hadn’t woken anyone up.

 

But a few minutes later, Jian and the helmsman frowned together out at the fog as he said, “Is it just my imagination, or is that fog spreading faster?”

 

“It’s not your imagination,” someone else said—who was that?  Jian spun around, and gaped to see Lady Katara leaning in the window to his right, a window that was thirty feet off the deck—how--?!  

 

He went to the window to find Lady Katara standing atop a wide pillar of ice, and staring at the fog with a most unladylike scowl on her exotic features.  “That fog is moving a lot faster than the wind.  We’re too far away right now for me to tell for sure, but I’d bet a string of gold coins that fog is being bent.  It’s an old waterbender’s offensive tactic, one that I heard about while I was training up north. Someone’s trying to hide inside that fog, so they can sneak up on us…”

 

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Captain Chang of the pirate ship Leopard-Shark II lifted his telescope to the small aperture in the fog that he’d ordered bent for his use, then lowered it and gave a savage grin.  “Torches out, no activity… we’ll catch them all asleep in their bunks.”

 

“It’ll be the easiest booty we’ve ever plundered,” his first mate said with an equally wicked grin that showed his gold teeth.  “Those waterbenders are worth their hire, eh, cap’n?”

 

“That they are,” the pirate captain agreed. He’d never have dared to take on this job, no matter how much gold had been paid up front and how much more would be paid upon completion, if it weren’t for the three waterbenders they’d hired on in the last year.  He wasn’t too worried about the handful of earthbenders that he’d been told were aboard, not this far out at sea, but even in the dead of night a ship full of firebenders was dangerous business.  But with three waterbenders to counter their fire and give his crew the element of surprise, this would be a short and mostly one-sided battle, just the way he liked it.

 

“Now remember, we take the baby and whatever woman looks to be his wet-nurse alive; the Fire Nation will pay a hefty ransom indeed to get the royal heir back!”  That wasn’t what their mysterious backer for this mission wanted; his orders had been to ‘kill everyone aboard’, with an added bonus for bringing back the Fire Lord’s severed head.  But Captain Chang firmly believed in taking every opportunity that came up to make more gold for himself and his crew.

 

But he wouldn’t try to keep the Fire Lord alive for ransoming; he’d make sure of that kill personally.  He still owed the scar-faced brat for the loss of his old ship, the first Leopard-Shark!  He’d thought the bastard dead once already, when they’d blown up his ship in return, but he’d somehow survived the explosion.  (Just as well that Admiral Zhao had died up in the frozen North before he’d found out and demanded his money back.)  No, while he’d let the honor of killing the Fire Lord fall to whichever pirate managed so surprise him, afterwards he’d personally take off the head—and pocket the crown, if the brat happened to be wearing it. 

 

And then he’d take the head of that Water Tribe teen their backer said was also aboard, just for a trophy for his crew to enjoy.  That loud-mouthed brat was even more responsible for the loss of their first ship… Maybe they’d keep him alive for a day or two afterwards, to have some fun with him before killing him when they returned to port.

 

The captain barked orders to his crew, and they took their positions.  The ex-Northern Water Tribe warrior up in the rat-crow’s nest atop their mast kept the fog around their ship as thick as potato-pea soup, while the two waterbenders at the bow and stern worked together to pull the ship through the water fast enough to keep pace with and intercept the steam-powered yacht.   

 

Closer… closer… the captain began to discern a dark mass off to starboard, though still obscured by the thick fog.  Still twenty yards away, he estimated; Hogat, the bender in the rat-crow’s nest, would keep the fog up as they eased closer and closer alongside, until they were within boarding range.   The captain turned to hiss orders to his waiting crew—

 

When suddenly the fog was clearing, parting like curtains between the ships, before they were ready for it!  The yelp of dismay coming from high overhead said it hadn’t been Hogat’s idea, either.  And in the suddenly clear view of the royal yacht, instead of a peaceful ship with nearly all hands below decks and asleep in their bunks, they now faced a row of warriors lining the railing and wielding everything from flames to fans to boulders. 

 

The brown-skinned young woman in their midst dropped the arms-spread-wide pose she’d been holding, pushing their cover away, and then reached down into the ocean and pulled up a giant water-whip.  The Fire Nation Navy officer standing by her side punched a huge fireball straight at the pirates even while shouting, “Attaaack!!!”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Sokka had long since gotten used to his sister’s incessant need to be right about everything, but he really wished she hadn’t been right about this.  He’d been forcibly woken up out of a sound slumber by her barely five minutes ago, but the surge of adrenaline at seeing the enemy ship that the dense fog had been hiding, drove the last dregs of sleepiness from his brain.  At his side, her face bare of war paint but armed with her fans, Suki snarled like a pygmy-puma at the sight of the pirates lining the rails.

 

But the good news was, the other ship was still well outside of boarding distance, and they had plenty of long-distance fighters on their side. The crew of the Chihei fired a volley of fireballs at their captain’s command, and the three Dai Li agents on their feet started chucking boulders with brutal efficiency. 

 

All the ship’s sails were set afire, while two boulders crashed into the pirate ship, punching through the wood right below the waterline; the pirates would soon be too busy putting out fires above and bailing below to  fight anybody.  The third and biggest boulder, thrown by Renshu, went straight for the guy making waterbending motions at the bow of the ship.  It hit him with a bone-crunching thud that knocked him clear off the ship, and he was probably dead before he hit the water.

 

But there was another waterbender at the stern, so panicked that Sokka could see the whites of his widened eyes, and making frantic sculling motions to pull the pirate ship away from them.  But the nitwit was probably too used to working with a partner; he was moving only the stern of the ship—and that meant the bow was swinging in the opposite direction, straight towards them! 

 

“Slush!” Sokka cursed as he saw pirates rushing for the bow, preparing to leap or swing across and board them.  Either they were too bloodthirsty, too greedy for plunder, or they’d already figured out that their ship was a goner and their only hope for survival was to take the Chihei!

 

But Suki was ready for them at the nearest railing; mighty La, she was taunting them, her teeth bared in a savage grin as she waved a fan in a beckoning motion, daring them to board.  One of them jumped across, the idiot must not have heard about Kyoshi Warriors—his aggressive yell ended in a gurgle as she slipped under his swing and slashed his throat with a fan in passing, crimson spraying out in her wake.  But others were jumping across as well, and even as she took out two more a third one made it past her—only to run right into Sokka’s swing; Space Sword took care of his cutlass, as well as the hand holding it. 

 

Then he had to jump back, to avoid a water-whip coming from somewhere on high—bloody slush, how many benders did these pirates have?!  He dimly heard Katara shouting something nasty while sending a volley of ice daggers at the pirate ship, and the thought absurdly flitted across his mind that ever-innocent Aang would be appalled at the language his girlfriend had picked up while she was training up North; then he had to deal with another boarder…

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Zuko paced back and forth in his cabin, his fists clenching and unclenching as they smoldered with suppressed fire.  Roku, safe in his crib, whimpered past the pacifier in his mouth as they both heard the loud noises coming from outside.  He glared at the barred door to the cabin; right then there was nothing more Zuko wanted than to be out there fighting, wreaking raw havoc on those who dared to attack his ship and threaten his son!  But Captain Bunjiro was right, curse it; he was needed more in here, guarding Roku, since Katara’s bending skills were needed for the sea battle.

 

The cabin walls muffled some of the noise but he still heard shouts, screams, small explosions, fire roaring, wood smashing, swords clashing, more screams… Then the sounds of clashing swords diminished, though not the shouting or sounds of fireballs being cast.  Then the hairs stood up on his forearms as he sensed, even through the walls, a great energy gathering…

 

KRA-KA-KOOOM!

 

Uncle Iroh’s lightning.  Katara must have finally been able to push the enemy ship back far enough for the Dragon of the West to unleash all his power, without worrying about debris from the other ship damaging theirs.

 

The sounds of fighting soon stopped entirely, though he could still hear Bunjiro barking orders to the crew.  Zuko took several deep breaths, willing himself to relax now that the danger was over, and then picked up Roku and settled him on his shoulder to start soothing him.  Five minutes later there was a knock on his door, and Sokka’s weary-sounding voice coming through it.  “All clear, bro.  How’s the kid doing?”

 

“Almost asleep again, I think,” Zuko said as he carefully held Roku to his shoulder with one hand while unbarring the door with the other.  He swung the door open to see Sokka standing there, his sword still drawn and bloody but held loosely with the blade down instead of up and ready for battle.  “Did we lose anyone?”

 

“I’m not sure; at least one crewman took a sword to the guts, but Katara is working on him already.”

 

“Who was it?  Pirates, mercenaries, or a renegade Fire Nation ship?”  Zuko asked as he grabbed a wiping cloth from the basket by the changing table and passed it to Sokka.

 

“Pirates, judging by the lack of uniforms,” the Water Tribe warrior said while accepting the cloth and wiping first his sweating brow, and then his black blade clean with it.  “I heard Bunjiro telling his men to keep at least one of them alive for questioning.”

 

After gently settling Roku back in his crib and making sure he was indeed asleep again, they went together out on deck, just as two crewmen finished making their swing and heaved a limp pirate body up over the railing.  Zuko waited until after he heard the splash before he cleared his throat for attention.

 

“Your majesty!” Captain Bunjiro turned and saluted, his uniform covered with soot and blood spatters.  “The enemy has been successfully repelled and destroyed, sir.”

 

“Good work, captain; your men are to be commended.” After asking about casualties and being assured that they were all minimal except for Botan’s abdominal wound, he asked, “Do we have a prisoner for questioning?”

 

Bunjiro hesitated a moment before replying, “Not yet, sir; we were… rather thorough in dealing with the pirates who managed to board the ship.”

 

At his side, Sokka winced and rubbed the back of his neck as he muttered, “Yeah, ‘thorough’ is a good word for Suki…”

 

“But we’re hoping to fish one or two survivors out of the water,” Bunjiro finished, pointing to where a few crewmen were throwing hollow bamboo rings tied to ropes out into the darkened sea.

 

Several moments later Iroh came up to report, “Master Katara says she got to Crewman Botan in time; he’ll live, though he’ll be a long while recovering.   Do we have a prisoner to question yet?”

 

“Looks like we’ve got one now,” Sokka said, leaning over the railing to look at what was being pulled in.  A few seconds later, a decidedly bedraggled-looking pirate was hauled aboard, and immediately pounced on and shackled by a waiting Dai Li agent.  A pirate who Zuko thought looked disturbingly familiar…

 

“Hey, I recognize this guy,” Sokka said, lifting the man’s head by his disheveled hair to peer at his face.  “Mister ‘we prefer to think of ourselves as high-risk traders’, aren’t you? Didn’t you learn the first time, not to mess with Team Avatar?” The pirate only glared in answer.

 

“Your orders, sir?  The ship has no holding cell for locking him up,” Bunjiro reminded him.

 

“Has the bilge been pumped out recently?” Zuko asked.  When the captain said they’d done that before leaving Ba Sing Se, he decided, “Take the handle off the pump so he can’t use it, and then chain him in the pumping space.” A bilge pumping space was always big enough for someone to at least crouch in while working, and with only a few days’ accumulation, the bilge water would only be a couple inches deep at most.  The pirate would be miserable in there, unable to stand upright for the next week or so and with his feet in usually-disgusting waste water, but Zuko cared little for the comfort of someone who had endangered his ship and his son.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Fighting against the pirates and then healing the wounded crewmembers, left Katara hoping that Roku would sleep through the rest of the night; she really needed a decent rest.  But first, while wringing the salt out of two barrels full of seawater so people could use them for washing up, she asked Sokka hesitantly, “Is Suki… all right?  She seemed… during the fight, she was so…”

 

“Vicious?” Sokka supplied for her, with a somber nod of his head.  “Yeah; it’s because they were pirates, Sis.  Kyoshi Islanders really, really don’t like pirates.”

 

Everybody disliked pirates—well, except for Aang at first, and even he’d changed his mind after finding out that they did much nastier things than just wear colorful clothing and have an amusing way of talking. But from what she’d seen of Suki’s expression and her actions, that had been a lot more than just ‘fervent dislike’; that had been an obsessive hatred on a level with Jet’s hatred of the Fire Nation. “Why do they hate pirates so much?”

 

Iroh, the first in line to use the fresh water, paused while wetting a cloth and raised a bushy eyebrow at her.  “You haven’t heard the story?”

 

“News was scarce at the South Pole while we were growing up,” Sokka informed him.  “I didn’t learn about what happened until Suki told me, after I saw the warning sign at the harbor mouth on Kyoshi Island.”

 

“Warning sign?” she asked curiously, wondering what it said.

 

“You’d have seen it if we’d arrived on the island that first time by sea, the way most people do, instead of by air,” Sokka said in a matter-of-fact tone. “The sign says ‘Death To All Pirates’… and it has a double ring of nailed-on skulls around it for emphasis.  They put it up right after the Pirate War.”

 

Katara swallowed hard at the description, before asking, “Pirate War?”

 

“That’s what they call it.  It seems that about six years ago, some loudmouthed idiot decided that the shrine to Avatar Kyoshi contained some fabulous treasure, piles of gold and jewels or something, and spread the word all over the southern seas.  Pirates got wind of the rumor, and enough of them decided it was true that a half-dozen pirate ships decided to band together and form an invasion fleet, to take the treasure for themselves.”

 

“Word of the invasion and battle even reached the Fire Nation Capital,” Iroh said somberly.  “The Kyoshi Warriors fought valiantly to defend their people, but they were but forty warrior women against nearly a hundred and fifty pirates.  Most of them were either killed in the battle or captured, and of those captured and taken aboard the ships… their bodies were dumped overboard, after the pirates used them for their pleasure.  All that was left of the Kyoshi Warriors at the end of that day were a handful of novice warriors, who had been forbidden from battle by their captain before the invasion started.”

 

Katara covered her mouth in horror as Iroh spoke—and then gasped, when the story was picked up by a voice coming from right behind her. “Headman Oyaji locked all five of us trainees in his cellar, at Captain Suyin’s urging.” Katara spun around to see Suki looking thin-lipped and almost as white as her usual makeup, but her voice was steady as she continued, “It took us until sunset to break the door down. By that time, the pirates had killed or captured all our battle-sisters. 

 

“The only thing that saved the entire village from being slaughtered and the shrine to Avatar Kyoshi razed to the ground, was that the pirates didn’t trust each other.  They knew that whoever reached the shrine and the supposed treasure first, would claim most or all of it for themselves.  So after the day’s battle, while counting up their dead and wounded, the five surviving pirate captains agreed to rest and recuperate that night but at first light the next morning, they would march together on the shrine, and when they found the rumored treasure they would divide it equally on the spot.  Then they went back to their ships, and each one posted lookouts to watch for small boats going to and from them, or any other sign that someone was breaking their word. The ones not on lookout were…” Suki’s fists clenched at some memory that she clamped her lips over; after a pause, she continued, “We knew that any of our battle-sisters left aboard, would prefer a clean death to being used like that before dying anyway at the pirates’ hands.”

 

“What did you do?” Katara whispered with horrified fascination.

 

“We set the Unagi on them.  Normally, the Unagi doesn’t go near the harbor; Avatar Kyoshi created and set dozens of underwater noisemakers in place at the harbor mouth nearly three centuries ago, and their noise keeps the Unagi away.  Right after sunset, we dove down and wrapped the noisemakers in cloth or packed them with mud to silence them.  And then we took ten pirates corpses from the dozens that our sisters had killed, hacked them to pieces and spent half the night walking the shoreline and throwing body parts into the water; we laid a bloody trail from the harbor mouth to the Unagi’s side of the island.”

 

A downright cruel smile flitted across Suki’s mouth, and Katara shivered to see it; in that moment, her friend reminded her eerily of Princess Azula.  “The Unagi found the bait, and followed the trail to the harbor mouth two hours before dawn.  It might have stopped there, remembering how the noisemakers had always kept it at bay before, but the pirates had doomed themselves with the bodies of our sisters that they’d tossed overboard.  The Unagi smelled the fresh blood, came in, and feasted well; by dawn, not a single pirate ship was left intact.  Those pirates who escaped its jaws and made it ashore… their skulls are now on the warning sign.”

 

Suki stepped forward to clean up at the water barrel, and everyone gave her a respectful berth.  She added as she washed up, “It took another six weeks of waiting, watching and diving whenever the Unagi went elsewhere to hunt, but eventually we got all the noisemakers working again, and the Unagi has stayed out of the harbor ever since then.  And we five trainees—six, after Keiko came of age to join us the next spring—worked day and night for years afterwards to make the Kyoshi Warriors a respectable fighting force again, not just ‘a bunch of little girls’,” as she threw a telling glance at Zuko, who flushed dull red in response.  Katara decided he was embarrassed about being reminded of the day he’d called them that while invading their island, in an attempt to capture the Avatar.

 

Iroh hastened to assure her that she had indeed proven herself and her warriors as capable fighters, more than once in the last year of the war, and Captain Bunjiro added that she’d certainly done it since the war’s end as well. Suki accepted their compliments with thanks before going back to her bunk, but Zuko touched Sokka’s arm in a wordless request to stay on deck for a few moments longer. 

 

Standing nearby while wringing out some extra freshwater (and she was not eavesdropping, she just happened to be there, they could have gone elsewhere if they wanted privacy), Katara heard Zuko mutter to Sokka, “Does Suki know about that time I, uh…”

 

“Worked with pirates while trying to capture us?”  Sokka finished for him, with a wry smile.  “Yeah, she knows about it; the subject came up once, about three months ago.”

 

Zuko looked down at the deck as he mumbled, “I just don’t want her to think less of me, for being so desperate as to work with pirate scum back then.”

 

“Dude, you invaded her island, remember? Granted you didn’t kill or rape anyone like the pirates did, but trust me, she used to hate you for that all by itself. But then you made up for it after you joined us, and she forgave you like we all did, so don’t worry about what she thinks of your other past Angry Jerk deeds.”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Days later:

 

“So, how’re you feeling now, Phan?” Agent Huong said as he sat down next to the Dai Li agent’s cot in the ship’s sickbay. “Remembered what words are for yet?  You weren’t making a lot of sense the last time I checked in, two hours ago…”

 

“I feel like the bottom of a compost pile,” Phan moaned.  “…But that’s actually an improvement, from how I felt yesterday.”

 

“Not yesterday; five days ago,” Huong told him.  “The medic’s had you on a steady diet of sleep-drugs and sugar-water since then.  But the captain says we’re due to make port tomorrow, so I asked them to let you wake up now.  We’re hoping you’ve slept out your seasickness, and are ready to eat and get back on your feet; it makes a much better impression if the locals see a proper square of four Dai Li ready for action, instead of three of them carrying the fourth on a stretcher.”

 

Phan said that despite the horrible headache he had, he thought he could eat something.  And after Huong propped him up and fed him two spoonfuls of rice, his appetite returned with such a vengeance that he nearly grabbed the bowl away to start eating with his bare fingers.   Huong set him up with the bowl and a pair of chopsticks, warned him to eat slowly to let his neglected stomach adjust to having solid food again, and let him know about everything that had happened while he’d been asleep, chiefly the pirate attack.

 

“We’ve questioned the pirate, but he can’t tell us anything about the man who hired them to attack us.  He never saw the backer, only the captain and the first mate did, and they’re both dead now. But we do know that whoever hired them, knew a lot more than I’m comfortable with,” Huong said with a frown. “Not just what day the yacht left Ba Sing Se and what our route would be, but that the ship would have earthbenders as well as firebenders aboard.”

 

“Fhat’sh not goo’ at all,” Phan mumbled, frowning in between bites of rice. After swallowing, he added, “Do you think someone bribed a port official?”

 

“That’s a possibility, one that I suggested in my hawk-message back to Master Toph.  But whoever gave the pirates their information, didn’t know we had an extra pai sho tile in play; Master Katara.  The pirate said they hadn’t been warned that there was a master waterbender on board.”

 

“Because she didn’t join us until the morning of our departure?” Phan guessed.

 

Huong nodded.  “Given how far from Ba Sing Se the pirates were, whoever contacted and hired them must have done it before she made her decision.  No, that’s enough rice for now; here, have some fresh water instead.  Then we’ll see if you can stand up without throwing up this time…”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Phan had indeed recovered from his seasickness, though it took many hours filled with several slow walks around the ship, with frequent pauses for water and high-energy snacks like coilnuts, for him to recover from being sedated for so long.  By morning the next day, Agent Huong declared to the Fire Lord that Agent Phan was fit for duty again.

 

And just in time, too; after ten days of traveling, the ship finally pulled into port at the Fire Nation capitol city two hours before noon.  They arrived to find nearly every building draped in white; the color for funerals in the Fire Nation.  Katara wondered if the city had been draped in mourning for all of the past month, ever since they’d heard the news about Fire Lady Mai, or if they’d waited until Zuko’s return.

 

Mai’s funeral had been held in the Earth Kingdom, but one last solemn task remained; interring her ashes in the Hall of Ancestors.  Wearing robes of purest white, Zuko waited on deck with the ornate urn in his arms until the ship was moored to the pier and the gangplank set in place, as the ship’s great boilers were finally shut down.  Then in utter silence, he descended the long ramp to the dock below, where dozens of people also dressed in white were waiting.

 

Katara didn’t see the signal, but when Zuko was halfway down the gangplank, everyone on the docks suddenly dropped in their tracks and knelt prostrate, their foreheads on the ground; full kowtows to greet their monarch.  Still silent, Zuko descended the rest of the way, with Uncle Iroh and little Roku four steps behind him and Fire Sage Shyu directly behind them. Katara, Sokka and Suki came behind Shyu, and the royal guards and Dai Li agents followed after them; each of them wearing full dress uniforms or the formal clothes of their own country, but with a white shawl or surcoat draped over for mourning. 

 

After arriving on the dock, Zuko told his officials to rise. As they rose to their feet, the man in the fanciest white robes of the group began a speech about how sorrowful everyone was, how the entire nation was grieving over his loss.  He might actually have meant it, too, but his speech was so smooth and practiced… Katara was more inclined to believe the sincerity of the man standing behind ‘smooth talker’; that one said nothing as he met Zuko’s eyes, but a solitary tear was tracking down his otherwise stoic face. 

 

As everyone else descended the gangplank and gathered behind him, Zuko listened in silence to the fancy speech, until ‘smooth talker’ finally ran down.  Then he nodded once, still not saying anything, and stepped past the gathering to the palanquins and bearers waiting at the end of the dock.

 

There were three palanquins in all, two draped in white and the third in the usual black and red Fire Nation colors.  While they’d all been gathered on the deck of the ship, Iroh had quietly explained that Zuko and Fire Sage Shyu would take one of the white palanquins, with Mai’s ashes, up to the Hall of Ancestors for interment. Iroh and little Roku, as family members, would follow Zuko in the other white palanquin.  The third palanquin was for Sokka, Suki and Katara, and would take them straight to the royal palace. 

 

Carrying the urn, Zuko stepped into the first white palanquin, while Iroh and Roku got into the second one.  There was some murmured consternation from the officials as Katara stepped up to the second palanquin, but after handing in Roku’s diaper bag, she bowed respectfully and withdrew.  She would rather have climbed in to be with Roku, and she knew Sokka and Suki would have preferred to accompany the white palanquins too. But Iroh had explained that, even though they were Zuko’s closest friends, none but royal family members were allowed to attend.

 

But even without Suki or the Water Tribe siblings along, Zuko and Roku would still be kept safe. When Zuko nodded, the palanquin bearers that had been kneeling in position all rose to their feet and lifted their burdens; with practiced smoothness, the palanquins rose into the air. Equally smoothly, the set of eight royal guards that had already been present on the dock stepped into place, four to each palanquin; ahead of the front bearers and right beside the curtained openings. Then, just as smoothly, the four Dai Li agents stepped forward and took their own positions; two to each white palanquin, flanking them from the rear.

 

“What?! How dare--what is the meaning of—who are these people?!” ‘smooth talker’ demanded as the royal guards turned and bristled at the Dai Li agents, who looked back impassively.

 

“Ah, Minister Orsino, how unfortunate that you did not receive word before this,” Iroh said from inside his palanquin, with all the smoothness that ‘smooth talker’—no, he had a name and title now; Minister Orsino—had abruptly lost.  “Before we left the Earth Kingdom, the Earth King bestowed a final gift; four of his Dai Li agents, to act as bodyguards for the young prince and his father.  Once we are in the palace, they shall be introduced to the Imperial Guard and integrated into their duties.  In the meantime, shall we proceed?”

 

Casting doubtful glances at the Dai Li agents, the palanquin bearers and royal guards nonetheless moved forward; no one refused a command from a royal family member, even when couched as a polite request.  Keeping their heads bowed slightly so their faces could not be seen beneath their helmets, the Dai Li agents moved in synch with the palanquins as they headed away from the docks and up the steep slope towards the capitol city. Minister Orsino’s face was flushed with either anger or embarrassment, but he said nothing and let them go.

 

After climbing into the third palanquin, en route to the royal palace, Sokka mused aloud, “If Iroh didn’t tell Minister Orsino about the Dai Li, in all the messages that were sent back and forth with those messenger hawks… then he didn’t want the minister to know about them ahead of time.  Because Iroh doesn’t trust him?”

 

“That’s what it sounded like to me,” Katara said.  “He didn’t want to give Orsino time to prepare for them—or maybe even prepare something against the Dai Li.  No doubt about it, there’s going to be trouble,” she finished grimly.

 

“That’s why we’re here, Sis,” as Sokka gave an expansive gesture that included all three of them. “But maybe… maybe it’s just a status thing.  See, by showing everyone there that the minister didn’t know everything about the situation, Uncle just publicly pushed the guy down a notch.  Before, when he was just here for the wedding, Uncle really went out of his way to stay in the background; he told me he wanted everyone paying attention to Zuko and Mai, because it was their special occasion.  But now that he’s here for more than just a wedding… That little status slapdown we saw could have been his way of saying ‘I’m back!  And you’d better take me seriously.’ Iroh’s pretty clever that way,” Sokka nodded sagely.

 

“That he is.  Maybe if you hung around him more, some of that cleverness will rub off on you,” Katara suggested.

 

“Yeah… hey!” as Sokka just realized the implied insult. 

 

Suki hid a smile behind her war fan, then said slowly, “It was nice of them to give us a ride up to the palace.  But I hope the three of us together aren’t too heavy for the eight men carrying us.  Though they all looked pretty strong…”

 

Katara and Sokka took the hint.  The curtains draped over the palanquin gave the illusion of privacy, but in reality there were people right nearby who could hear them easily; it was best to keep quiet about sensitive subjects until they were at the palace.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

The interment ceremony was mercifully brief; Zuko let the Fire Sages’ drone slide right past his ears, as he focused on the recessed shelf in the wall where Mai’s ashes would rest.  When a sage’s gesture indicated it was time, he carefully set the urn onto the shelf.  And when another sage stepped forward with an ink brush ready, he accepted the brush and carefully wrote out her full name, and the words that described her best: 

Loyal Friend.

Deadly Warrior.

Beloved Wife.

Fire Lady.

 

Then he gestured wordlessly for a moment alone, and the sages bowed and retreated to the end of the corridor, to give him privacy.

 

Zuko leaned forward and rested his head against the cool stone of the wall, feeling so weary. Seeing the long, lonely life ahead of him, forever burdened with the cares of state, and without Mai at his side. No one to lean on when he was troubled; to soothe him when his temper flared; to point out with her near-perpetual calm when he was worrying over something that wasn’t really worth worrying about.  How could he do this?  How could he be Fire Lord without her?

 

He’d do it, because he had to.  His son needed him.  His country needed him, whether or not most of his people actually wanted him on the throne.  There was no one else to do the job, to remake the Fire Nation into a country of peace instead of war, and help bring the world back into balance.  It would be so much harder, without Mai… but he’d had to struggle for everything in his life, before their wedding.  He should be used to it by now.

 

Still leaning against the wall, he touched the cool ceramic urn in its niche, and spoke softly.  “I’ll always love you, Mai.  And tell little Roku, as he grows up, how wonderful you are…  were… Still are, in the spirit world.  I… I hope you find something there that really makes you smile.”  When she let it show, Mai had such a beautiful smile…

 

Finally, he turned and went out, to where his uncle, his son and all his duties were waiting for him.

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

When the palanquin bearing Suki, Sokka and Katara arrived at the palace, they were met on the palace steps by an aged man with white wisps of beard on his aquiline face, who looked like he hadn’t smiled for at least a decade.  “Greetings and welcome back, honored associates of the Fire Lord,” he said as he bowed low to them; Katara recognized him as Kumo, the Fire Lord’s majordomo.   She had first met him on the palace steps right after Zuko’s Agni Kai with Azula; his sister had fired all the palace servants and guards in her paranoia, but Kumo had quietly remained behind. 

 

Zuko had managed to walk off the Agni Kai field under his own power, but nearly collapsed soon afterwards from exhaustion and his injuries, alive thanks to Katara’s water-healing abilities but far from fully healed. Katara had been helping Zuko make it up the palace steps, barely conscious and leaning heavily on her shoulder, when she’d seen an elderly man in fancy servant’s robes coming down them. She wouldn’t have trusted the elderly servant to help her if she hadn’t seen the naked relief in his eyes just before he’d wiped the expression away, to take Zuko’s other arm and help him up the steps, through the halls and into his room.

 

Straightening up from the bow, Kumo continued, “It is my honor to serve you all. May I show you to the rooms that have been prepared for you?”

 

They agreed, and when they went up the steps and through the great double doors into the palace, they were met by another familiar face; Hoshi, the guardsman Zuko had made the new Captain of his Imperial Guard after he’d saved Zuko’s life in the first month of his reign.  But the last time Katara had seen him, just before leaving for advance Healer training up at the Northern Water Tribe, he’d been a hale and hearty man in his mid-twenties.  Now Hoshi looked like he’d aged nearly a decade in a little over a year; there were gray hairs beginning to show in his thick black hair, a jagged scar running from cheek to chin obscenely decorated the left side of his face, and he was standing with the aid of crutches, his right leg immobilized in a cast. 

 

Her guts clenched and turned icy as Katara suddenly knew, without asking, that all the changes in Hoshi were the results of all the assassination attempts in the last few months that Zuko had never told them about in his letters.  Curse it, why hadn’t anyone realized his letters were too vague, and left too much unsaid?

 

Hoshi awkwardly attempted to bow to them, crutches and all, but Katara and Sokka rushed him together to keep him upright.  “Hoshi!  What the slush happened to you?” Sokka exclaimed, before letting go of Hoshi’s bicep to smack his own forehead.  “Don’t tell me; one of those recent assassination attempts that Zuko finally told us about?”

 

“Two, actually,” Hoshi admitted while trying to gently extricate himself from Katara’s grip.  “Suicidal swordsman for this one,” as he gestured to his face, “and a bomb did this,” as he indicated his leg.

 

But Katara refused to let him shake her grip, and she used her free hand to uncork her waterskin and send a glowing tendril of it snaking down inside his cast, to find out how badly he’d been hurt.  From what she could sense through the water’s contact with his chi, he’d broken his femur right above the knee and his tibia in two places, about two months ago.  The fractures were all healing well, but he was still pushing it by being on his feet at all, and she let Hoshi know that in no uncertain terms.

 

“As I informed him myself, milady, but he insisted that he would be on his feet to greet the Fire Lord,” Kumo said with a stern look at the guard captain; one that Hoshi met unflinching, looking nearly as determined as Zuko usually did.

 

“He’s still at the interment ceremony, but after he comes back and Roku is properly settled in, I’m coming for you,” Katara said, giving him a glare she’d modeled after Yugoda’s best; one that Hoshi actually flinched from.  “And you’ll stay off that leg until after I’m done with you!”

 

“Better listen to her,” Sokka said with a suppressed snicker while Kumo gestured to a nearby servant, and a chair almost magically appeared right behind Hoshi.  Katara gave him the Raised Eyebrow of Doom until he sat down, informed him that he would stay seated until the Fire Lord was actually at the palace gates and then retire to his quarters immediately after greeting his sovereign, and only then let Kumo lead them away to their rooms.

 

When they’d been staying in the palace after the end of the war before all going their separate ways, they’d all stayed in rooms in the guest wing. But this time Kumo led the way through the palace to the wing that housed the family suites, explaining that Iroh’s messages to the majordomo had been to treat them as family members rather than as guests.  “Because good guests don’t hang around for at least five years,” Sokka commented with a wry smile, which turned into an open-mouthed gape as he looked at the sumptuously furnished room that had been assigned to him.  “Whoa… this is bigger than my whole house back home!”

 

Suki’s room was shown to them next, and it was even bigger than Sokka’s and even more lavishly furnished.  The Kyoshi Warrior asked, “Out of sheer curiosity, who were the last residents of our rooms?”

 

“This suite once belonged to Princess Azula,” Kumo informed them.

 

Suki went rigid, and Katara’s stomach flip-flopped; she knew that Suki used to have nightmares about what had happened to her after Azula had defeated the Kyoshi Warriors.  Suki never gave details, ever, but it must have been horrible; she had scars in places where no one should ever get scars, including finger-sized burn scars.  And the way she used to wake white-faced and trembling from those nightmares…

 

Despite their actions being against her morals, Katara had never once scolded or even teased Sokka about having sex with Suki before they were married, because she knew that Suki had been the one to push their relationship to the next level. Nor did she ever think of Suki as having lax morals for doing so; not when she knew the other reason why Suki had almost dragged Sokka into that empty room that night in the Western Air Temple, a few days after the escape from Boiling Rock Prison. It was a heartbreakingly simple reason: Suki usually didn’t have nightmares while she was in Sokka’s arms.

 

Kumo probably didn’t know about Suki’s history with Azula, but he must have sensed something from her rigid posture, even if she kept her face expressionless. The majordomo smoothly added, “Of course, you have the option of completely redecorating.”

 

“Oh, I will,” Suki growled, looking at her surroundings. Glaring right along with her, Sokka muttered that he’d help. Katara had a strong hunch that most of those velvet draperies and intricately embroidered wall hangings were going to be shredded before the week was out, and the furniture broken up for kindling. 

 

Then Sokka asked about his suite. Katara almost told him, then thought about how that might be interpreted coming from her, and decided to keep her mouth shut. So instead Kumo informed him, “Your rooms once belonged to Fire Lord Zuko when he was still a prince.”

 

Sokka blinked. “Yeah? So where’s Zuko sleeping now?”

 

Kumo blinked too, whether in surprise that they referred to the Fire Lord so familiarly or in surprise that they even had to ask. “The Fire Lord sleeps in the Fire Lord’s chambers.”

 

“Oh, really?” Katara gave him a raised eyebrow. “Zuko told me once he’d never willingly set foot in there, let alone sleep in there.”

 

Kumo didn’t even bat an eye this time. “The rooms were stripped down to the bare walls, blessed by a Fire Sage and completely refurnished. Fire Lord Zuko later found them acceptable, after an incident involving the Avatar’s pet lemur and a fledgling messenger hawk rendered his own rooms temporarily uninhabitable.” 

 

“What sort of incident?” Sokka asked curiously.

 

Kumo cleared his throat.  “That would be for the Fire Lord or the Avatar himself to relate. Rest assured, however, all the damage has been repaired.  May I show you to the Lady Katara’s room?”

 

Walking a short distance further down the family wing, Kumo said with a low bow to Katara before even opening the door, “My sincere apologies if this room does not meet your standards.  General Iroh sent a message telling us of your role in caring for the infant prince, and given that you will be his closest attendant, the logical choice was the room usually given to the royal family’s wet-nurse, adjoining the nursery.  We have done what we can to make it more suitable for you, given that the general has not yet authorized the funds for completely remodeling and enlarging them.”

 

The room he showed her was much smaller than the rooms now given to Sokka and Suki; the large four-poster bed in the room took up most of the available space. Katara privately bet herself that the bed was a recent addition, as were the brocaded wall hangings and wall-mounted mirror.  But at least it wasn’t all done in red and black, like the furnishings in the other rooms seen so far. The bed-curtains and coverlet were a rich cobalt blue, and the wall hangings were done in Earth Kingdom colors and designs; probably the best the palace staff could do on short notice for redecorating to a foreigner’s tastes, given what was available in the local markets. “There’s no need to do any remodeling; this room will do just fine,” she told Kumo.  “I don’t think I’ll be doing much besides sleeping in here anyway.  May we see the nursery?”

 

Kumo gestured to a door set in one wall of Katara’s room, and led them through a short passage that included a bathroom and walk-in closet on opposite sides, before opening the door into the royal nursery.  Which was clearly much larger than Katara’s room; the crib, playpen, changing table, dresser, set of child-sized table and chairs and daybed tucked along one wall all fit into the room with plenty of space to spare.  

 

“Hi, guys!” they heard suddenly from the nursery doorway, and turned to see Aang standing there grinning at them. “Settling in okay?  I wanted to be here when you arrived, but Appa and I had to detour around a nasty storm on the way here.  Everything all right?  Where’re Zuko and the baby?”

 

“Hi, Aang!” Katara said as she gave her boyfriend a quick hug.  “Everything’s fine so far.  Zuko, Roku and Iroh aren’t at the palace yet; they’re interring Mai’s ashes, and it’s a family-only ritual.  Where’s your room?”

 

“Oh, my rooms are still in the guest wing.  Zuko offered to put me up in the family wing before, but I never stay here more than a few days and I really like the view I have already. So he said I could decorate them any way I wanted; wanna come see how they look now?”

 

They did, so Aang led them back to the guest wing and showed them to his permanent suite there. It was decorated simply but beautifully in Air Nomad colors and furnishings; Katara was reminded of the halls of the Western Air Temple. The windows showed an excellent view of the harbor, and the blue sky and sea beyond. 

 

Then, when pressed by a grinning Sokka, he mumbled through the story of how Momo and a fledgling messenger hawk that had escaped from the training aerie had wrecked the furnishings in Zuko’s bedroom—with a little help from Aang’s air blasts, as he’d tried to keep the untrained and hungry hawk from catching Momo without actually hurting the fledgling.  “Things got a little crazy after we all got tangled up in the bed curtains,” he admitted. “And after I accidentally kicked Zuko in the head, he got mad enough to set the curtain on fire, and… well, when I pulled water in from the turtle-duck pond to put out the fire in the bed curtains, I probably should have made sure the turtle-ducks stayed behind…”

 

Aang insisted over everyone’s laughter, “It all turned out for the better; Zuko really needed to get over his issues with the Fire Lord’s suite!  Kumo had totally redecorated those rooms for him, twice, but he still wouldn’t go in there.” 

 

“But after you utterly trashed my bedroom, it was either that or sleep in one of the guest rooms in my own home,” they heard, and turned to see Zuko coming for them with Roku in his arms, and with his uncle, the Dai Li and nearly a dozen different servants and guards following behind.  “Hello, Aang; good to see you again.  Have the rest of you been shown to your rooms yet?”

 

They went as a group back to the nursery, and followed Zuko inside.  “Welcome to your real home, son,” Zuko whispered as he walked with the baby around the room, pointing out the assorted furnishings before picking up a large and bright red stuffed toy dragon sitting on the dresser and waggling it for Roku.  “This is Ran; I had him made just for you. Maybe someday you’ll be able to meet the real Ran, but for now, this toy will do.  I hope you’ll like it here,” he said quietly as he set both baby and toy dragon inside the crib.

 

Everyone had been respectfully quiet while Zuko was showing the nursery to his son; now Iroh said slowly, “Nephew, you and the Fire Nation have been in mourning for Mai for the past month.  And indeed, her loss will be mourned for far longer, by everyone… but now, it is time to celebrate.”

 

“Celebrate what?” Zuko said, aiming his lone eyebrow at his uncle as he straightened up from the crib.

 

“Why, Roku, of course!” as Iroh spread his hands before stepping up to the crib. “Today he has not only been brought home; he has also turned one month old. One month old, and healthy; that is traditionally a cause for celebration!” as he smiled while lightly stroking Roku’s tiny cheek.  He turned back to Zuko and asked, “Will you now permit the people to celebrate the arrival of your son and heir?”

 

After a brief pause, Zuko nodded and gave a small almost-smile.  “All right.  I guess we can have a--” he cut himself off, because Iroh had already turned away with a wide grin and clapped twice; instantly, two of the servants present bobbed in lightning-fast bows before nearly sprinting out of the room.  Kumo, the majordomo, didn’t sprint out after bowing but was moving with a slight spring in his step, as opposed to the somber pace he’d had up till then.

 

Iroh turned around to find Zuko glaring at him, illustrating to everyone present why he was known as the Dragoneye.  The Fire Lord growled, “You already set up a celebration, didn’t you?”

 

“Just the first few steps of preparation,” Iroh said with a deferential nod.  “Everything else awaited your permission. If you had not given it, then nothing would happen… but the people are eager to acknowledge the arrival of an heir to the throne.  It seems fortuitous to combine the infant prince’s arrival in the Fire Nation with his one-month-old celebration.”

 

Zuko snorted, “Fortuitous, my foot!  This is the real reason why the ship reduced to three-quarters of its top cruising speed two days ago, isn’t it?  It wasn’t to conserve fuel; you wanted the two events to coincide, so you had the captain come up with an excuse to time our arrival for this morning instead of yesterday evening.”

 

“True,” Iroh readily admitted.  “And this morning, everyone mourned for the nation’s loss.  But this afternoon, the people shall celebrate what we have gained; a new Fire Prince.  The signals are now going out to tell the people to exchange the white mourning draperies for red festival draperies.”

 

“Uh-huh.  And what else?” Zuko scowled. “There are limits to what I’m going to let you get away with, Uncle! If you think I’m going to take Roku out on a parade through the city, when he’s still underweight and he could get exposed to diseases from anyone…!”

 

“Oh, absolutely not,” as Iroh held his hands up as if to ward off the very idea.  “Though I was hoping you’d give a brief appearance with him on the balcony, in a few hours. Not for long, just a few minutes, but long enough to let the people have a brief glimpse of the heir.  And long enough to let them all know that your son is alive thanks to the combined efforts of the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes; that really should be acknowledged by all, don’t you think?”

 

Zuko’s scowl vanished as he straightened up. “Absolutely!” He turned to his friends as he asked, “I know most of you aren’t fond of public appearances either, but would you come out onto the balcony with me?”

 

“We already said, where Roku goes we go,” Sokka said with a smile and shrug. “So, what kind of food do you folks have at one-month-old-baby festivals?”

 

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

As they found out two hours later, the food served at a baby’s one-month-old celebrations included hard-boiled eggs (symbolizing fertility), pork buns (symbolizing vitality), and little cakes shaped like miniature lion-turtles (symbolizing longevity), all of them glazed or dyed bright red for happiness.   Sokka stopped stuffing his face only long enough to join everyone on the balcony facing a wide plaza, as Zuko presented his son and heir to the waiting crowd.

 

Iroh and Fire Sage Shyu spoke first, explaining exactly how Roku had come to be born on Fire Nation soil in the heart of Ba Sing Se.  When Iroh got to the part where Zuko had won the arm-wrestling match by slamming King Kuei’s hand to the table, the crowd roared with both laughter and unmistakable approval.  But when he spoke of the moment when they’d discovered that Mai’s own nurse had poisoned her in childbirth, all was silence except for quiet sobs here and there.

Though he hadn’t been present at the birth, Fire Sage Shyu had been told about it enough times that he took up the narrative next:  “The royal family thought all hope was lost; that both Fire Lady Mai and the unborn child would die from the nurse’s treachery.  But the Earth Queen herself and the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe were filled with compassion for them and for our nation’s plight, despite all the wrongs that the Fire Nation has done to their countries in the past.  They both entered the birthing room and vowed that they would do all within their power to aid both mother and child.”

 

After a brief pause to let that sink in, Shyu continued, “The nurse’s treachery had been discovered too late to save Fire Lady Mai, though she died bravely, as befits her station.  But Earth Queen Song and Lady Katara, working together as midwife and healer, managed to bring the Fire Lord’s son safely into this world!”

 

That was Zuko’s cue to step forward with Roku, wrapped in a bright red blanket, and lift him high to show him to the assembled throngs.  He announced in ringing tones that carried out over the plaza, “I have named my son Roku. He is one month old now, healthy and thriving.  Rejoice, my people, for the birth of the royal heir!”  The crowd’s cheers in response were deafening.

 

The celebration was still going on in the plaza over an hour later, fueled by thousands of red-dyed eggs, pork buns and lion-turtle cakes being handed out by enterprising food vendors, but those living inside the palace now were already setting to work.  Zuko and his uncle had gone to his office, to begin tackling the towering piles of paperwork that had accumulated in the Fire Lord’s absence.  Bearing baby Roku in a sling, Katara sat down next to Hoshi and worked on speeding up the healing process for his broken leg, while he conferred with Sokka, Suki, the Dai Li agents and the guard lieutenant who had accompanied Zuko to Ba Sing Se, on how to integrate the newcomers’ duties with the Imperial Guard.

 

It was agreed that since they were there as quasi-family members, Sokka and Suki would be regarded as free agents; they answered to no one except Zuko, and the guards would simply be thankful for the extra set of watchful eyes whenever they were present. But the Dai Li agents were a different matter; they also took their orders from the Fire Lord, but both Zuko and Toph had told them to work directly with the Imperial Guard.

 

Looking grim, Hoshi told the Dai Li agents, “Your Master Toph was always blunt and honest with me, so I’ll be blunt and honest with you: I’d rather you weren’t here at all.  It’s a slight on our honor, as good as screaming to the four ends of the world that the Imperial Guard can’t perform our duty of protecting the royal family.  But in the past eight months I’ve lost nine good men, friends and comrades… and we failed to detect the nurse’s treachery in time to save the Fire Lady, may Agni grant her spirit peace.  So at this point I’ll cram my honor into a walnut shell, and admit that we need all the help we can get.”

 

“We appreciate your honesty,” Huong said for all the Dai Li, “and we respect all that you’ve done to keep them alive so long.  The plain fact that they survived seventeen assassination attempts before leaving for Ba Sing Se, speaks very highly of your people’s skills and determination.”

 

“It sure does,” Sokka chimed in, and Suki agreed with a somber nod.

 

Huong continued, “Now, we’d like to begin with interviews of all the people who’ve been hired on at the palace, since after Master Toph departed; everyone who didn’t receive her personal attention during the employment interviews.”

 

“I figured you would,” Hoshi said, as he promptly pulled a tightly bound scroll out of his tunic and handed it over.  “And I’ve cleared out the stone-floored storage room that Master Toph used for interviewing last year; Taro can show you where it is.  If there’s a traitor in our midst, then the sooner he’s uncovered the better, so let’s get started…”

 

To Be Continued

Chapter 11: Settling In

As soon as Zuko had finished presented baby Roku to his people and left the balcony to go back inside the palace, Aang had zipped straight to his permanent guest suite, put on his Fire Nation hat and clothes, and gone out to mingle with the populace disguised as an ordinary teenager. Not for the purpose of grabbing more of those tasty little lion-turtle cakes (though he’d certainly had more while he was out there,) but to overhear what people were really saying about Zuko and his son after the ceremony, when they thought no one was paying attention to them anymore.

While Zuko and everybody else had been traveling by yacht to the Fire Nation, Aang had visited two of the soon-to-be-former Fire Nation colonies with the happy news that the treaty had finally been signed, and everyone who wanted to stay in their homes when the Earth Kingdom took over the land would be allowed to do so, as Earth Kingdom citizens. He’d also conveyed the sad news about what had happened to Mai; official notices of her death had been sent out weeks ago, but given that she’d died in Ba Sing Se, he wanted to make sure everyone knew that what had happened hadn’t been the Earth Kingdom’s fault at all, and Kuei and Song had actually done everything they could to help.

Both times, the colonial governors had quietly accepted all the news he had to give them… until he’d told them that there should be no concerns about the rules of succession for Zuko’s son, at least over baby Roku having been born on foreign soil, because it had become Fire Nation soil when Zuko had ‘conquered’ a room in the Earth King’s palace just before his birth. Then they’d gotten upset, even if they’d tried to hide it at first.

In Yu Dao, he’d told the colonial governor the news over dinner with the man’s family, and the man’s teenaged daughter had been so mad she’d jumped up and started shouting, even when her mother had been hissing for her to sit down and quit making a spectacle of herself. "So he’ll fight the Earth Kingdom for his son’s sake, but he won’t fight for us, his loyal citizens?! He doesn’t deserve our loyalty!"

"But he did fight for you all!" Aang had insisted. "If he hadn’t, you wouldn’t even have your homes anymore; there are a lot of people in the Earth Kingdom who just want you all to go back to the Fire Nation and leave the land to them!" He should know; he’d broken up a lot of riots and not-so-peaceful protests in the past year and a half, and more than half of them had been started by Earth Kingdom people demanding that the Fire Nation colonists be driven out immediately, no matter what their king said. Some had even wanted the colonists physically pushed out to sea, without a ship under them.

The governor and his wife had gotten their daughter to sit down and be quiet, but the rest of the meal had been ruined and Aang had made his goodbyes as soon as he could afterwards. Now as he wandered the streets of the city’s capital, he kept his ears open for more grumblings of discontent and unhappiness with Zuko… But everybody he walked past seemed to be just happy that Roku was alive and thriving, despite being born so early. That was a relief; Zuko really didn’t need anyone starting riots right outside his gates again. Especially when he was so overprotective of Roku right now; there was no telling how he might react!

Aang decided that when he left tomorrow to finish making his rounds of the colonies, he’d tell people that instead of having ‘conquered’ it, Fire Lord Zuko had just gratefully accepted the Earth King’s gift of the room as Fire Nation territory for his son. That was really what had happened anyway; the arm-wrestling had mostly been for show. And maybe if he emphasized Kuei’s generosity more, the colonists would start thinking that being ruled by the Earth King instead of the Fire Lord wouldn’t be so bad after all.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

The day after his return to the Fire Nation, Zuko held his first council meeting in over six weeks. The meeting started with the council members expressing their personal condolences on the loss of Fire Lady Mai, and their congratulations on the Fire Lord having sired a healthy son; Zuko gravely thanked them for both before calling the meeting to order, with his uncle Iroh seated in a place of honor by his side.

It was clear that several council members were affected by the presence of the Dragon of the West, who had once been the crown prince and heir to the throne under Fire Lord Azulon, as well as a mighty general in the Fire Nation Army. Some council members seemed wary and intimidated by him, some almost hostile, but others were openly pleased and even relieved by his presence. Sometime during the session, one advisor made the mistake of addressing question about a policy change directly to Iroh, instead of to Zuko…

He did not make that mistake again. Zuko and Iroh together made it very clear that despite his recent personal tragedy, Zuko was still the Fire Lord and firmly in charge. Iroh was there to support and advise his nephew, providing his unique and valuable perspective on Fire Nation relations with the Earth Kingdom, nothing more.

While the council meeting was still going on, Aang kissed Katara goodbye before leaping up onto Appa and taking the reins with a cheery "Yip yip!" The sky bison and rider soared away to the east and the colonies; Katara waved until they were out of sight, then returned to the nursery where Roku was sleeping under Suki’s watchful eye.

Just a few minutes after taking over Roku-minding from Suki, Katara responded to a knock on the door to see Kumo, the palace majordomo, standing there with four women lined up behind him. Katara thought she recognized one of them, a petite and elderly woman with care-worn features, from yesterday; she’d glimpsed Iroh personally escorting her, while patting her hand and talking to her in low comforting tones, to the stone-floored room where the Dai Li were interviewing all the servants who’d been hired in the past year.

The elderly woman bowed, somewhat slowly and stiffly, as Kumo introduced her first out of the four. "Lady Katara, this is Yukiko, who was once nanny to Fire Lord Zuko when he was a child; she will be working with you in minding the infant prince. Yukiko, meet your superior in the nursery, Lady Katara of the Southern Water Tribe."

"I’m pleased to meet you!" Katara said warmly, to counter that snobbish-sounding word ‘superior’ and the nervous look in the elderly woman’s eyes. Yukiko bowed and responded in kind, though her voice quavered a little; Katara couldn’t decide if it was from age or fear.

Then Kumo introduced the other three women, all of whom were only a few years older than Katara and were looking at her with politely-disguised curiosity instead of nervousness. "This is Koemi, who will be your personal maid for dressing and toiletry. Chiyo and Misa will be your house maids, for cleaning your room and the nursery; Misa is also trained to assist Koemi in personal services as required." As Kumo gestured to them in turn, all three women bowed to her and murmured greetings. "All of them have passed the Dai Li’s interviews, and so can begin serving you now."

Katara kept the smile on her face, though she could feel it straining to become a look of bewilderment. When she’d stayed in the palace before, in the first few weeks after the war had been won, she and Suki had together been assigned a housemaid for keeping their adjoining rooms clean and thought that a nice luxury indeed. After the last year spent tidying up after a steadily increasing band of children and teenagers, having someone tidy up after Katara instead had been an utter delight! But really, just that one maid—Namiko, if Katara remembered her name right—had been enough for both of them. But now Katara was going to have four servants underfoot, assigned just to her?

Assigned to her and Roku, Katara reminded herself, and Roku was Fire Nation royalty. All royal children were probably assigned multiple servants instead of just one wet-nurse to do everything; Katara had noticed before that Zuko was usually surrounded by servants (unless he specifically told them to leave him alone), each one with a different and specific job to do for him. It was more likely that Yukiko, Chiyo and Misa were really there for Roku instead of for her, but Kumo had introduced them as her servants because she’d be the one talking to them on Roku’s behalf.

After the introductions, Kumo bowed and departed, leaving Katara staring at all the servants she’d suddenly acquired and wondering what to do next. But luckily, the servants themselves seemed to know just what to do; Chiyo and Misa started bustling about the nursery and straightening things up, while Koemi excused herself through the doorway to Katara’s room with a murmur that with milady’s permission, she would familiarize herself with Katara’s wardrobe in order to better assist with personal services whenever milady so desired.

Yukiko approached the crib, with a timid backwards glance at Katara, but was instantly and clearly captivated by her first sight of the baby lying within. "Ohh, aren’t you an adorable little one," she crooned, her voice so warm and grandmotherly that for a bare instant Katara thought her own Gran-Gran was somehow there looking through Yukiko’s eyes.

Katara sidled up next to her and joined her in gazing at the sleeping baby. "He sure is," she agreed softly. "Did Zuko look like him when he was a baby?"

"Oh, yes, he--" and then Yukiko seemed to catch herself, her expression turning timid and wary again. "I would say that there is some family resemblance, milady," as she looked at Katara out of the corner of her eye. "But General Iroh did not tell me that Fire Lord Zuko has granted permission to speak of his childhood days, and I would not dare to presume."

Ojia at her most timid hadn’t been like this, Katara thought with unease curdling her stomach. It reminded her of the days right after Sozin’s Comet, when nearly every Fire Nation native she’d seen had either glared at her, a ‘foreign barbarian,’ in hatred or tried to hide from her in fear. By the time she’d visited again for Zuko’s wedding to Mai, people’s attitudes had improved a lot and some citizens had even smiled at her, but now… What was Yukiko so scared of? Of Zuko, the former ‘traitor prince’ who was now her sovereign ruler, or of Katara, the fearsome master waterbender who had defeated Princess Azula? And how had she passed the Dai Li’s interviews and been judged ‘safe to employ in the nursery’ if she had so much fear of either one of them?

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

At dinnertime that evening, Iroh joined Sokka, Suki and Katara in the grand dining hall but said with regret that he could not pry Zuko away from his desk; the Fire Lord had come home to an office stacked shoulder-high with paperwork all demanding his royal attention, and declared that he hadn’t made enough headway yet to give himself a break.

Carrying Roku in his baby sling, Katara grimaced at the news; she hadn’t seen Zuko since early that morning, when he’d stopped by the nursery before breakfast to give his son a quick kiss and cuddle before hurrying off to a council meeting. She hadn’t seen him at lunchtime, and by skipping dinner, Zuko was missing out on another opportunity to be with his son; she hoped he didn’t make a habit of this.

The dinner menu that night included stewed sea prunes, to Sokka and Katara’s delight, though Suki greeted them with a more rueful smile. Iroh politely tried a sample at Katara’s urging, paused, and then said with a smile that he was well acquainted with Sokka’s prodigious appetite, and he wouldn’t dream of depriving a growing warrior of his favorite food.

"Well, my absolute favorite food is blubbered seal jerky," Sokka said after due consideration, "but I appreciate the sentiment!" as he gestured for the servant who was gingerly carrying the bowl of sea prunes at arm’s length to bring it back in his direction.

After dinner, Iroh accompanied Katara and the others back to the nursery. Katara murmured to Sokka that they needed some space for talking, and he nodded to her before giving Suki a meaningful glance. Changing their walking paces, the two warriors casually got between Katara and their retinue of servants while ‘accidentally’ nudging Iroh closer to her. Not at all oblivious to the maneuvering, Iroh raised a bushy eyebrow to Katara in silent question, inclining his head to her in unspoken encouragement to speak her mind. She said in a near-whisper, "About Yukiko… I know Roku’s safe around her, or she’d have never made it past the interviews, but she seems so scared to be here; do you know why? Did something happen to her?"

Iroh frowned as he admitted, "I do not know for certain. She was nanny to Lu Ten when he was a child, and did so well for him that I recommended her to Ursa when she was pregnant with Zuko. Yukiko was a nanny to Zuko, and to Azula was well, for nearly seven years; I do not recall Ursa ever voicing any complaints about her. But something happened a few weeks after I left for the campaign against Ba Sing Se, and she was dismissed from service. Ursa did not say why, in the letter she sent that mentioned her leaving; only that Zuko missed her and she was having some difficulty distracting him from asking about her."

"I saw you escorting her to the Dai Li’s interviewing room; did she say anything unusual while you were bringing her up to the palace?" Katara asked quietly.

"Actually, I just escorted her from the servants’ quarters, where Kumo had already settled her. Even before Ojia’s abrupt departure, I’d sent a message to the majordomo asking if he could find her and see if she was still in good health, ready and willing to return to service." Iroh’s eyes unfocused for a moment as he looked into his memories. "Kumo’s return letter said that he’d found her living in the city’s poorest quarter, destitute and desperate… but even in such a reduced state, helping another beggar-woman care for her toddler who’d fallen ill. And when Kumo relayed my offer to return to service in the palace, Yukiko actually dared to demand of him her first week’s wages in advance, which she then spent at an apothecary to get medicine for the young mother’s boy."

Katara smiled at the anecdote, proof that Yukiko did indeed have spirit, and a deep well of compassion for children. But that didn’t explain what the old woman was so afraid of… Well, she’d just have to be patient and gain the elderly nanny’s trust, and wait for Yukiko herself to explain.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Late that evening, after little Roku had been fed and put to bed, Katara left the baby in Yukiko’s care while she went to talk to her brother, whose shift guarding the nursery had ended an hour ago. She beckoned Suki along, and the Kyoshi warrior followed her to Sokka’s new and luxurious suite.

Sokka and Katara got into an argument of some sort behind closed doors; no one else except Suki knew the details, and when she added her voice to Katara’s side of the discussion, Sokka finally threw his hands in the air and gave in, looking decidedly upset. He went to Zuko’s office afterwards, found the Fire Lord behind the towering stacks of paperwork and said only, "Suki and I need fifty gold pieces, a full day off tomorrow for shopping, and no questions asked. Seriously, do not ask what’s going on; all I can tell you is that it’s something for Katara."

Zuko blinked at him a couple times, then shrugged and gave him a note for Kumo ordering the disbursement of fifty gold pieces, some of which Sokka exchanged with the majordomo for silver and copper pieces. And right after breakfast the next morning, Sokka headed into the city’s markets with Suki at his side, his expression almost as grim and reluctant as if he was heading off to war… or his own execution.

Zuko had missed breakfast with his friends and family that morning as well, already embroiled in a tight schedule of meetings and appointments that had started at dawn. But in the late morning, he took a break from his schedule and told his majordomo and advisors to consider him unavailable for the next hour. Kumo bowed acceptance; one of his advisors started to protest, but subsided after only one irritated glare from his sovereign ruler.

Zuko strode into the nursery and was pleased to see that his son was awake; Katara had him on her lap and was showing him a board-book of pictures, naming common objects for him. "Hello again, precious boy," Zuko crooned as he picked Roku up and cradled him in his arms. Then he said to Katara with a smile, "Come with me, and bring a baby blanket; I want to show you both something."

Trailed by the bodyguards, Zuko led Katara a short ways through the palace, to a door that opened out to a private garden; one with trees, flowering shrubs, a small ornate gazebo and a fair-sized pond. "Ohh, how lovely!" Katara exclaimed happily as she looked around. "This is even more beautiful than the courtyard with the fountain that you showed us before."

"That one is for guests and formal events. This garden is private, for the royal family only, but as far as I’m concerned you’re family now," Zuko said as he strode onto the grass with his son in his arms, cradling Roku so the baby was facing outwards. "You, Sokka and Suki are welcome to come here whenever you like… Look around, Roku. This was my favorite place to be, when I was a little boy. My mother—your grandmother—and I spent a lot of time here; talking, playing games like hide and seek in the bushes, feeding the turtle-ducks… See them, swimming in the pond? Those are turtle-ducks. When you’re old enough, you’ll be able to feed them too."

"They’re so cute!" Katara cooed as she walked over to the pond, eyeing the small creatures with cream-yellow plumage, soft-looking bills and green shells on their backs; there was one large one and six little ones swimming about the pond. "Ohh, it’s a mother and her babies!"

The mother had just laid her eggs when I left for the treaty signing in Ba Sing Se; they probably hatched the week before we—uh, Katara, you shouldn’t…"

But Katara wasn’t paying attention to Zuko just then; she was murmuring, "So darling," as she used a little waterbending to scoop the closest baby turtle-duck out of the water and bring it up to her face level. The baby turtle-duck quacked frantically, but she said reassuringly as she cupped it and stroked its tiny head, "Sshh, I won’t hurt you, little one; I onlyyyowch!" she shouted as her ankle came under a sudden and painful assault. She looked down to see the mother turtle-duck hissing as it struck at her again, jabbing her ankle with that not-so-soft-after-all bill while beating at her with its stubby flippered forelimbs.

"Don’t hurt her!" Zuko almost shouted as he started to run towards her, then reconsidered and drew back with Roku cradled protectively in his arms. "Don’t hurt her! Katara, put the baby back in the water!"

In her surprise she nearly flung the baby turtle-duck back into the water; it splashed in while quacking up a tiny storm, then quickly righted itself, while the mother just redoubled her efforts to drive Katara away from the pond.

"Here, milady, let me," an imperial guard said hurriedly as he trotted over to them. He crouched down and pried the mother turtle-duck away from her, handling the creature firmly but with great care. "Easy there, little mother! Your baby’s safe; now go check on him," the guardsman said as he tossed the turtle-duck into the pond, to land with furious quacks right next to where the babies were swimming. After settling back into the water, the mother turtle-duck gave one last hiss and evil glare at Katara, then quacked sharply and all the babies fell into line behind her as she swam away.

"Thank you, Taro," Zuko said with relief; the guardsman responded with a deep bow and a murmur that it was his honor to serve.

"I thought they were tame!" Katara said with outrage as she massaged her sore ankle, pulling a little water from the pond for healing the bruises already forming. "Like the guinea-pigeons at the Earth King’s palace!"

"They are tame, but she’s a mother, and you’re a stranger to her; she saw a stranger grabbing one of her babies, so of course she attacked!" Zuko said indignantly. "That’s what mothers do!"

"You’re right; I’m sorry," Katara said with chagrin. She gazed after the turtle-ducks with regret. "I… it sounds silly, but I wish I could apologize to her."

"Bring some bread crusts with you next time you come out here," Zuko suggested. "And be patient; the first few times, just toss the bread onto the water, and don’t do any bending or make any moves that could be interpreted as an attack. It takes time to gain their trust, particularly after bad first impressions," as he gave a rueful grin, the look in his eyes suggesting he was thinking of more than just turtle-ducks, "but it’s worth it."

Then Zuko led her back into and through the palace, to emerge from another door into a large oval-shaped arena, with high stone walls and the ground covered with sand. "This is a firebending training area," he explained. "There are two on the palace grounds; this one facing the sunrise and another one facing the sunset. And now this one is a multi-bending area!" He pointed to various features as he continued, "I had those piles of rocks brought in for the Dai Li to practice with, and see those four giant urns, two at each end? They’re all filled with water; that’s about a thousand gallons’ worth for you to use when you practice. I know you’d prefer a running water source," as he gave her an apologetic glance, "but the royal engineers aren’t here right now; I sent them to deal with a crumbling dam on Denchi Island. But when they get back, they can start designing--"

"What you have here is just fine, Zuko," Katara interrupted him with a warm and comforting squeeze on his forearm. "It’s better practice for me to use a finite source of water anyway; I can’t always count on finding the bad guys next to a lake or stream." She almost asked if he wanted to spar right then and there; she missed the sparring sessions they used to have while hiding on Ember Island during the last weeks of the war. But he was still wearing his royal robes, and they had Roku with them; sparring would have to wait for another day.

When they returned to the nursery, Yukiko was back inside the suite, having stepped out to get a fresh stack of diapers when Zuko had arrived earlier. The nanny bowed deeply to the Fire Lord when he came in, but Zuko stopped in his tracks at the sight of her, his expression becoming a mix of curiosity… and wariness, even though he towered over the petite and elderly woman. "You would be Yukiko, the old family servant that my uncle sought out, to assist Katara in minding Roku?" as he clasped his infant son just a little closer to his chest, as he did at the sight of any stranger.

"I am, my lord," Yukiko said simply, bowing again.

"You don’t recognize her, Zuko?" Katara asked with more than a trace of disappointment.

Zuko gave both Katara and Yukiko a look of apology as he mumbled sheepishly, "There were a lot of servants in the palace back then."

Probably even more servants than there were right now, given that the royal family had been much larger when Zuko had been a boy. But still, Katara thought Zuko should have recognized a servant who’d taken care of him for the first six years of his life! Then an idea struck her, and she said casually, "Zuko, have you tried out the rocking chair yet?"

The rocking chair was still a novelty to Katara; she’d never seen one before her visit to the Earth King’s palace, where one had been installed in the Earth Prince’s nursery. Queen Song had said it had been a gift from the Mechanist to celebrate Prince Qingshan’s birth, an invention to make it easier to rock children to sleep when they were fussy. (Sokka had commented that it had been an improvement on the first version that he’d seen when they’d visited the Northern Air Temple during the war; the first version had rocked in a side-to-side motion, but people kept unbalancing and tipping out of it during testing.) Iroh had tried out the rocking chair during their stay in the palace, and become so enamored of it that he’d commissioned two Ba Sing Se furniture makers to make another one just like it for Roku’s nursery in the Fire Nation. The craftsmen had finished it two days before their departure, and it had traveled to the Fire Nation in the small cargo hold of Zuko’s yacht.

Katara had gingerly tried out the rocking chair for the first time yesterday, and found that the rocking motion was indeed quite soothing after she got used to it. At her suggestion now, Zuko hesitated while giving the unusual chair a wary glance, but handed Roku over to her and, moving slowly and carefully, sat down in the chair and gave it a few trial pushes with his feet. After several seconds of gentle rocking back and forth, his doubtful frown relaxed into a not-quite-smile as he commented, "It’s a little like being at sea, when the waves rock the boat."

Once he was completely relaxed, Katara stepped up and handed over the baby… but instead of handing him to Zuko, whose arms were already reaching up for him, she handed Roku over to Yukiko who’d been silently standing by. Yukiko looked startled, but automatically accepted the baby being handed to her, and just as automatically smiled down at little Roku in his blanket.

Now that Zuko was looking up at Yukiko from his seated position, and she was smiling… He gave a shocked gasp of recognition and blurted out, "Nan’Yeeko!"

Yukiko gave a start of surprise, but directed a timid smile at her sovereign as she commented, "That is what you called me as a child, my lord."

"I remember you now," Zuko said with a nostalgic smile. "You and Nan’Keiko; one of you was always in here with…" his voice trailed off as he began to look embarrassed; then he asked sheepishly, "Did I get her name wrong too?"

Yukiko’s smile became indulgent. "No, she was indeed named Keiko. But I never minded the mispronunciation, my lord; it’s quite common for children to make such mistakes."

Now that she knew Zuko had some good memories of Yukiko from his childhood, Katara saw her opportunity and grabbed for it with inner glee. "Zuko, would you give Yukiko permission to tell me about what life in this nursery was like when you were a child? Without your direct permission, she’s afraid to even say whether or not you looked like Roku when you were a baby."

 

Zuko frowned again, started to refuse… and then gave a deep sigh as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "If I say ‘no’, you’re just going to start pestering Uncle Iroh for stories of my childhood, aren’t you?"

"Yup!" Katara admitted cheerfully.

"And Uncle Iroh not only knows no shame, he loves to exaggerate when he can get away with it. So…" He looked up at Yukiko imploringly. "You can talk about me and Azula when we were kids, but nothing too embarrassing, okay? No stories that you wouldn’t want people hearing about you instead."

"As you wish, my lord," Yukiko said with another bow, and another small smile dancing on her lips.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Just before dinner, Katara went to the guards’ living quarters to give the guard captain Hoshi another water-healing session, speeding up the remaining healing process for the bones he’d broken in an assassination attempt nearly two months ago. Hoshi started to protest all the special treatment he was getting, but Katara told him bluntly to not be an idiot; the sooner he was fully healed, the sooner he could resume his full duties as Captain of the Imperial Guard, and the safer Fire Lord Zuko would be. Hoshi shut up and let Katara do her work.

While Katara was busy with water-healing, Sokka and Suki came back from a full day of shopping, with sacks full of the oddest things; waterskins by the dozen, a bundle of hollow reeds, supple willow branches, several small jars of tree resin, and a stack of cow-pig hides that had been tanned to the finest leather.

Sokka took everything into his suite, and for the next few days whenever he was finished with his guard duties he’d disappear in there, shoo out the servants that had been assigned to him and lock the door, only opening it for Suki.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

The next morning while changing Roku’s diaper, Yukiko took off the soiled garment but didn’t get the clean one in place as a shield quite fast enough, and in perfect innocence, the second he was exposed to the air Roku let fly. Katara stepped though the passageway between her room and the nursery just in time to hear Yukiko’s exclamation of dismay, and looked up to see the line of wetness now streaking right up the elder nanny’s tunic.

"Roku, you naughty boy!" she said with a suppressed giggle, as she hurried to the changing table. Sokka was right; it was funny when it happened to somebody else for a change! "He’s done that to me at least three times," she confided in an attempt to console Yukiko.

"It’s all part of raising a male child," Yukiko said with a wry expression as she continued changing the baby’s diaper despite what had just happened. "Every baby boy I’ve ever diapered has managed to score on me at least once… and yes, that includes the Fire Lord when he was a babe. Though his elder cousin, Lu Ten, was far worse; that boy seemed able to sense whenever I was wearing new clothes, and positively delighted in gracing them with his royal emissions…"

Katara grinned, delighted not so much with the anecdote of royal baby antics, but with the easy way Yukiko was talking to her, as an equal. It seemed that so long as the elderly woman was preoccupied with a task, she lost all her timidity around Katara. If only she could keep that self-confidence when there was nothing going on…

After Roku was changed and put back in his crib, Katara gathered a globe of water from the basin she always kept filled on a shelf and offered, "Here, take your tunic off and I can wash the pee out of it right now. Don’t worry, I can dry it with waterbending too; that’s just a matter of bending the water away again."

But Yukiko hesitated, blushing and almost cringing away. "I wouldn’t want to bother you; I can simply go change in the servant quarters…"

"It’s no bother, really!" Katara insisted. "And if it’s your modesty you’re concerned about, the only boy in the room is Roku, and he’ll never remember it when he’s older. Come on, I could use the bending practice," she wheedled, though really she just wanted an excuse to be helpful to Yukiko, in hopes of earning her trust more quickly.

Yukiko finally gave in and took her tunic off, though instead of turning away in shyness she kept facing Katara the whole while. She handed the tunic over and then quickly backed up a step, perhaps to give Katara more space to work in.

Katara held up the tunic with one hand and did her bending with the other, sending water over and through the fabric again and again to wash all traces of urine away, as well as all the other minor stains and odors that people get when minding infants. It took less than a minute to get the tunic completely clean, and just a few seconds more for Katara to bend the water out of the tunic to get it completely dry. But just as she was finishing up, Roku let out a wail of distress from his crib.

Both women automatically turned towards the crib, responding to the baby’s cry, but Yukiko was a few steps closer. She reached the crib ahead of Katara—who gasped sharply at what the view before her:

Yukiko’s back was a mass of scars. Cruel streaks of faded red that crisscrossed her back from shoulders to waist, disappearing under the strip of her breast bindings to emerge on the other side. "Mighty La, who did this to you?!" Katara almost shrieked in outrage.

Shrieking in outrage tends to get an adverse reaction when there are guards on the other side of the door. Taro the palace guardsman and Huong the Dai Li agent together almost burst the door open and charged inside, demanding to know what was wrong.

Yukiko had been about to pick Roku up, to see what was wrong with him, but when the door burst open she instinctively spun around to face it, keeping between the intruders and the infant. But that left her standing there almost naked from the waist up; Yukiko blushed deep red while crossing her arms in front of her chest and muttered… something that Katara hoped she hadn’t heard right, because you’re not supposed to use language like that around babies!

Blushing at least as red as Yukiko and babbling a mile a minute in her embarrassment, Katara assured the guards that the baby was safe and they could go back outside, right now please, while she and Yukiko saw to Roku. Politely averting their eyes from Yukiko’s state of undress, the guards bowed and left almost as quickly as they came.

Yukiko grabbed her tunic when Katara blushingly proffered it, and put it back on without another word while Katara saw to Roku. The baby’s wail of distress was apparently from having soiled another diaper, less than ten minutes after they’d put a fresh one on him; instead of pee, now they had a load of runny and smelly poop to deal with. Katara changed him this time, and after he was cleaned up and calmed down again, she rested him on her shoulder while she turned to face Yukiko.

She’d been thinking furiously while changing Roku’s diaper, and now she wanted her suspicions confirmed. She asked quietly, "That happened the last time you were employed here, didn’t it?"

She didn’t need to clarify what ‘that’ was. Yukiko jerkily nodded in response.

"Do… would you like to talk about it?"

Yukiko sharply shook her head.

Then they heard a knock on the door, and Agent Huong’s voice: "Ladies, may I come in?" Katara gave permission, and the Dai Li agent entered with a grave expression.

He bowed to the elderly nanny, a bow of respect deeper than one normally gave a servant, before asking quietly, "She saw your back?"

Yukiko turned her head away, but that was answer enough. "I saw," Katara grimly confirmed. "Huong, do you know how that happened?"

"I do; a large part of her interview concerned her prior employment here. And after the interview, I spoke with Kumo and other servants who were on the staff at the time, to learn more of what happened than Yukiko herself knew. Miss Yukiko, I remember how difficult it was for you to speak of that incident… and I believe Lady Katara has information you need to hear. Permission to speak on your behalf?"

Yukiko was visibly reluctant, but finally gave permission in a near-whisper. Huong turned to Katara and said, "Twelve years ago, two weeks after her fourth birthday, Princess Azula began firebending. That’s a very early age for bending; most children don’t begin showing bending talent until they’re five or six. The princess was a firebending prodigy, but as a four-year-old, she lacked the self-control of older children. And just a week after she began bending, she got into a sibling squabble with her brother, then-Prince Zuko... and threw a tiny fireball at his head."

Katara gasped sharply, but Huong continued, "He ducked in time, and came to no harm. But the incident happened in this very room, with the nannies Yukiko and Keiko both present. Yukiko scolded the princess for firebending at her brother, whose bending had not emerged yet. And she spanked her firebending hand for emphasis," as he demonstrated with a slap on the back of his own left hand, the sort that parents often administer to children who are misbehaving. "With that the nannies thought the incident over, and soon afterwards Prince Zuko’s tutor came and took him to his beginning calligraphy lessons. But a short while later, the former Prince Ozai visited the nursery to take his daughter out for another beginner’s lesson in firebending. And when Princess Azula saw her father, she cried that Yukiko had struck her."

"Ohh, Great Tui," Katara groaned, her stomach sinking; after learning just how Zuko had become so scarred, she was all too sure now where this was leading.

"Both the nannies tried to explain, but Ozai refused to listen to the servants he considered so far beneath him… or perhaps, given his actions years later, he simply didn’t care that the firebending prodigy he favored, had nearly burned another offspring who had still not proven himself a firebender worthy of the royal line," Huong grimly speculated. "Either way, Ozai declared that no matter why she’d done it, Yukiko had struck someone of royal blood, and her life was forfeit for it."

Ignoring the involuntary gasp of horror that hissed from between Katara’s teeth, the Dai Li agent continued, "He dragged her out to the nearest courtyard, ignoring her pleas for mercy and the horrified looks from every servant they passed along the way. He threw her to the ground of the courtyard, formed whips of fire with his bending, and began lashing her with them. He scored seven lashes on her back, and he would probably have killed her outright, if his wife hadn’t come out into the courtyard to stop him; Keiko had run to Lady Ursa for help while Yukiko was still being dragged outside.

"Lady Ursa pointed out to Ozai that his father the Fire Lord and his older brother the Crown Prince had both recommended Yukiko’s hire as their nanny, and if he killed a servant they both appreciated he’d have to answer to them for it… but they would probably say nothing if he just dismissed her for not meeting his personal standards. Then Ozai turned away from Yukiko, who’d already been terribly burned, and told the servants nearby to ‘toss that trash outside the gates. And never speak of her again, or of what happened today, if you value your own lives and employment!’ Given what Ozai had just demonstrated in front of far too many of them, they had no choice but to obey. Yukiko was carried outside the palace and left just on the other side of the palace gates, with no medical care for her injuries until a sympathetic guardsman could discreetly arrange for two delivery boys, who had just brought fresh produce to the palace, to take her in their cart to the nearest hospital."

Huong paused to give a heavy sigh, looking somewhat ill. "And by all reports, little Princess Azula had followed her father and Yukiko to the courtyard, and she saw the whole thing. One witness told me she was smiling, but another said she just looked fascinated, like a child might if she didn’t really understand what was going on. But either way, she saw the whole affair, and showed no remorse over it."

"Somehow, I’m not surprised," Katara said with a shake of her head. She wondered exactly what lessons Azula had learned that day: that her family had the right to be cruel to anybody they didn’t like? That her firebending was more important than her brother’s wellbeing? …Probably both, she decided, before turning to Yukiko where the nanny stood with downcast eyes. "No wonder you’ve been so scared these last few days; I’m honestly surprised you returned here at all, after being treated so horribly before!"

After a short but painful silence, Yukiko admitted with a sigh, "I was desperate. After what had happened, even after I healed enough to walk and serve again, no noble family would hire me. I spent the next decade in…" Her voice trailed off; then she shook her head before saying, "The majordomo swore to me that Fire Lord Zuko is very different from his father, and he promised me enough money to help another family in desperate need, so I decided to take a chance."

Katara took Yukiko’s hands and clasped them in hers, staring into the other woman’s eyes as she said earnestly, "Kumo is right, Zuko is nothing like his father. Yes, he has a temper sometimes, but he genuinely cares about people; he’d never, ever do something like that to you! Even if you have to slap Roku’s hands someday, as a lesson to not hurt others; I’m sure Zuko gets that sometimes little children don’t understand consequences for other people, but they do understand ‘if I do that, my hand will sting later, so I’d better not do that again’. And he’s told me himself he wants to raise Roku to be a good man, responsible and caring, the way a future Fire Lord should be."

Huong spoke up again with, "Lady Katara speaks as Fire Lord Zuko’s personal friend, Miss Yukiko, but I speak as a long-time veteran of the City Guard of Ba Sing Se, as well as an agent of the New Dai Li. I’ve seen a lot of bad men over the last two decades, and a lot of good men as well. And I can assure you, Fire Lord Zuko is indeed not the type of man who would ever hurt you like that." He paused a beat before admitting with a wry expression, "Assuming you never actually hurt the baby, that is; if you ever leave so much as a bruise on him, you’d better have your bags packed. But the worst this Fire Lord would ever do is dismiss you from service again; there will be no fire-whips involved."

Yukiko gave them a tiny smile and words of thanks; Katara could see that there was still some doubt lingering in her eyes, but hopefully more time would erase those doubts. She asked, "Huong, who among the Dai Li knows Yukiko’s story?"

"Just Phan and I, milady, since we did her interview; we haven’t had any reason to tell Renshu and Gouliang yet."

"Okay. Since Zuko didn’t start apologizing the moment he recognized you, Yukiko, I’m sure he was never told just what had happened to you, only that you left unexpectedly."

"Which is just what your fellow nanny Keiko did less than two weeks afterwards," Huong interjected. "Kumo said she’d told him she was too frightened to stay in the nursery even a day longer, not when she knew that all it would take would be one false accusation from Azula, to have the same or worse fate befall her. Kumo tried to keep in touch, but lost track of her after she moved to the colonies."

"I don’t blame her a bit," Katara said with an emphatic nod. "Anyway, what happened clearly wasn’t Zuko’s fault at all, but if I know him—and I do—if he ever did find out, he’d feel horribly guilty anyway. So can we keep this just between us, unless something happens and he really does need to know?" And to that, both Yukiko and Huong nodded agreement.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Much later that morning, Katara left the nursery and Roku in Yukiko’s hands, while she went to the garden and turtle-duck pond with a small loaf of bread in her hand. She was a little nonplussed at how quickly the bread had appeared, after she’d murmured within the maid Koemi’s hearing that she’d like to try making friends with the turtle-ducks and what Zuko had recommended for doing so, but she’d accepted the bread with thanks and told little Roku that she’d be back in plenty of time for his next feeding.

She arrived at the pond’s edge with the bread, broke it into many small pieces and carefully scattered the pieces over the water, dropping some of them in close to where she was standing and several of them much further out, nearer to where the mother turtle-duck was swimming with her brood. But the mother only glared and hissed at her, the intruder who had tried to take one of her babies before, and did her best to herd her turtle-ducklings away from the perceived threat.

Katara wished she wasn’t reminded so much of the Western Air Temple just then. It was probably due to the serenity of the garden, much like the temple had been serene…

A little sad over her failure to make amends easily, Katara left the garden and pond to the turtle-ducks and went back inside the palace. But before she went back to the nursery, she decided to pay a brief visit on Zuko at work, and see if she couldn’t persuade him to come to dinner that night. She left the family residential wing, asking directions of a handy guard, and headed for the wing where Zuko kept his private office.

Thirty minutes later, she stopped and asked directions of another guard, when she found herself utterly lost in the labyrinth of corridors that made up so much of the palace. It was partly her own fault; she should have told the first guard who’d given her directions that she had never been to Mount Shirotoa, so she wouldn’t recognize a painting of it from all the other landscape paintings hanging on the walls, as a sign of where to turn left again.

By now a little upset and more than a little annoyed, she’d nearly reached the office when she saw the door open and one of Zuko’s ministers—Orsino, if she remembered his name correctly; he’d given a welcoming speech when their ship had docked a few days ago—came out and started walking in her direction. He frowned at the sight of her and asked bluntly, "What are you doing here?" Then his eyes widened and he asked with a note of alarm, "Has something happened to the infant prince?"

"No, little Roku is fine," Katara said reassuringly. "I just came to see Fire Lord Zuko about a personal matter, if he can spare the time."

Orsino’s frown grew deeper, clearly disapproving and haughty. "The Fire Lord is busy with affairs of the nation, girl; he has no time for your petty problems. Now return to your duties!"

That was exactly the wrong tone to take with Katara just then, after all the minor but accumulating frustrations she’d just experienced. "Excuse me?!" She all but snarled, staring Orsino down—and noticing, just beyond him, one of the palace guards outside Zuko’s office door turning and tapping rapidly on it.

Unfortunately, Katara’s self-patented Raised Eyebrow of Doom seemed to have no effect on Minister Orsino, beyond inspiring him to stand even taller so he could look down his nose at her. "Return to the nursery. To look after the infant prince," Orsino said slowly, as if she were an idiot who hadn’t understood the first time. Behind him, the guard—Katara thought she recognized him as Botan, one of the guards who’d accompanied Zuko to Ba Sing Se—silently opened the office door and went inside. "You are the baby’s wet-nurse, are you not? At least until someone more suitable can be found?"

"More suitable?!" Katara’s fingers twitched towards her waterskin… but she wrestled down her temper, aware of how close by Zuko was and just how jumpy he’d been lately—and with good reason, considering all the assassination attempts he’d faced in the last year. If he heard the sounds of a fight outside his door, he’d probably come out with fists blazing, ready to fry first and ask questions later. She didn’t want to do that to her friend, after everything he’d been through lately. She abruptly turned around, deciding it would be best if she just went right back to the nursery… assuming she could find it from where she was now, anyway. Botan would tell Zuko that she’d been by, so hopefully he would stop by the nursery later to see her and find out what she wanted to talk about.

But while she’d been fighting down the urge to waterbend a snotty minister clear into next week, Orsino had still been talking in his supercilious tone. "Yes, more suitable. At least someone of our own nation, instead of a foreign barbarian! Someone with—don’t turn away while I’m talking to you, you ignorant peasant! The nursery should be staffed with people possessing far better manners; someone who at least knows how to act around their betters--"

"Unlike you!" someone snarled, as the corridor suddenly grew hotter.

Katara had been walking slowly but steadily away, holding her head high and holding onto her temper with both hands while Orsino kept raising his voice in his diatribe; now she spun around in surprise to see Zuko standing directly behind the minister, with fire blazing around his clenched fists and smoke hissing from between his bared teeth.

Minister Orsino also spun around, saw that his Fire Lord was clearly furious and all but dove for the floor, falling in a full kowtow. "My lord! My lord, I meant no disrespect to you!" as his formerly haughty voice began trembling with fear.

The Fire Lord drew himself to his full height, stared down at the man quivering at his feet and then intoned with a sharp gesture, "Guards. Take the former minister Orsino to his home. He will never again be allowed within the palace gates!" All four guards present swarmed around Orsino in his kowtow, grabbing and lifting him by his arms and legs. Zuko added as they began carrying him spread-eagled away from the office, "And coordinate with the city guard to place a watch around his home; he is under house arrest until I decide what else is to be done with him!"

"My lord!" Orsino wailed desperately, but Zuko just turned his back on the spectacle and brusquely gestured for Katara to accompany him into his office.

Once they were behind closed doors, Katara said quietly, "Thank you for standing up for me, Zuko, but you didn’t need to go quite that far…"

"It wasn’t just for your sake," Zuko groaned tiredly as he threw himself back in his office chair, exhaling a few last wisps of smoke. "To tell the truth, I was glad to have an excuse to throw him out; now that he’s been removed from his post, he can’t keep covering his tracks, and I should have an easier time proving that he embezzled the funds we’re missing from some of our administrative programs. But what he said to you was just…" He took a deep breath, then exhaled another puff of irritated smoke as he declared, "This calls for another council meeting."

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Word spread rapidly through the capital city that Minister Orsino had been abruptly removed from his post and placed under house arrest, and that the Fire Lord had called for a full council meeting tomorrow—no, not just a council meeting but a full court assembly at high noon, with not just the grand council members but nearly every noble currently present on Capital Island summoned to attend.

Full court assemblies were rare indeed; most royal proclamations were made to either just the grand council in their usual meeting chamber, or on the public viewing balcony in front of the entire populace. Only three full court assemblies had been called in the last three years; Fire Lord Ozai had called for one in the last year of his reign, to announce the surrender of Ba Sing Se to Fire Nation forces and that his daughter Princess Azula would soon be returning home in triumph. He’d added almost as an afterthought that Prince Zuko’s banishment was over and he would be returning as well.

Fire Lord Zuko had called for two full court assemblies so far in his reign; the expected one immediately after his coronation, so each noble could ceremonially offer the usual oath of loyalty to his reign, and another one six months later to announce to the nobility his official engagement to Lady Mai. Full court assemblies tended to be the venue for announcing good news for the nation, but not always. Fire Lord Azulon had once called for a full court assembly to announce the arrests of seven noble families, for conspiracy against the throne—and then had every single one of them executed in front of that same assembly. Everyone had gone home in silence after that terrible day, many spectators with their elegant court-formal robes ruined by spatters of blood and ashes.

Speculation ran rampant as to exactly what Lord Orsino had done or what had been done to him that was momentous enough to warrant a full assembly of the court. Nobody knew for sure, although a few council members assumed wise expressions and stated that Orsino had probably been exposed as an embezzler, just as they’d suspected; they would have stepped forward and made the accusations themselves, but of course they’d still been quietly and diligently gathering evidence first. (Responses to those claims tended to be along the lines of ‘Suuure you were.’)

At noon the next day, dozens of elegantly dressed nobles quietly filed into the grand council chamber, some of them for the first time in years since they were not members of the Fire Lord’s grand council, and were discreetly directed to seat themselves on cushions that servants had placed along the sides and back of the chamber. Once those nobles were all seated, the imperial council members solemnly filed into the grand council chamber and took their accustomed places on cushions much closer to the Fire Throne, and awaited the Fire Lord’s entrance.

But before their monarch came into the room, three other people who were not council members or even Fire Nation nobility came in; two Water Tribe people and a Kyoshi Warrior. The three silently filed inside and took seats on three cushions that had been lined up several feet in front of the Fire Throne, but they were facing the wrong way—towards the council members, instead of towards the throne. Council member Lord Hujo was trying to politely correct them when the former General Iroh walked in to take a seat just forward and to the right of the throne, the place for honored family members, and the banks of low flames to either side of the throne suddenly flared high; the sign that the Fire Lord was about to enter the chamber.

Their sovereign ruler strode in as all the nobles prostrated themselves in greeting (though the three intruders only bowed, the ignorant fools) and took his seat on the Fire Throne. His voice pitched to carry throughout the chamber, the Fire Lord informed everyone that Lord Orsino had been removed from his post as Minister of Industry, for two reasons. The first and gravest reason was that he had embezzled from imperial funds, lining his own pockets at the expense of every taxpayer in the Fire Nation. (The utter scoundrel! May he rot in the Tower Prison!) But the second reason, which the Fire Lord had taken personal offense to, was that Orsino had offered grave insult to Lady Katara. (Who? The Water Tribe girl sitting up there? But she was just—)

 

"Listen well!" the Fire Lord boomed out, his expression implacable, and all the whispering in the council chamber instantly died to silence. "Sokka and Katara are the son and daughter of the High Chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe. They are nobility in their nation. Suki is not of noble birth, but she earned by merit the position of Leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, highly skilled and respected warriors in the Earth Kingdom. She is the equivalent to a captain in our military, which is also a high honor.

"By birth and by abilities, these people merit being treated as dignitaries when they are in our country. And further, they are associates and assistants to the Avatar, the one who maintains balance between the elements and the nations; that great responsibility grants them even higher status. And finally, each of them has saved your Fire Lord’s life at least once, and additionally assisted in saving the life of my son and heir; that bestows upon them the highest favor the Fire Nation can offer! They will be treated not just as nobility while here, but the highest ranking nobility; as kin to the Fire Lord! Anyone who fails to do so, is. Not. Welcome. In. This. Court. …Is. That. Clear?!" as the flames around the Fire Throne suddenly roared up to the ceiling.

Every last noble in the court immediately fell into a kowtow, pressing their foreheads to the floor while shouting, "Yes, your majesty!" "Clear as sunlight, Fire Lord!" and similar sentiments. And several of them went so far as to proclaim while still face-down on the floor, "All honor to Lord Sokka, Lady Suki and Lady Katara!"

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Sokka, Suki and Katara just stared at all the nobles kowtowing while hailing their names, struck speechless. Satisfied with the court’s collective response, the Fire Lord dismissed the assembly. And as soon as the last Fire Nation noble had filed out of the chamber, the flames around the Fire Throne died down and the Fire Lord stepped off the dais with a sigh, becoming their friend Zuko again.

"That should take care of any future insults. But if anyone persists in slighting you, let me know right away. Future offenders will be either too full of hate to stop, or too stupid to understand. And in either case they’re probably doing something else besides insulting you, that needs to be investigated and stopped before people get hurt," Zuko said as he took off his ceremonial mantle of office and handed it to a waiting attendant.

"It may indeed be wise to keep an eye on such people," Iroh rumbled gravely, stroking his beard. "The greatest crimes in our nation’s history were usually preceded by smaller offenses that went unchecked."

"Okay, but… does that mean they’re going to start kowtowing to us now? Because even back home, nobody does that… and honestly, it’s kind-of disturbing," Katara said, still feeling a little ill at ease.

"Oh, I dunno; a guy could get used to it!" Sokka grinned. "I could just--"

Zuko raised a finger in admonition. "Don’t push it. Seriously; if they start bowing to you or even kowtowing, accept it graciously, but otherwise be satisfied with them just not talking down to you anymore. I’ve had enough trouble already with old codgers from my father’s court grumbling about ‘foreign influence’; if you try lording it over them, they’ll be so outraged they’ll probably attempt another coup!"

"Spoilsport," Sokka pouted, before turning serious. "The last thing we want, is to cause more trouble for you. No lording over anyone, promise." Then he got a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Still… how do you feel now, Lady Katara?"

Katara grinned. "Oh, I don’t know; I still just feel like myself. A ‘Water Tribe peasant’; wasn’t that how it went?" as she turned to Zuko.

"A filthy Water Tribe peasant," Sokka added. "Mustn’t forget the filthy part."

Zuko flushed dark red, while his uncle chuckled at his discomfiture. "Oh come on; that was years ago! I didn’t really know you back then! And I was hunting the Avatar! I was…"

Sokka said helpfully, "You were a jerkbender."

Zuko sighed and admitted, "I was a jerkbender."

"And now you’re our favorite jerkbender," as Sokka gave him a friendly punch on the arm. "So now that that’s settled, how ‘bout we get something to eat?"

Zuko tried to protest that he had more work to do, but Iroh took firm hold of his shoulders and physically steered him towards the great dining hall instead of his office. "Now, nephew, you just announced to your entire court that these fine young people are part of your family. Do you want word getting out through the servants that you’re refusing to sit down to meals with them? Think how that would sound to all the gossip-mongers…"

Lunch was excellent, with plenty of stewed sea prunes for Katara and Sokka, and dishes of fire flakes that Zuko sprinkled on just about everything he ate. Sokka urged Zuko to try the sea prunes; he looked at them doubtfully and said he’d do it only if they were mixed with fire flakes, and Sokka tried them that way as well. A servant hurriedly complied, and two identical bowls were put in front of Sokka and Zuko. They both simultaneously took a spoonful, put it in their mouths—and nearly spat it out in disgust a second later. Iroh just chuckled again and gestured to the servants for more tea, so they could both rinse the taste out.

After lunch Katara returned to the nursery, passing Hoshi on her way out of the dining room. She smiled and nodded to him, while he gave her a really deep bow in return; she decided that probably his way of expressing silently gratitude to her for healing his leg, so he could return to full duties nearly a month earlier than normal.

But as she continued to the nursery, she noted with some surprise that all the servants she passed along the way seemed to be bowing deeper to her than they did yesterday. Was it because of Zuko’s proclamation? She’d thought that was only for the nobles’ sake, to prevent any more of them insulting her like Orsino had.

When she arrived at the nursery she found that while the guards who’d been left there to keep Roku safe were also bowing deeper than before, Yukiko’s behavior towards her was unchanged, and the Dai Li agents’ attitudes hadn’t changed at all, which was a bit of a relief. She gave Roku a feeding and changing, and was sitting with him in the rocker softly humming a lullaby when they heard a tapping at the door, and Agent Phan saying somewhat uncertainly, "Lady Katara, the majordomo is here to see you."

She opened the door, to find Kumo standing out there with two more servant women, all of them bowing at the sight of her—and even Kumo was bowing lower to her than before! And when he straightened up from his bow, he gestured to the two servants with him as he said almost cheerfully, "Lady Katara, as befits your new status…"

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Two days later, Katara went hunting for Zuko again, this time with a map of the palace layout that Hoshi had helpfully provided for her. She found Zuko in his office, reading over some official documents from the colonies; she marched inside and asked in utter exasperation, "Zuko, the ‘nobility treatment’… how do you turn it off?!"

Zuko blinked up at her from the parchment he was reading. "What?"

"All this… this pampering! It’s fine once in a while, but it just doesn’t stop! There are servants underfoot everywhere I go; they won’t let me do hardly anything myself anymore! And since you told all the nobles in court to treat us with respect, it’s gotten even worse; they just will not leave me alone! I had to chase one girl out of the bathroom, just so I could wipe my own--" and she stopped, blushing red.

Zuko blushed too. "Ah. Well, um, let me finish what I’m doing right now, and we’ll talk to the majordomo; he’ll explain the situation to the rest of the staff. They’ll need to understand that the problem is with you, not them," he muttered absently as he turned back to the papers on his desk.

And abruptly found his chin grabbed and his face turned, to look an angry Katara right in the eyes as she said dangerously, "What did you just say? I’m the problem?"

"I didn’t mean it like that!" he protested. "I just… Look, do you really want to see someone committing suicide over this?"

"Suicide?" Katara let go of his chin and backed off a pace, staring at him. "Why…"

Zuko pushed the papers away and sighed. "The problem is really with my father, and previous Fire Lords. Traditionally, a royal family member doesn’t lift a finger to do anything menial, even for personal hygiene; instead, there’s a servant waiting and happy to do it for them. Royals have all demanded perfection in not just their offspring, but their servants too. And any servant who didn’t perform up to standards was dismissed. For the servant class, to serve the house of the Fire Lord is considered the highest honor. To be dismissed, told you’re not good enough… It’s a serious dishonor, and some of them have quite seriously committed suicide over it. There’s a grove in the nearest public park that I haven’t walked through since I was seven, because that’s where they found the body of my father’s valet, after he was dismissed for failing to notice and iron a wrinkle out of one of Ozai’s robes."

Katara gaped at him. "…He missed one wrinkle, and… Ocean save you all; your people are insane!"

"Not insane!" Zuko snapped back. "If you want to talk insane, let’s talk about people being pushed off ice floes to drown when nobody’s looking—and everyone else being okay with that! Those people are pushed off the ice why, exactly?"

Katara ground her teeth together, so angry that for a moment she couldn’t speak. Zuko had just stomped on one of the sorest points of living in either the Northern or Southern Water Tribe. There were weeks in the summer that had continual daylight, with the sun never setting, and weeks in the winter of utter darkness, when the sun was never seen at all. After countless generations of living there and adapting to the climate, Midnight Sun Madness and Midwinter Madness were uncommon, but when someone succumbed… it was bad. In the past, whole families had been slaughtered, when the madness went undetected until too late.

While the Northern Water Tribe was much better off, the Southern Water Tribe just never had the resources to spare for maintaining a jail and prisoners gone mad. If someone started showing the symptoms, and didn’t respond to treatment… the safest thing for the community was to simply, quietly and permanently dispose of them. It was a brutal truth that nobody talked about if they could avoid it; how had Zuko learned of it?

Then Zuko sighed. "Sorry; I know that’s a sore point, and I shouldn’t have lashed out at you and your culture like that. And no, I don’t think it makes sense either, for anyone to commit suicide over a stupid wrinkled robe. But that’s why this has to be dealt with carefully. The majordomo can reassign your servants to other duties, and explain to them that it’s not that their service isn’t up to standards; it’s just that your culture’s customs demand that you do everything yourself."

"Wellll… not everything," Katara admitted. "Believe me, I’m more than happy to let someone else do the laundry!"

Zuko snickered. "You had enough of that back when we were staying in the Western Air Temple, huh?"

"More than enough! That just put a cap on years of Sokka expecting me to do his laundry for him. When every other boy in our party started asking me too…!"

Zuko raised a finger to correct her. "I never did. Not even once did I ask you to do my laundry."

"That’s true; you always washed them yourself," Katara admitted. "Though I kept waiting for you to ask." She looked away with an embarrassed smile. "I was so sure that someday you’d slip up, and start acting like a stuck-up royal brat again, expecting people to serve you; then I would have…"

Zuko grinned, enjoying her discomfiture. "Let me guess; you’d have ‘accidentally’ dropped all my laundry over the side of the temple. Just like you kept ‘accidentally’ serving me the burnt scrapings from the bottom of the cooking pot."

She gave him a look of rueful apology. "I was so horribly mean to you…"

He shrugged it off. "And for the whole chase from South Pole to North Pole, I was pretty mean to you. It’s done, forgiven, and best forgotten. Anyway, give me a few more minutes, and I’ll be done with this paperwork; then we can talk to the majordomo."

"Speaking of paper, do you have any to spare?" Katara asked him. "I think it’d be easier on everyone if I just made a list of things that I’d rather do for myself, and things I don’t mind having servants do instead."

"Good idea." He passed her a sheet of parchment and a spare writing brush, pushed his ink stick and ink stone over to where she could reach them too, then scooted over to give her a corner of his desk for writing on while he kept reviewing documents.

Katara stared at shallow stone bowl with a an intricately carved lid that Zuko used for an ink stone, in surprised recognition well-flavored with dismay. "Zuko… is this the wedding present I gave you and Mai?"

"Recognized it, eh?" as Zuko glanced up with a smile. "I started using it right after we got back from our honeymoon. I told Mai that was a perfect example of your thoughtfulness, giving us something that was not just pretty, but practical too! "

For an instant Katara felt like telling him, very loudly, that it was not an ink stone! She’d sent them a fertility bowl, the finest she could find in the Northern Water Tribe! Mai was supposed to have filled the bowl with water, covered it while walking in a circle and reciting the names of her four most fertile maternal ancestors, and then opened and drank every last drop from it to get her ancestors’ blessings of fertility for their marriage! For Zuko, not Mai, to use it--and as a common tool for grinding ink sticks into liquid ink…

But she’d never actually told them what it was for, had she? She’d meant to tell the happy couple when they unwrapped the gift in front of her, but it hadn’t happened that way. Her gift had ended up on a table piled high with gifts from other guests and well-wishers, and she’d been told later by Iroh that by Fire Nation tradition, the couple would open all their wedding gifts in private. So when they opened it and saw only a shallow stone bowl with a matching lid…

Which did, by the looks of it, make a suitable ink stone. And since Zuko had admitted back in Ba Sing Se that Mai had already been three weeks pregnant by the time they’d married, the fertility blessing hadn’t been needed anyway… Katara forced a smile on her face as she said, "I’m glad you like it!"

She took the lid off and wet the offered brush in the ink inside, reflecting ruefully that if she’d told them what it was really for, Zuko would probably just have been embarrassed instead of happy with her gift. Just this once, it wasn’t really the thought behind the gift that counted most… She wondered what had happened to the wedding present Sokka and Suki had sent them from the Southern Water Tribe—Sokka had told her privately and proudly that he’d given them the finest ulu knife anyone in the tribe had ever seen—and decided not to ask.

Returning to the reason she was there in the first place, Katara began making two lists of everyday chores and personal tasks, one for things she’d rather do herself and one for delegating to others. After a few minutes, she paused and looked up to ask curiously, "Do you really have servants waiting in your own bathroom to--"

He snorted without looking up. "No; there are some things that I decided very early in life, I didn’t need or want servants for." He switched to a higher-pitched, boyish voice as he declared, "I can do it all by myself!" They both chuckled softly, and let a comfortable silence settle between them.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

By the next day, Katara’s retinue of servants had been reduced to just Yukiko, whom she considered more a partner in minding Roku than a servant, and the housemaids Chiyo and Misa. She really only needed one housemaid for the two rooms, but kept both on so they could trade off the task of washing all of Roku’s stinky diapers.

Feeling a little guilty, Katara had explained to a disconsolate Koemi that the personal maid had done an excellent job, really, but she’d felt like she was shunning her own culture’s customs by accepting so much personal assistance. Actually, she’d just felt like she was being treated like a spoiled or helpless child instead of a grown and capable woman, but she figured Zuko was right in that they would accept an explanation of ‘Water Tribe ways are different’ more easily.

The day after that, Zuko noticed that Sokka’s left arm just below his bicep was riddled with small circular bruises. "What happened there?" as he pointed to them.

Sokka looked at where he was pointing, opened his mouth, then paused a long time before shaking his head. "It would take too long to explain. Just ignore ‘em, okay?"

Naturally, that only made Zuko look closer at them. "They look like… hickeys? Suki gets a little too enthusiastic sometimes, huh?"

"Gaaah!" as Sokka grabbed at his wolftail. "No, she—okay, she does sometimes but those aren’t from her, they’re—look just drop it, okay?"

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Ten days after the return to the Fire Nation, Zuko stopped into the nursery that afternoon still wearing his ceremonial robes, with heavy circles under his eyes, and sounding almost as peevish as Roku, who had just been fed but was now refusing to burp. "Come on, sweet little star; you don’t want that air to stay in your tummy, do you? It’ll make you sorry later. Come on, give your Auntie Katara a nice big burp," she coaxed as she rubbed the infant’s back.

"Here, let me try," Zuko offered, holding his arms out. Katara shrugged and smiled, and carefully transferred Roku into his arms. Zuko put the baby up against his shoulder, while Katara took the burping rag off her own shoulder. "I just rub his back now, right?"

"Yes, but you’ll want to put this--"

-braap-

"… this cloth over your shoulder first, to protect your robes," Katara said wryly, still holding the cloth out to him. "Oops…" She went around for a look at the spit-up now dribbling down the back of his ceremonial robes, dabbing at the expensive silk with the burping rag as she said with a confidence she didn’t feel, "It’ll wash out."

Zuko sighed as he shook his head. "This is actually the most pleasant surprise I’ve had today. I’ve had to put a food quarantine on Denchi Island, to keep their tato-choke blight from spreading to the other islands. And House Toromi is challenging House Mio for a plot of land on Hokkano Island; it’ll take some maneuvering to keep them from dragging other clans into their squabble, without shaming anybody."

He sat down in the nearby rocking chair while complaining about the day he’d had, still holding Roku to his chest. Once they were both settled, he began slowly rocking and crooning. "Leaves from the vine, falling so slow …"

Katara eyed him in amusement. "I’ll have to teach you another song, someday."

"Roku likes this one," he murmured. "Don’t you, little man? It’s your favorite." Roku’s tiny yawn as he nestled in his father’s robes seemed to indicate agreement. "Leaves from the vine, falling so slow. Like fragile, tiny shells, drifting in the foam… Little soldier boy, come marching home…Brave soljerbuuu… zzzz…"

Katara shook her head, still smiling. Zuko had actually fallen asleep before Roku, in mid-verse… but now the baby began giving out tiny infant snores. Father and son were fast asleep.

She carefully wedged a couple of small pillows in place to keep Roku from slipping and falling if Zuko should lose his grip in his sleep, then whispered to the nanny Yukiko, "You should let the majordomo know that the Fire Lord is in here, but he isn’t to be disturbed for anything less than disaster."

"Er… what sort of disaster?" the elderly nanny asked.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Oh, something like the sun falling out of the sky and turning the entire South Sea to boiling steam; that would be important enough. Otherwise, everyone should just leave him be."

"Yes, milady. Pardon my asking, but this has never happened before," Yukiko said quietly as she turned towards the door.

"What, never?" Katara whispered in surprise. "None of the royals ever took naps with their children, any time in the eight years you minded Prince Lu Ten and the six years you took care of Zuko?"

"I didn’t say that; Lady Ursa occasionally napped with her children, especially in the first few months after birthing them. But Lady Ursa had few responsibilities beyond her family, and no one needed to be alerted as to where she was. When General Iroh was the Crown Prince and his son but a baby, he did indeed visit the nursery, but he always came to play toy soldiers and other games with little Lu Ten, and they both stayed wide awake for that. Fire Lord Azulon visited only once or twice during the children’s infancies; he preferred to stay away from the nursery until his grandchildren were old enough to talk and be understood. And the former Prince Ozai… he stopped in here occasionally to see his children when they were babies, but I don’t recall him ever sitting down to hold them or play with them for any length of time. And he certainly never fell asleep in here."

After Yukiko left, Katara sat down in another chair, just watching Zuko sleep with his son in his arms. The late afternoon sunlight streamed in a window, casting a warm golden glow on the rocking chair as if Agni was bestowing a blessing on them both. She murmured, "Ozai never knew what he was missing."

Sokka peeked inside after Yukiko left, and grinned when he saw Zuko asleep in the rocker. He whispered, "Awww, isn’t that cute? We should get a portrait painter in here."

An official portrait of Fire Lord Zuko, asleep on the job and with spit-up on his ceremonial robes. Sure, that would be well received by the populace, Katara thought wryly.

Sometime after Yukiko returned from informing the majordomo, Iroh came quietly into the nursery, with worry lines creasing his already wrinkled forehead… worry lines that eased as he saw Zuko sleeping with Roku and smiled with mixed relief and amusement. "He sorely needed this rest," Iroh confided. "I have been worrying about him lately, as he’s been looking more exhausted with each passing day, no matter that he says everything is fine now…"

"I think Zuko’s idea of ‘fine’ is very different from what other people would consider ‘fine’," Katara muttered. "These days, it might mean only ‘no one’s tried to kill me in the last thirty minutes’…"

Iroh sighed heavily. "Sadly, you might be right about that."

The father and son’s idyllic repose was broken less than an hour after it began, just as Suki arrived to begin her shift of guard duty. Roku wet his diaper in his sleep, and then woke up and began demanding that someone do something about his soggy butt. Zuko blinked awake to the baby’s noisemaking, as Katara gently picked Roku up and carried him to the changing table before he could begin really wailing.

Suki and Sokka had stepped into the nursery to administer a pair of forehead-kisses on the baby, an endearing habit they’d created for when one’s guard duty shift ended while the other’s began, and so they arrived in time to hear Iroh good-naturedly chiding his nephew for falling asleep in the nursery when he had a perfectly good bedroom of his own nearby. "With all the long hours of work you’ve been putting in, it does seem as if you’ve been avoiding it lately…"

Zuko admitted with a sigh, "I sort-of have. I just can’t sleep there," as he drooped over in the rocking chair, his head hanging low. "Not in my own bed."

"Why not?" Suki asked.

"Because… because Mai’s not there. Every time I roll over, I still expect her to be there, and…" Zuko sighed again, running a hand through his hair. "I know it’s been over a month now, and I should be used to sleeping alone again, but…"

"And you probably did get used to it, back in Ba Sing Se. But now you’re here, back in the bed that you and she shared… and probably surrounded by whatever decorating she did, too, once she became the Fire Lady. There are just too many reminders of her, aren’t there?" Katara said sadly.

"…Yes. But I don’t want to ever forget her!" Zuko said fiercely, sitting up to glare at them, as if someone had just suggested it. "I can’t just—just pack away all her things and pretend she never existed; I…" as his head hung low again.

"No one wants to make you forget Mai. Only the most heartless of people would ever even suggest that," Iroh said firmly.

"Utterly heartless," Katara agreed. "But packing away her things… that’s something we did in the Southern Water Tribe, when someone lost a husband, wife or child. Leaving everything exactly the way it was before the loved one died, just isn’t healthy for the soul. Some folks say that doing so even makes it hard for the spirit of the loved one to move on. I don’t know about that, but I do know that it makes the pain of grief last a lot longer; makes it harder for those still living to move on. But sorting and packing, deciding what to keep out as sweet reminders of her and what to give away… that should never be done alone. Come on," as she put Roku in his carrying sling, then firmly tugged on Zuko’s arm. "You’re going to tell me and your uncle about everything in your rooms that reminds you of Mai; share your memories of her with us."

Either because he knew she was right or because he was just too tired, Zuko made only a token protest before they left the nursery and went down the hall to his private suite. Sokka and Suki followed them out the door, but Sokka lingered behind in the hallway as he asked uneasily, "Do you want us to help?"

"Yes, but not in the sorting and packing," Katara said firmly. "Would you please tell Kumo that we need some boxes for putting things in? And packing materials for fragile things. Then, Sokka, you and Suki can help us best by doing something you love: going shopping!"

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Katara had been inside Zuko’s old bedroom before his coronation, when he’d still been dizzy and weak after being shot with lightning, but she’d never set foot inside the suite of rooms designated for the Fire Lord. The bedroom Prince Zuko had slept in had been a curious combination of Decadent and Spartan; the bed had been a massive and ornately carved four-post affair with heavy silk draperies and sheets, but there had been almost no other furnishings inside the room except for a huge golden urn sitting in a corner. After a few days of having her own retinue, Katara thought she understood the reason for the lack of other furniture; it was so the masses of servants that were always hovering around the royal family wouldn’t be banging into or tripping over anything.

The Fire Lord’s bedroom was easily half again as large as Zuko’s old bedroom, and contained more furnishings (though there was still plenty of space left over for attentive servants to mill around in.) The bed was even bigger, too; all of Team Avatar could have slept on it without jostling each other in their sleep. But the color scheme was even gloomier, in her opinion: Prince Zuko’s bedroom had been done in brown and red with gold accents, but Fire Lord’s bedroom had far too much black. Black silk sheets on the bed, black silk drapes around the bed, and the giant carpet covering much of the floor had the red flame symbol on a black background. There was even a plain black sheet covering a large section of the wall across from the bed.

And even though this bedroom had not just a giant bed but a large dresser, two nightstands and an ornately carved table with two chairs, it had little else in the way of decoration… at least not the sort of things that Katara thought of as decorations. A pair of crossed Dao swords were displayed on the wall to one side of the bed. On the other side, a shallow display case held the biggest private collection of daggers, senbon and shuriken Katara had ever seen, all of them gleaming bright silver in the light from the wall sconces.

Lots of black, and lots of sharp pointy objects

, Katara thought dryly to herself. No wonder Zuko is reminded of Mai so much whenever he’s in here…

But there were a few non-weapon decorations in the room: A wall-mounted display of a single dried fire lily. A large ink portrait of Zuko and Mai hanging on the opposite wall, with Zuko still wearing his prince’s headpiece instead of the Fire Lord’s crown. Two smaller portraits, standing in frames on the long dresser; one of Iroh, and one of a woman that Katara recognized from portraits at the Ember Island vacation home: Lady Ursa, Zuko’s mother. The dresser also displayed a stone sculpture of a dragon, that Katara recognized as Toph’s wedding gift to Zuko and Mai. At least that wasn’t mistaken and misused, she thought wryly, thinking of the ‘ink stone’ in Zuko’s office.

Zuko stood in the center of the room, looking with almost despairing eyes at his surroundings as he asked, "Where do we start?"

"Perhaps we should start with this," Iroh suggested as he went over to the plain black sheet hanging on the wall. "I admit I’m quite curious about it; why display something so very plain? And it’s not even silk; just common cotton," as he grasped the edge of the material, rubbing it between his fingers. "What memories does this—eh?" as he went from looking at the cloth in his hand to looking at the wall behind it.

"Actually, we just replaced the sheet about once a week," Zuko mumbled, looking at the floor… and blushing; Katara noticed curiously that a blush was definitely beginning to bloom on his cheeks.

Iroh pulled the cloth hanging away from the wall with a sweeping gesture, to reveal dozens of pock marks in the wooden paneling; that section of the wall was positively riddled with them. "Ah, I see. Mai liked to keep in practice?" he asked dryly.

"Um, yeah." Zuko was now blushing furiously.

"And you replaced the hanging whenever it became too tattered to stay up, I take it," as Iroh lightly fingered a few of the holes, and then peered closely at them. "Bits of red silk embedded in with the black?" Then he turned and smiled a very sly smile at Zuko, who was now completely red from neck to hairline and looking everywhere but at his uncle or at Katara. Katara’s stomach lurched a bit as she realized that Zuko wore a lot of red silk, and put two and two together. …Oh. Oh, dear…

Just then Kumo entered the room with a bow, and with two servants carrying boxes and packing materials. Zuko almost pounced on the majordomo, in his eagerness to not respond to his uncle’s far-too-knowing grin. "Kumo! I’ve decided that you can finally replace that section of paneling. Right now, if it can be done today!"

"Of course, your majesty," Kumo said without even blinking. "Perhaps you would like to have dinner in the grand dining hall while waiting for the carpenters to finish their work?"

Zuko agreed that was a good idea, and they all went to dinner, but first Katara pulled Kumo aside and asked quietly, "What color were the bedsheets and curtains before Zuko got married?"

"Bright red, milady," Kumo told her, with what looked like relief glimmering deep in his aged eyes. He might well have been the one who had suggested to Zuko earlier that Mai’s things should be packed away, but Zuko had taken it the wrong way at the time. "Shall I have the bed remade in those colors?"

"Yes, please. Immediately," Katara said firmly, deciding that she’d tell Zuko about that bit of redecorating after the fact, while they were eating dinner.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Zuko was dismayed and upset that Katara had ordered his bedsheets changed without telling him, but Iroh pointed out that their goal tonight was to make it possible for him to sleep comfortably in his own bed again, and if Katara had not done it then he would have.

After dinner Katara detoured to the nursery to feed Roku and put him to bed, leaving him in Yukiko’s tender care while she went back to Zuko’s suite. She came in while he and his uncle were going through the display case of Mai’s weaponry; Zuko was quietly pointing out which ones had been gifts from him, and the occasions that they’d been given. A pair of daggers had been given for their first date after his coronation; a brace of senbon had been given to her along with the traditional fancy hair comb when he’d proposed. He’d commissioned a set of personalized shuriken for her after she’d told him she was pregnant…

"You always gave her weapons for presents?" Katara asked incredulously. Yes, weapons were practical gifts and anyone from the Southern Water Tribe would consider a quality knife to be a good present indeed, but there were plenty of other practical gifts for giving, such as good thick furs for sleeping under or a new kayak. Not that Mai would have appreciated either of those, but…

Zuko just shrugged in response. "She didn’t like fancy seashells or most flowers, and she had to be in a certain mood before she even accepted panda lilies. Fruit tarts with rose petals were good, but if I had them made for her too often, she asked me if I was trying to make her fat."

"She didn’t even like fire lilies? But isn’t that a fire lily?" Katara asked as she pointed to the carefully preserved one mounted on the wall.

Zuko smiled nostalgically at the sight of it. "I had that one preserved specially. She wore that in her hair on our wedding day, just for me…"

"And because it’s traditional for weddings," Iroh added absently, still looking over the collection of weaponry. "Nephew, while you may of course keep a few of these for the memories, would you like some of the rest to be set aside for Roku, in case he shows an interest in throwing weapons when he’s older?"

Zuko nodded, and proceeded to carefully consider each weapon, before setting aside the matched pair of daggers and a row of senbon for him to keep in a much smaller display. Another set of daggers as well as the set of personalized throwing stars were packed in a box for presenting to Roku, when he came of age for learning weapons. Katara suggested that the rest could be auctioned off at a fundraising event for a charity, such as the war orphans’ education fund; weapons that had once been used by the Fire Lady would surely go for huge sums among the nobility.

The palace carpenters had done amazing work in just the two hours they’d been at dinner; the black hanging sheet and blade-riddled section of paneling were both gone and the wall looked as though no damage had ever occurred to it. And with the bed remade in bright red silk, here was little black left except for the large carpet; the whole room looked much brighter. Once they had sorted through all the weapons Mai had kept on the wall, Zuko and Iroh carefully took down the display case they had been in, leaving another section of wall bare.

While the royals had been dealing with the weapons, Kumo had been quietly directing servants to pack away all the clothing Mai had kept in the dresser and in the suite’s walk-in closet. A few articles of clothing were designated royal heirlooms, to be carefully preserved in the palace vault until Roku came of age for marriage. The packing away of weapons and clothes was completed just about the time someone knocked vigorously on the bedroom door.

 

"We’re back!" Sokka said cheerfully as he and Suki came into the room. "And look what we got for redecorating!" as he opened the door wider, ushering in a train of servants all carrying objects that they proceeded to lay out in rows on every available horizontal surface for display.

Sokka and Suki had gone with a knowledgeable servant to an artists and craftsmen’s market that was reportedly less a mile downhill from the palace, with a hundred gold pieces from the expense account that had been set up for them soon after they’d arrived. The Dai Li agents were each getting paid a straight salary (and a hefty one at that, paid by the Earth King and Fire Lord together,) but Suki, Sokka and Katara had come to the Fire Nation to guard and nurture Zuko’s son out of friendship and loyalty, and to set a monetary value on that would have been demeaning. But the fact was, even with the palace providing food and shelter for them they had expenses too, and would need money sometimes. So Iroh had suggested that a collective expense account be set up for them in the palace’s budget, an account that they could draw pocket money from as needed. They were also given written vouchers that they could show to any vendor, which promised royal repayment for anything that cost more than what they had on hand.

Katara had asked Sokka and Suki to take a hundred gold pieces and come back with what they could find in three hours, figuring that they could find a few quality pieces of art in that time. But Sokka had clearly decided to go for quantity instead of quality. There were dozens of ceramic figures, of everything from a laughing cow-pig to a dragon with garnet eyes, to a tiny Aang sitting in lotus position, to a colorful handstanding acrobat with an hourglass embedded in his torso. There were several paintings as well, with subjects ranging from landscape scenes to portraits of children with impossibly huge eyes, to a tiger-dillo rolling through a flaming hoop. And some metal sculptures, too; a few of them were skilled renditions of people or animals and instantly recognizable as quality art, while others… Katara looked at one piece and wondered if the artist had suffered a sneezing fit while trying to weld together a miniature hippo-cow. Or maybe it was supposed to be a camelephant?

No more than two of any figures or paintings were done in the same style, but the entire collection did have a style, that could be summed up in one word: tacky. Suki caught Katara’s eye and gave a little helpless shrug, as if to say she’d tried to select more tasteful objects but…

Zuko stared at the large spread of knickknacks in visible dismay. Katara could tell exactly what he was thinking: Nearly half this stuff is hideous, and the other half is ludicrous! Do they really expect me to put all this junk on display? And then actually sleep in the same room with it all?!

"Now we don’t expect you to use all this stuff in redecorating, or even half of it," Katara said firmly. "But you are expected to pick at least three things, to put on the walls or on the furniture; something new to look at." Something to fill the empty spaces, so he wouldn’t be reminded of what had been taken down or packed away. "Sokka can put the rest in his room, or we’ll find other appropriate places for them… like in your uncle’s chambers," she suggested wryly, eyeing the avid gleam in Iroh’s eyes as he looked over some of the knickknacks.

Zuko looked over the collection carefully, and finally chose four items altogether: a gleaming yellow ceramic figure of turtle-duck mother preening one of her ducklings, a painting of a ship silhouetted against a sunset at sea, another painting of two dragons dancing in flight, and a bronze sculpture of a dragon with a tiny rider on its back. While he was choosing what to keep, Kumo somehow magically produced a much smaller weapons display case, for mounting the remaining pair of daggers and brace of senbon in.

Then Zuko found the best places for his new decorations, while servants carried everything else out of the room (with Iroh discreetly directing the servants to send about a dozen of the items to his own suite.) When he was finished the room still held several reminders of Mai, but overall it looked quite different; enough that he would hopefully not be overwhelmed with memories of her whenever he stepped inside. Everyone wished the Fire Lord a good night’s sleep, and left him to the care of his valets.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Two days later, Sokka took a box with a lid from his room to the nursery, and handed it to Katara. Zuko was in there playing with his son, tickling Roku and pretending to nibble on teeny little fingers and toes, and he looked up in curiosity as Katara thanked her brother, took the box and disappeared into her bedroom just off the nursery without a word. Zuko looked inquiringly at Sokka, but the Water Tribesman pretended not to notice and distracted him by talking about how much Roku had grown in just six weeks. Then Sokka regaled him with a few pointless but mildly amusing anecdotes about what he’d seen and heard while he’d been shopping for knickknacks the other day, while glancing nervously at the doorway to Katara’s room from time to time.

Twenty minutes later Katara came out of the bedroom with the box and a grimace. "The first one didn’t work at all, the second one leaked and the third one fell apart in less than a minute." She offered the box back to Sokka as she added, "You’re getting close, though; the third one might have worked if it had been sturdier."

"What are you talking about?" Zuko had to ask.

"Ohhh, no; I’m not gonna even try to explain!" Sokka said, frantically waving his hands. "Katara can explain it to you if she wants to, AFTER I leave the room!" and with that, he grabbed the box and almost ran out of the nursery with it.

Zuko looked inquiringly at Katara, but she blushed slightly as she shook her head. "It’s just an idea I had, and I don’t want to talk about it until we can actually make it work. Okay?"

He was afire with curiosity, but he had to respect his friend’s wishes; he nodded, "Okay," and said no more about it.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

The next day was one of no meetings or appointments for the Fire Lord—save one, which only a very few people knew about.

When he came into the nursery to give his son a good morning kiss and cuddle for a few minutes, Katara could see the tension in his frame and asked him, "What’s wrong?" He just shook his head in response, but she persisted, "You’re really not happy about something… is your uncle all right? Did the guards—was there another assassination attempt last night?!" as she reached with her bending and pulled a globe of water out of the nearby basin, subconsciously preparing for combat.

"No, nothing happened!" Zuko hastily reassured her. "Everything’s fine!"

She just gave him a narrow-eyed stare in return. "Zuko, you told us all ‘everything’s fine’ for at least six months and seventeen attempts on your life; none of us are buying it anymore! And if you don’t tell me what’s got you so upset right now," as the globe of water above her hand started growing tendrils, "I’m going to freeze you to the nearest wall and keep you there till you ‘fess up!"

His eyes widened and he backed up a pace for an instant, before leaning forward aggressively in response to her challenge… but an instant after his fists started smoldering, he shook his head at himself and stepped back again. "You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t keep secrets from you guys any longer. But you can’t do anything to help this time… I’m going to visit Azula today."

All the air went out of Katara’s lungs, as her globe of water fell apart and splashed onto the nursery rug. "…Oh."

"She’s being kept in an institute on another island; I visit her once a month. I missed last month’s visit because we had to wait in Ba Sing Se until Roku was old enough to travel. This time…" He paused to take a deep breath, and his voice cracked ever-so-slightly as he continued, "Now I have to tell her that Mai is dead. Mai was her closest friend, or at least the closest Azula would ever let anyone come to being a friend, once…"

She laid her hand on his arm in sympathy and comfort as she asked, "Would you like me to come with--" Then she stopped herself, her expression turning rueful. "No, sorry, I can’t; Roku still needs to be fed every few hours, and I’m sure you don’t want to bring him along this time."

"Absolutely not," Zuko said without hesitation. "The institution she’s being held in is no place for babies."

"I still don’t think you should go to see her alone, though," Katara fretted. "Maybe Sokka…"

Zuko shrugged a little. "I go there alone most times; Mai only went once, before we were married. She’s drugged and restrained, Katara; she can’t hurt me."

She gave him a knowing look as she said softly, "Not physically…"

Zuko refused to meet her eyes. "Yeah. Not physically." After an uncomfortable pause, he cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, I should be back by sunset."

He opened the door to leave—and stopped in his tracks when they both saw Uncle Iroh standing outside the nursery, dressed for traveling. Iroh said simply, "Ready to go, nephew?"

"Uncle? W-What are you--" Zuko stuttered, his good eye wide.

"You should know better by now than to try to keep secrets from me," Iroh said matter-of-factly. "And she is not just your sister; she is my niece. A relationship I neglected in the past," as his own gaze dropped to the floor for a moment, before looking up again. "Now, shall we go? Kumo has the palanquin ready for us."

"And the Dai Li are ready to accompany you, sirs," Agent Huong as he stepped up behind Iroh, to the older gentleman’s slight startlement, and bowed.

Zuko gave Huong a startled look as he said, "I thought today was your scheduled day off? Hoshi showed me the roster two days ago."

"I traded days with Agent Renshu, sir, when we found out about this voyage. Renshu would burden rather than protect your party if his seasickness came back, and I can find the bar they were talking about some other day; I doubt it’s going anywhere."

Zuko just looked frustrated instead of appreciative of Huong’s minor sacrifice. "I prefer to not have any company on these trips! I’ve been making them alone since just after the war ended, and nothing’s ever happened on any trip!"

"You’ve been making them alone, and on a regular basis, my lord. It’s become part of your schedule," Hoshi said as he stepped up beside Huong and bowed low, and then straightened up to give his sovereign lord a downright challenging stare. "I seem to remember getting this," as he tapped the jagged scar running across his face, "when somebody else figured out your schedule…"

Zuko flinched guiltily, as Huong must have known he would, and accepted his increased entourage without any further protest. Katara gave a small wry smile as the party headed for the palace gates; it seemed Huong had also figured out the secret to dealing with his monarch when the Fire Lord was feeling obstinate. A little guilt trip could make Zuko go a long way…

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

The two royals and their guards left the palace just after dawn, and came back an hour before sunset. When they came back, Iroh retired to his chambers while Zuko went to the firebending arena on the west side of the palace, and proceeded to unleash massive gouts of fire on scorched stone targets, on even thicker stone walls and on nothing but thin air.

When she’d heard they returned and what Zuko was doing now, Katara put Roku in his sling and went to the firebending arena—but Sokka stopped her at the doorway to the arena, his face grim. "Now’s not the time, Katara. Go back to the nursery."

"Sokka, what are you—he would never hurt Roku!" Katara protested, aghast that Sokka would even consider the idea.

"No, he wouldn’t. But I’m dead certain he doesn’t want Roku to see him like this, either. Just wait until he’s gotten it out of his system, okay? He’ll come to the nursery when he’s ready."

Instead of returning to the nursery, Katara stopped by Iroh’s suite of rooms to ask him what had happened during the visit to Azula. She found him sitting at a low table with a teapot and a cup of tea, staring silently down into the teacup cradled in his hands. But though she could sense the liquid in the cup and the teapot, she couldn’t see any wisps of steam rising from either… he’d let the tea go cold?!

When she asked him what was wrong and what had happened earlier, Iroh only said quietly, "I would prefer not to talk about it today, dear Katara. Perhaps some other time…"

Now both frustrated and more worried than ever, Katara went back to the nursery, but only long enough to drop off Roku with Yukiko and change into bending clothes. Then she went to the east-side firebending grounds that Zuko had turned into a multi-bending arena, raised her arms and just cut loose with every drop of water in the four giant urns.

Thirty minutes of hard bending later, every square inch of the arena’s walls and floor was either slick with water or covered with ice, and the stone walls had several deep pock marks on them from ice spears thrown with all her might. She looked at what she’d done, compared it to what Zuko was doing right then and thought to herself that for all the ways that they were complete opposites, in other ways she and Zuko were really too much alike.

Having worked her frustration out of her system, she took another fifteen minutes to conscientiously pick up every last drop of water, wring the dirt and sand out until it was sparkling clean again, and then bend it all back into the giant urns. When she returned to the nursery, the Dai Li agent Phan cleared his throat before saying quietly, "Word has been passed through the servants that the Fire Lord is no longer on the bending grounds, and can be found in the garden with the turtle-duck pond."

She thanked Phan for the information, then changed back into regular clothes, got a loaf of bread from the palace kitchen, and went out to the garden with the pond. She found Zuko sitting there by the pond’s edge, tossing small bits of bread into the water for the turtle-ducks. She said nothing, just sat down next to him and began breaking her loaf of bread into tiny pieces as well.

She’d been coming out to the pond every day since Zuko had showed it to her, and every time she scattered bits of bread on the water and hoped the mother turtle-duck would accept her peace offering. For the last two days, the mother had let her ducklings come close enough to eat the bread tossed out to them, though she quacked urgently if any of them got within arm’s reach and gave Katara a positively vicious glare, promising all the pain her little avian body could deliver if the human dared reach for one of her babies again.

She and Zuko fed the ducklings in silence for awhile, while she waited to see what he would say. They’d almost run out of bread to toss when Zuko said abruptly, "Sometimes when I go to see her, Azula doesn’t even realize I’m there; it’s like she’s stuck inside her own head. I think she has this—this fantasy where she’s the Fire Lord instead of me, and she’s winning or already won the war; she talks to people who aren’t there, old generals and the like. I can stand right in front of her and talk to her, but if she hears me at all, she thinks I’m somebody else, like our mother… The staff there says those are her ‘bad days’."

"And what are her ‘good days’ like?" Katara asked quietly.

"Those are even worse, in a way. Sometimes when I visit she knows it’s me, and she knows she’s in an institution, and she…" Zuko shook his head. "When she’s not threatening to kill me in some typically nasty fashion, she’s demanding to know why I haven’t killed her yet. Saying that she’d rather be dead, than…"

"Ouch," Katara winced in sympathy. After a brief and pained silence, she asked softly, "Was today a ‘good day’ or ‘bad day’? How did she take the news about Mai?"

"It started out as a good day, for her; she laughed." Zuko’s hands clenched into fists, one of them crushing and toasting the bread for the turtle-ducks. "She laughed, and said it was about time Mai had been betrayed by someone close to her… And then when she was done laughing, she started crying. And then she started screaming at me, saying it was all my fault, that—uhff!" he grunted, because Katara had nearly tackled him from the side.

The turtle-duck mother began quacking in alarm at the sudden commotion, but Katara paid her no mind while hugging Zuko for all she was worth. She hissed in his good ear, "It was not your fault! Don’t you ever let yourself think that, Zuko! It’s the fault of that cursed nurse, and whoever paid her to betray you!"

"I know that," Zuko said with a heavy sigh. "But Azula still blames me… not just for Mai’s death, but for Mai and Ty Lee turning against her at the Boiling Rock. She screamed about how I took everyone away from her, even our mother…"

 

Katara gave him another fierce hug, holding on until some of the tension slowly left his body. After letting go to sit beside him again, she asked softly, "Did you tell her about Roku?"

Zuko shook his head. "I… I’m not ready for that yet. My guts tie themselves into knots just thinking about how she might react."

"Probably not well," Katara quietly agreed, remembering how the princess had sobbed and howled like a wild animal after her defeat at the Agni Kai.

Zuko picked up the bread he’d dropped earlier when she’d tackle-hugged him, and began feeding the turtle-ducks again. "Anyway, right about that time Uncle asked me to leave and let him talk to her alone, and I’m ashamed to say I was glad to leave him to it. I have no idea what they said after I left, but Uncle came out twenty minutes later looking awful. And he didn’t even drink any tea on the long trip back," he added with definite worry in his voice.

"I saw him in his rooms earlier, and he had poured some tea then," Katara said to reassure him. She didn’t add that Iroh had actually let the tea go cold in his hands; hopefully Zuko’s uncle would also regain his spirits by the next morning.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Three days later, Katara left the nursery during one of Roku’s naps to track down the palace majordomo, and had a private meeting with him and with the Dai Li squad leader Huong. When the meeting was over and everyone was in agreement on the plan, Huong stood up and said, "I can get the storeroom set up today, right under the nursery. How about locating the trapdoor under the daybed?"

"That’s easy enough to move," Katara agreed. "I’ll take Yukiko and Roku out to the garden with the turtle-duck pond while you’re working. Thank you, Huong."

"My pleasure, Lady Katara. And my honor to assist," as he bowed to her. "You’re a wise young woman, and brave as any warrior."

"Indeed," the majordomo Kumo said as he bowed deeply to her. "There can be no doubt whatsoever that the Fire Lord’s child and heir is in the best possible hands."

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

 

Six days later, Zuko got stuck in a meeting that dragged on and on and on; just when he thought they’d resolved the issue of how to deal with the minor crisis caused by DenchiIsland’s tato-choke blight, someone brought up another problem with the proposed plan and they had to all sit back down to iron out the latest wrinkle. Finally he stood up and snarled, "Don’t try to beat this issue to death with details! We’ve got a solid and workable plan, and I expect you to implement it starting right now! Any further complications will be dealt with as they appear. This meeting is adjourned," as he strode out, not bothering to wait for them to leave through the other door. If anyone was foolish enough to try to follow him for the purpose of babbling about another detail, well, that’s what the guards were for.

He stalked to the nursery in a foul mood, having missed dinner with his family and friends due to the blithering idiots on his council. And he’d probably missed his chance to see Roku awake, too; Katara was trying to keep him on a regular schedule for sleeping and feeding, saying that babies needed that regularity, and he was sure it was well past Roku’s bedtime now. But it would help his mood just to watch his son sleep peacefully for a while, and Katara probably wasn’t in bed yet… probably. But even if she was, he’d at least have some time with his son.

He nodded to Suki and the other guards on duty at the nursery door before going in; Suki paused as if she wanted to tell him something, but then thought better of it and just opened the door for him.

He went through the door and was immediately on full alert; something was wrong! The day bed was shoved out of place, and there was no sign of Katara—

But when he checked the crib, Roku was sleeping peacefully in it. Whew.

There was some kind of contraption on the daybed, made of leather and metal and other bits; he poked at it curiously, then looked past it. The daybed’s displacement revealed a trapdoor set into the marble floor, one that he hadn’t known was there, and it was open—what was going on?!

He crouched next to the trapdoor and peered down inside. There was a ladder leading down ten feet to a tunnel—a very cold tunnel; he could feel the chill from where he was. Stirring his breath of fire to warm himself, he started to set foot on the ladder—and then Katara came into view in the tunnel, carrying a candle lamp. "Zuko! You startled me," she said with a puff of fog when she looked up and saw him at the entrance.

"Katara, what is all this?" he asked her.

"Putting emergency measures in place for later," she said as she beckoned for him to come down. "I was going to tell you about this anyway, after I filled another row; it would be easier to explain if I showed you."

He came down the ladder, his official robes threatening to tangle his feet and his breath misting in the chill air. Katara ushered him into an underground storage room with row upon row of stone shelves built into the walls; the work of one of the earthbending Dai Li, he had no doubt. Large blocks of ice were set on the floor, keeping the entire chamber at a freezing temperature. One shelf on the far wall had a short row of small glass bottles at the very top, but other than that the chamber was empty. "What’s in the bottles?" he asked as he pointed to them.

"Milk for Roku, in case anything happens to me," Katara said quietly.

"What?!" as he stared at her.

"When I turned myself into a wet-nurse, I gave myself… more milk-producing ability than it turned out Roku actually needs," she explained, her cheeks stained red with a blush even in the ice-cold chamber. "And I decided a few weeks ago that it would be a good idea to put that extra milk aside for an emergency. I made sure breast milk can be frozen and unfrozen and still be good for the baby, and then I asked Sokka to put his talent for inventing to work. He made a device for me, it’s a sort of a pump, and I use it to, um, suck the extra milk out and put it into a bottle after Roku has had his fill."

"That must be what he was so freaked out about a while back," Zuko remembered with a wry grin. "Asking a guy to invent something like that for his sister… Well, there’s proof that he loves you; he actually put his mad genius to work and made it for you, instead of running screaming for the harbor."

"Yeah; I couldn’t ask for a better brother," she agreed with a smile. "Once Sokka came up with a pump that worked, I asked Huong to make this storage chamber. Sokka, Suki and the Dai Li guys know about it, and so does your majordomo Kumo; you and Toph were sure we could trust him with anything, and I thought it would be rather rude to make modifications to the palace without letting him know. But other than you now, no one else knows; this should be kept secret until someone really needs to know about it," as she gestured for them to leave the chamber.

Once they had both exited via the trapdoor, Katara said as she closed it, "There’s about three days’ worth of milk down there now, and I add to it every day. I want to put at least two full months’ worth of milk in cold storage; that way if there’s another assassination attempt that misses Roku but gets me, there’ll be no panic over finding another wet-nurse for Roku fast before he starves. You’ll have time to do interviews and everything it takes to find someone you know you can trust." She laid a small rug over the trapdoor as she continued, "Once the milk is warmed up to body temperature, anyone will be able to feed Roku, not just a wet-nurse. Suki already practiced with a cup of milk, and she eventually got Roku to drink from the cup. Sokka totally pig-chickened out at the thought of handling milk that came from me, but if worst came to worst I know he could do it."

He stared at her. "I… I don’t know what to say. Making plans for Roku in case you get killed…" He abruptly bowed low to her. "Thank you. Thank you, for… for being you, Katara."

He could hear the embarrassment in her voice as she said, "Hey, it’s… well, who else could be me? Now come on, help me push the daybed back in place to hide the trapdoor."

After they pushed the daybed back in place, he poked again at the contraption on the bed, more gingerly than before as he tried to figure out how it was supposed to be used. "So this is Sokka’s device, huh?"

"That’s it; it still needs to be cleaned before I put it away."

"It looks… painful."

She grimaced. "It’s definitely uncomfortable, but it gets the job done. You’ll understand if I don’t demonstrate for you."

"Perish the thought!" as he waved away the idea. "But can I ask a personal and, um, possibly silly question?" She gave a shrug of assent, so he went on, "You can waterbend basically any liquid that’s got water in it, right? Why don’t you just, um, milk-bend it out and into a bottle? Does that hurt worse?"

She gaped open-mouthed at him for a few seconds before bursting into embarrassed laughter. "Would you believe, I never even thought of that! I’ll have to try that next time. Thanks for the idea. Oh, sweetie, did we wake you?" she said as she looked towards the crib, and the little baby noises they could hear coming from it.

Zuko got to pick up and hold his son after all, crooning his favorite lullaby to him until he fell back asleep. Katara cleaned the device while he spent time with his son, and then put it away with a rueful smile. "Sokka’s going to be furious with me, if it turns out I can do it easier with ‘milk-bending’ and I put him to all that trouble for nothing."

"Maybe not for nothing," he murmured, stroking his son’s fine hair. "I bet that device could come in handy for lots of new mothers. If they could take out breast-milk and store it ahead of time, they could leave their children at home with caretakers while they go to town for supplies or even go to work in factories and businesses, without worrying about their babies getting hungry while they’re gone. Sokka just might have created our next exportable product… I’ll have to set up a meeting between him and a manufacturer to discuss making more of them. If he can get even moderately wealthy from his invention, he’ll be thanking you for not thinking of milk-bending first."

Katara gave him a wondering look, then grinned. "You really do think of everything."

"I’m the Fire Lord; it’s my job to think of everything," he said as he gently put his son back in his crib, and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Good night, son; sleep well…"

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Somewhere far, far away from the capital island:

"Report." The speaker’s tone was almost nonchalant; he was used to being obeyed.

A helmet dimly gleamed in the torchlight as the other person in the room bowed and spoke. "The Dai Li in the capital have taken the bait."

"And?"

"The trap has not yet sprung, sir. But it will; patience in these matters is advised."

The first speaker scowled. "You advise waiting… but I have already waited far too long! Force the trap to spring; it should be easy enough. All it will take are a few words in the right ears…"

The helmeted man listened with patience to the details of the first speaker’s plan, and then bowed again. "It will be done."

.

TO BE CONTINUED

…