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Aang had a problem.
And it was quite a big problem, if he was being honest.
“Guys!” he called out as he ran into the camp where his friends were. “We’ve got a problem! A big problem!”
Four pairs of eyes turned toward him.
“Does this have anything to do with you being in your school uniform?” Lee asked.
Lee was their newest team member and Aang’s firebending teacher. He had joined them in the Earth Kingdom, in the middle of the desert, right after they lost Appa. Lee had initially intended only to accompany them temporarily, but eventually, he joined them and became an important member of their team. Aang couldn’t count how many times he’d talked to him about the Fire Nation, about how that country had changed compared to what it was a hundred years ago and how it was now.
Lee, who was originally from the Fire Nation but had spent the last few years in the Earth Kingdom, was well aware that war was destroying the world and did not support the current Fire Lord. When they found out he was a Firebender, Lee hesitantly offered to help Aang master firebending and from that moment on became his teacher.
“No!” Aang shouted. “This has nothing to do with my school uniform!”
Lee crossed his arms over his chest.
“Katara and I aren’t going to pretend to be your parents again, Aang,” he said.
“I don’t need you to do that!” Aang protested. “That’s not what this is about! I’m talking about the Fire Lord!”
“So what is it, Aang?”
“I don’t know which one I’m supposed to defeat!” Aang blurted out. “Ozai or Zuko?”
There was a moment of silence.
“What do you mean, Aang?” Sokka asked. “We’re supposed to defeat Fire Lord Ozai, aren’t we?”
“No, that’s exactly the point!” Aang exclaimed. “The thing is, Ozai isn’t the Fire Lord! He’s just the Regent! Zuko is officially in charge!”
Somewhere off to the side, Lee shifted uneasily. Katara shot him a look that Aang couldn’t quite figure out. But then again, Aang didn’t understand half of what was going on between Katara and Lee. Aang blamed it on the fact that he’d spent several weeks unconscious after Ba Sing Se, which apparently was enough for some kind of bond to form between Katara and Lee and lead to them dating now.
They told him that wasn’t the case. That something had existed between them back in the Earth Kingdom, long before Ba Sing Se; that they hadn’t meant to hurt Aang.
Aang tried to understand. It hurt a little to know that Katara had chosen someone else, but at the same time, he valued the friendship he had with the two of them. So he tried not to let on that the situation was still a bit painful. The fact that Lee and Katara tried not to show their feelings too publicly helped a little.
But the truth was that Aang knew Lee and Katara sometimes said things to each other that they didn’t tell the rest of them. That was the case that day when the two of them took Appa to go find Katara’s mother’s killer. It had already been the case in Ba Sing Se, when the two of them roamed the city at night to find Appa and didn’t tell anyone about it.
And that was the case now, too, as the two exchanged glances.
“You didn’t tell them?” Katara asked.
“Not yet,” Lee replied.
Aang glanced at one, then at the other.
“About what?”
“Does this have anything to do with the two Fire Lords?” Sokka asked.
“One of them,” Toph interjected. “Officially, Zuko is in charge. Ozai is the Regent.”
“I haven’t heard anything about Zuko,” Sokka noted.
“Because you probably weren’t supposed to,” Lee said.
“At school, they said Zuko was sickly and had a weak heart,” Aang recalled. And then he remembered he was supposed to panic. “This is a problem! Guys, this is a problem! How am I supposed to defeat the Fire Lord when he’s sickly and has a weak heart?! That would be very mean and rude! I can’t attack someone who’s sick!”
“All the better for us,” Sokka said. “You know, we’ll storm the palace and in no time, it’ll be over.”
“It’s not that simple,” Katara interjected. “Zuko isn’t… Anyway. Lee. You should explain this.”
Lee looked at her in panic.
“Me?!”
“You’re the one from the Fire Nation,” Sokka pointed out. “You must know something.”
“Um,” Lee said. “Okay. Um. Em. How much do you guys know about the Fire Nation royal family?”
Aang raised his hand.
“Ozai is the Fire Lord and has a daughter named Azula. No, wait. Ozai is just the Regent. Does Zuko rule? Who is Zuko?”
For some reason, Lee buried his face in his hands.
“Okay,” he said after a moment. “So it’s that bad. Seriously, you don’t know anything?”
Aang nodded.
“Lee,” Sokka said. “You realize you’re talking to people who grew up on ice or spent a hundred years in ice.”
“Okay,” Lee sighed heavily. “So we have to start from the beginning. You’ve heard of Sozin, right?”
Everyone nodded.
“Sozin’s successor was Azulon. Fire Lord Azulon had two sons, Iroh and Ozai. Iroh is the older one and was supposed to be the next Fire Lord. A few years ago, he laid siege to Ba Sing Se. Then, his only son, Lu Ten, was killed. Iroh… changed, a lot. He gave up on the siege and withdrew completely.”
“Okay…” Sokka frowned. “I guess that’s good for the Earth Kingdom?”
“For the Earth Kingdom, yes,” Lee agreed. “But a problem arose at the royal court in the Fire Nation. Ozai went to Fire Lord Azulon, claiming that Iroh is weak, that he has no heir, and that Ozai should be the next Fire Lord. Azulon… Azulon must have been annoyed by all this, because he officially announced that Ozai would not become Fire Lord. That same evening, he issued an official decree in front of the entire royal court.”
Lee’s words made Sokka snort. Katara and Toph didn’t seem surprised. They must have heard about it.
“Okay, but then why is Ozai the Fire Lord?” Aang asked. “Who am I supposed to defeat, anyway? Ozai or Zuko?”
Lee laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant laugh.
“Listen to me, Aang, because this isn’t over yet,” he said. He stopped smiling. “Iroh was supposed to be Azulon’s successor. But Azulon died about a week later, under circumstances that weren’t entirely clear. Shortly after that, Princess Ursa, Ozai’s wife, also disappeared.”
“That definitely sounds suspicious,” Sokka said.
“Because it was a suspicious situation,” Lee agreed. “Anyway, according to the law, Iroh was supposed to become Fire Lord. Only Iroh was nowhere to be found. He didn’t return to the Fire Nation after Lu Ten’s death. No one knew what had happened to him. When he didn’t show up within a month, he was presumed dead, and the next in line, Prince Zuko, Ozai’s son, was crowned.”
“The one who’s sick,” Aang realized.
“Zuko was eleven at the time,” Lee said. “He didn’t know what to do, how to rule. In the blink of an eye, he went from being fourth in line to the throne to becoming Fire Lord, so, well…”
Lee trailed off. He looked down at his hands.
“Zuko wasn’t a good Fire Lord,” he said finally. “He was young and loved his father. He let him rule. He made him Regent, let the war continue. He didn’t try to change it because Ozai claimed everything was going well, that that’s how it should be. And Zuko believed it.”
“He was manipulated,” Sokka realized.
Lee pressed his lips together.
“Yes,” he said finally. “But he was also to blame. He didn’t try to resist, he didn’t try to gain real power. He just let Ozai rule. That’s probably why everyone thinks Ozai is the real Fire Lord, because he’s the one who holds the real power now.”
“So all we have to do is defeat Ozai and tell Zuko what’s really going on!” Aang said, feeling a sudden surge of hope. “No, we don’t even have to defeat Ozai! We just have to show Fire Lord Zuko what’s really going on, just like we showed Kuei!”
But Lee shook his head.
“That won’t work, Aang,” he said. “Because the truth is, Zuko is aware of this now.”
“Hmm…” Toph said thoughtfully. “What do you mean, Lee?”
“Um… ” Lee glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then focused on Aang. “It was a few years ago. Iroh returned to the palace. He decided he wouldn’t challenge the new Fire Lord to an Agni Kai, that he wouldn’t fight for the crown. He decided instead to renounce the crown, saying he didn’t desire it and didn’t want to fight against his family. But then… then he started talking to Zuko a bit more often. And Zuko realized just how much Ozai had been hiding from him. He started asking questions. Ozai didn’t like that, so Zuko just… disappeared.”
“I don’t understand,” Aang admitted. “I thought he was sick?”
“That’s the official story,” Lee confirmed. “Honestly, it would be better for Ozai to say Zuko is dead and crown Azula, but… well, I suppose Ozai likes power. With Zuko out of the palace, Ozai rules with an iron fist. He doesn’t have to share it with Azula. So he told everyone that Zuko is sick, that he’s not feeling well, when in reality he tried to kill him and forced him to leave the palace.”
“Are you sure about that?” Sokka leaned toward him. “Zuko could just as easily be seriously sick or dead.”
“Fire Lord Ozai– um, Fire Regent Ozai wouldn’t kill his own son!” Aang objected.
Lee gave him a slightly apologetic smile.
“He’d be capable of it,” he said simply. “And he tried to kill Zuko. Believe me. I was there.”
“What?” Sokka flinched.
Lee lifted his hair slightly, revealing his face, that scar that was the first thing Aang had noticed.
“I was at the palace back then,” Lee said. “My family… let’s just say, had been working at the palace for generations. I got this scar from Ozai. I think he wanted to kill me, but slowly. He knew I opposed his policies, what he was doing… honestly, I’m only alive thanks to Master Piandao, who happened to be nearby and helped me escape from the palace.”
“Oh,” something changed on Katara’s face. She didn’t look surprised, so she must have known how Lee got his scar, but at the same time, something in her expression made Aang think she must have learned something new.
A look of horror flashed across Sokka’s face.
“Shit, Lee,” he said. “I knew you got that scar from some Firebender, but for it to be Ozai… Damn it.”
“It’s okay,” Lee said quickly. “That was a while ago.”
“Still…” Sokka shook his head in disbelief. “I knew Ozai was trouble and that he was evil, but I didn’t know it was this bad.”
Katara’s hand rested on top of Lee’s, covering it.
“Ozai will be defeated,” she said with conviction in her voice. “You’ll see.”
Aang was definitely not eager to go out and defeat Ozai, the very person who had injured his friend. The scar on Lee’s face looked painful. It didn’t look pretty.
Aang… Aang didn’t want the same thing to happen to him.
At the same time, he couldn’t just let Ozai walk free, not after what he’d done to his friend. Aang felt sick just thinking about it.
“Anyway,” Lee said, catching his attention. “That day, Ozai got rid of Zuko. He told everyone that Zuko had fallen ill, so no one found out what really happened. And… well, ever since then, Ozai has been pretending that Zuko is in charge.”
“Is he really capable of doing that?” Sokka asked in disbelief. “And no one caught on?”
“Well…” Lee hesitated. “I wasn’t at the palace at the time, so I can only speculate. But traditionally, the Fire Lord holds audiences while hiding behind a curtain of fire. All he had to do was bring in a stand-in. I think Ozai is probably biding his time. It’s been three years and no one has caught on, but…”
Lee shrugged.
“Ozai won’t be able to hide this forever,” he said. “In time, he’ll probably announce Zuko’s death and crown Azula. That’s the only thing limiting his power, because Azula won’t let herself be manipulated, so Ozai is probably trying to avoid that.”
“All right,” Aang said. “Okay. So, we have to find Fire Lord Zuko! He defied Ozai, so he probably wants this war to end!”
For some reason, Lee shifted uneasily.
“Aang,” he said slowly. He glanced at Katara, who nodded encouragingly.
Lee glanced at him. At Sokka. At Toph. Then once more at Katara, who squeezed his hand lightly.
“We don’t need to find Fire Lord Zuko,” Lee said after a moment. “I told you, I was in the palace when Ozai tried to kill him. I know what happened to him afterward.”
“Hm?” Sokka leaned in toward him slightly. “What exactly?”
“Zuko left Fire Nation territory,” Lee said. “He was badly wounded by Ozai, and Ozai’s men were looking for him. I think the original plan was to gather allies to show that Ozai had tried to kill the Fire Lord… I don’t know, that’s what I think; I was barely conscious myself back then, you know, after that,” he pointed to his face, “but then something went wrong. A storm broke out and… well, Zuko woke up in the Fire Nation. Alone. Without allies.”
Lee pressed his lips together. For a moment, it seemed he wouldn’t say anything.
“Three years is a long time to realize that your country is fighting a war that isn’t right,” he said after a moment, quite quietly. “Zuko was lucky. He was found by healers who helped him and probably saved his life. For a while, he wandered the world. Eventually, he managed to contact Iroh, who had also realized what had happened and that Zuko had disappeared. The two of them began working quietly to overthrow Ozai… and then the Avatar appeared.”
“Me,” Aang realized.
“Exactly,” Lee nodded. “For a long time, you were elusive; no one knew what was happening to you or where you were. Ozai focused on continuing the war. For a while, it seemed we’d just have to wait for the Avatar to defeat Ozai, which would create the perfect opportunity to change the country’s leadership. Honestly, that’s when I became interested in you.”
“And you helped me escape from Zhao as the Blue Spirit!” Aang recalled.
His friends glanced at him in surprise. Aang hadn’t told them that. Oops.
“Exactly,” Lee confirmed. “Now I regret not staying longer, not talking to you more, but I had to go see my uncle, who was in the area. Besides, I knew it wasn’t the right time. But then rumors started circulating about the Siege of the North, and I didn’t know what to think of you anymore. You seemed like a good kid to me, but at the same time, everyone was talking about how you’d killed thousands of Fire Nation soldiers up north.”
Aang did his best not to flinch. It didn’t seem to work.
He didn’t like to think about it. It wasn’t something he wanted to do, but at the same time, he was responsible for it. If only he hadn’t entered the Avatar State back then…
It saved the Northern Water Tribe. But that didn’t mean Aang was proud of it.
“So I started following you,” Lee continued. “I picked up your trail somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, barely managed to avoid a confrontation with Azula, and then found you in the desert.”
“So it wasn’t a coincidence that we met,” Sokka realized.
“No,” Lee confirmed. He looked Aang straight in the eye. “To be honest, I was thinking about killing you back then.”
Aang flinched.
“I’m not going to do something like that now!” Lee said quickly. “I’ve changed my mind about you, Aang, you’re a good kid, and I actually like you! But at first, I just thought maybe you’d gone crazy and were going to kill my people! And I thought I had to stop you! But I quickly realized you had no control over what happened in the North and that you’re the only one who could defeat Ozai, so I decided to support you.”
Lee shrugged.
“And that’s how we ended up here,” he said. “I feel a little bad that I wasn’t able to help in Ba Sing Se–”
“It wasn’t your fault; I was the one who insisted you come with me to Dad,” Sokka interjected. “No one blames you for that.”
“Yeah…” Lee looked away. “Anyway, sorry. For what happened. For the city falling.”
“It’s not your fault, Lee,” Aang said. “Ozai decided that.”
“Yeah…” Lee said again.
Katara glanced at him. She’d been strangely quiet for most of this conversation, but then again, what Lee was saying didn’t surprise her. Aang had suspected she knew all about it. Lee must have told her earlier.
“Lee,” Katara said. “Just tell them. You promised you’d tell them.”
“Exactly, Lee,” Toph chimed in. “Tell us. Because my feet are telling me you’re telling the truth, but I know you’re hiding quite a lot from us, though I don’t know exactly how much.”
Sokka frowned.
“What are you hiding from us?” he asked. “And what does it have to do with finding Zuko?”
Lee sighed heavily.
“You don’t have to find Zuko,” he said after a moment. “There’s no need.”
“Why?” Sokka asked curiously.
Lee sighed again and– oh. Oh no. Aang seemed to be catching on to what he was trying to tell him.
Lee’s golden eyes – Zuko’s eyes – turned toward Aang.
“Because you’ve already found him,” he said simply.
Sokka looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“…Seriously?”