Chapter ThreeGeneral Bujing wasn't at all comfortable with the look he was receiving from the former Fire Nation prince...he wasn't even comfortable with the fact that the boy was in his presence. He should be locked up...imprisoned along with his traitorous uncle. Instead he'd been invited to be part of a very important war council.
He remembered the last time the boy had attended such a meeting...and given the look he was throwing Bujing's way it was obvious that the youth remembered it too. And that he remembered Bujing. He had spoken out against Bujing's plan, and been disfigured and banished for it, while Bujing had been promoted. Though, with the permanently narrowed eye set within ugly scarred flesh it was hard to determine just what the boy was thinking, he could have merely been bored, but still, Bujing was worried. He'd never seen the boy bend, never seen him fight, but reports had stated that he'd gone head to head with the Avatar and managed to hold his own. If he decided to take some form of revenge, if he leapt across the table to throttle him, he only had the Princess to defend him...the others present were all non-benders...and all were more likely to just sit back and enjoy the show.
"We currently have two thousand troops ready to deploy throughout the city..." War Minister Qin was informing the Princess, while Bujing tried to ignore the burning gaze of gold.
"That's not going to be enough." The former prince said evenly.
All eyes turned to him. Azula arced a brow, a smirk curling her lips at the thought of history repeating itself.
"There are no warriors within this city, brother...except for those who are already at our side..." She said, gesturing at the pair of silent Dai Li in attendance. "This city is full of aristocrats, bureaucrats, artists and refugees..."
"Which outnumber us a hundred to one." Zuko cut her off. "And that's a modest estimate..."
"Pompous fools and riff-raff..." Qin snorted, waving off the boy's concerns.
"Yes..." Zuko agreed. "Riff-raff that have already been displaced by us once. They're going to fight tooth and nail if we try to beat them down again...they're a proud people...they may be down, but they're not broken...they could overwhelm us through sheer weight of numbers...and now that they have the Avatar to give them hope..."
"The Avatar is dead." Azula pointed out. "I killed him myself."
"We have no proof of that..." Zuko said as he stalked towards the window. "And they will require proof before they lose faith..." He gestured towards the city. "There's an easier way..."
Azula's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "If you have something in mind, dear brother, I think we'd all be delighted if you'd share it with us..."
"The majority of the population reside in the lower ring..." He pointed to the map of the city spread out on the table before them as he rejoined them. "The upper ring is already ours...the middle ring can be taken easily with the troops we have."
"And the lower ring?" Qin arced a brow.
"Is full of refugees, the poor, the feeble...all but ignored from those in the higher rings. They're desperate people, mostly destitute...which is why they'll fight for what little they've got. A change in...upper management...isn't really going to change their situation."
"So what is it you're recommending?" Azula asked.
"We let them keep what they've got...maybe even spread the wealth a little..." Zuko began.
"Are you suggesting..." Qin sneered. "...that if we throw them a bone they'll join us willingly?"
"No." Zuko meet his contempt with a level gaze. "I'm saying that if we throw them a bone they won't make a fuss."
"This is preposterous!" Qin snorted. "Why should we care about this rabble?"
"Why should we waste what resources we have keeping them in line?" Zuko shot back. "They are of no use to us. Besides...forcing someone to your side is too dangerous..." His golden eyes flicked to the silent Dai Li. "...you never know when they'll turn on you...and with these kind of numbers..."
"They could be used as cannon fodder...they won't live long enough to turn on us..." Bujing said. "Fresh meat for the front lines..." He grinned as the former prince bristled, forgetting for a moment that the boy could quite easily flay the skin from his bones.
"Enough, boys...don't make me separate you." Azula said in a rather condescending way. "We'll try Zuko's suggestion." She smiled at Qin and Bujing's obvious dissatisfaction. "He's right...we don't have a lot of troops...and his idea will allow us to utilise them more effectively..."
"Princess!" Ty Lee broke in.
"I thought I told you we were not to be disturbed!" She snapped. "This is the second time you've done so...are you incapable of following the simplest of orders?"
"It's your uncle, Princess..."
"What's wrong with him?" Zuko asked with obvious concern.
"He's gone." Ty Lee said meekly.
"
WHAT!?" The Princess exploded, immediately looking at her brother, but he only looked confused and concerned. "You're dismissed!" She said curtly to Qin and his generals. They bowed and made a hasty retreat. Ty Lee glanced at Zuko who had crossed the room and was leaning heavily on the window frame, the wood smouldering beneath his hands.
"How did this happen?" Azula growled, drawing the young acrobat's attention.
"The guard on duty said he'd be smacked around by some Water Tribe guy..." Mai said in her usual monotone, her eyes on Zuko's back, a tiny sympathetic quirk in her brow. "And the prisoners spoke of two others...two girls..."
"The Avatar's companions..." Azula spat.
"Cursed child!" Zuko hissed through gritted teeth. "Will he not be satisfied until he's taken
EVERYTHING from me?!"
"Get out." She said quietly to her two companions before slowly approaching her brother. He was visibly shaking, the wood beneath his hands glowing as it slowly ignited. She knew this was a blow to him...but an even bigger one to her plans. He'd insist on going after them...and away from her influence, and back under their uncle's, she'd lose the tenuous hold she had on him. She had to do something...and she had to do it quickly.
"Shhhh..." She soothed, placing her hands on his hunched shoulders. "I know how this must make you feel..." She began to massage his tightened muscles. "It's not your fault...he made his choice...turning against his nation and his people...that's something I know you’d never do..."
She smiled as he began to relax.
"You've suffered so much these past few years..." She continued. "You need a break...you need to rest...to regain your strength and heal your spirit. Somebody has to tell Father of the fall of Ba Sing Se...and I think that somebody should be you."
"Me...?" He frowned. "But the city...the people..."
"I can handle things here..." She assured him. "And you can take the good news home..."
"Home...?" He echoed in a whisper.
"Yes...home..."
He closed his eyes and lowered his head...he never saw her wicked smile…
~~~~~~
Zuko knew he should be feeling elated at the sight that lay before him, but somehow all he could feel was dread It was like a living thing, growing stronger with each passing moment, curled up in the pit of his stomach and gnawing at his insides like a hungry fledgling dragon.
The Fire Nation capitol was a glorious sight as the rising sun set its many towers alight with golden fire. The contrast between his true home and the one that had been his for the past few months was striking. Ba Sing Se was a massive, sprawling city, of mostly low, white buildings with green and brown tiled roofs. The city before him, though home to a similar population, was far more economical when it came to the amount of land it covered, but then the Fire Nation was, in size at least, far smaller than the Earth Kingdom, but then it was larger than all the other nations combined. So his people had built a city that was vertical, reaching for the heavens rather than crawling across the earth.
It had taken more than a week at full speed to get them here...and it was only Azula's ship and royal seal that had gotten him this far. The crew...
HER crew...barely tolerated his presence. Though they would perform any task he requested of them, they weren't particularly friendly. He had kept to himself, nothing unusual for him, training and resting as best he could. He wondered how his uncle was, if he understood why he'd done what he’d done. Was he proud that he was taking responsibility for his actions, or did he just think he was being foolish again?
Maybe he was being foolish...he had no idea how his father was going to react to this...which was why, though he hated to admit it, he'd been training so furiously. Hope for the best...prepare for the worst.
'You give him too much credit. My brother is not the understanding type.'His uncle's words drifted across his memory. He hugged himself despite the warmth of the early morning sun.
"We will be docking within the hour." One of the crew informed him, with the usual lack of formality due to one of his station...or to their minds,
FORMER station. "You may wish to make yourself more presentable."
He nodded in response, but the man had already turned and walked off across the deck. He looked down at himself. The man was right. He'd been training since before dawn, and was hardly in a proper state to meet the Fire Lord. This reunion was of the utmost importance...he was going to have to look his best.
He padded across the deck, he could already feel the rise in the temperature in the metal beneath his bare feet, partly due to his recently completed workout, but mostly to the rising sun. He didn't notice the appreciative looks he was receiving from the pair of female crew members he passed, he didn't really notice any of the crew, nor the fact that Azula’s ship actually had females on board.
He knew he'd been in less than perfect shape when he'd first come onboard, he hadn't been able to practice his bending while he'd been living in Ba Sing Se, though he had kept up with his swordsmanship and general fitness. He had been pushing himself, he knew he had, but he was happy with the results, even if it had been only a week. He hadn't attempted to bend lightening...somehow it just didn't feel right, and he didn't trust himself enough to pull it off...though he had practiced the redirecting form which had gotten him some very strange looks.
He scrubbed himself clean of sweat and towelled himself off just as vigorously. He dressed in the outfit Jin had made him despite it not being true Fire Nation attire. He took comfort in the fact that someone who cared for him had made it...and with the red dragon motif...it was almost as if Iroh was with him...to offer him protection and guidance. Then he set to work on his hair.
It was an unruly mess, thick and stubborn. Even though it was long enough to hang into his eyes it was not yet long enough to pull back into a traditional topknot. He settled for slicking it back, hoping it would decide to behave itself...
~~~~~~
"The Royal Barge has returned, my Lord..." The underling scraped and bowed.
"My daughter had accomplished her task?" Fire Lord Ozai arced a perfect brow.
"The Royal Barge does not bear your daughter, my Lord..." The man seemed to bow even deeper.
"Then who does it bear?" Ozai asked evenly, already losing patience with the grovelling twit.
"Your son, my Lord..." His nose was definitely touching the ground now.
"What?" Ozai’s voice was a fierce whisper. "Is he in chains?"
"No, my Lord..." If he wanted to bow any lower he'd have to sink through the floor.
"Bring him to me." Ozai said dangerously.
~~~~~~
Fire Lord Ozai watched with narrowed eyes as his first born child entered the throne room. He arced a brow as he took in the rather profound changes in the boy, but then he hadn't seen him in three years, three very formative years in the life of a teenager. He hadn't considered how much he'd grow in that time, but then, he'd barely even thought of him at all.
He'd been just shy of his fourteenth birthday on the day he'd been banished into the world beyond Fire Nation shores, a broken child, his face obscured by bandages. Now it was the scar that obscured his face. Ozai felt a miniscule amount of respect that the boy didn't try to hide it...like a true warrior, he wore it with pride, despite the fact that it was a constant reminder of his shame. His eyes narrowed again when he noticed the princely topknot was gone.
He knelt before him, the proper show of respect for his liege and sire, an Earth Kingdom scroll held out before him, remaining perfectly still as the minutes ticked by.
"Speak." Ozai finally ordered.
"I bring you word from the Earth Kingdom..." Zuko said. "Ba Sing Se has fallen...and their plans for invasion of our glorious nation..." He raised the scroll.
He held his breath as he heard the rustle of silk, saw the flicker of the Eternal Flame as his father rose and descended from the throne. The Fire Lord's steps were slow and measured as he approached his son. Zuko began to raise his head as his father's shadow fell on him...until the scroll was kicked brutally from his hands.
"You were told to return here with the Avatar or not return at all!" Ozai hissed at him. "I do not see him anywhere..."
"Azula said..."
"It was Ozai wore the crown last I checked." His father snapped as he circled him like a predatory animal. "
NOT Azula. She does not speak for me!" He stopped before him. "Banished you are...and banished you remain."
He turned and stalked back towards the throne. He snapped his fingers and Zuko suddenly found himself surrounded by the Royal Guard.
"You are a disgrace...a failure...a traitor..."
"I never betrayed you!" Zuko cut him off in protest.
"And apparently have still not learned to hold your tongue!" His father bristled. "Take him to the dungeons until I decide his fate."
"Why not decide it now?" Zuko said, rising swiftly to his feet.
"Are you challenging me?" His father snarled. "You would not fight me before...why should I believe you would face me now?"
"I'm not a scared little boy now." Zuko reminded him.
Ozai let out a snort of laughter. "Take him away." He ordered his guards.
"Are you afraid to face me?" Zuko challenged, shrugging off the guards' hands as he took a step towards his father.
"I will not sully my hands with the likes of you." He snarled over his shoulder as he ascended to the throne.
"I don't know how I ever expected you to restore my honour when you have none of your own!"
The words had left his mouth before he'd even realised he'd been thinking them. The Eternal Flames flared so high they brushed the ceiling.
"You will not live to regret those words, boy!"
He recognised the move his father was about to perform, as did the Royal Guard apparently because they backed away hastily. His eyes widened at the white-hot energy coalescing around his father's fingers. He didn't even think...he didn't have time to think...as the lightening left his father's hands he performed the countermove his uncle had taught him, catching the lightening with his own hand. His hissed as it tore painfully down his arm, arched across his ribs, coiled around his stomach and up the other arm to flare from his fingertips...right back at its source.
Ozai didn't even have time to gasp as he was struck by his own attack...so his son did it for him. The Eternal Flames flickered, guttered and fell low as the Fire Lord was hurled back against the base of the throne.
"Agni...what have I done...?" Zuko whispered. He didn't notice the smoke rising from the blistered flesh of his hands. The Royal Guard ignored him now, rushing forwards to aid their fallen king.
"Do not fuss over me!" Ozai roared, the Eternal Flames dancing with his rage. "Get him!"
Zuko felt the pain in his hands as the Royal Guard turned to face him...there was no way he'd be able to bend without causing permanent damage to himself. He caught the image of the red dragon on his clothing with his peripheral vision...its dream-based words drifting across his mind.
'You should get out of here...right now! Go! Before it's too late!'He didn't like running. It wasn't noble, it wasn't honourable, but to stay where he was would be suicide...and he wasn't ready to die just yet. And he didn't know what made him do it, but he dove for the Earth Kingdom scroll before he bolted from the throne room. He easily outdistanced the Royal Guard, encumbered as they were with their ornate armour, but the alarm had already gone up...the palace...the city...the entire nation...would be hunting him down.
"Think...think...think...think...think..." He muttered to himself as he pelted down a marble hallway. He knew this place, it had been his home for almost his entire life, he knew its layout, he knew every room, every corridor, and...a smile curled his lips...he knew its secret.
His mind flashed back to a time when he and Lu Ten had wandered these halls.
"I have something to show you." His older cousin had said with a smirk. "Something even our dads don't know about..."
"What is it?" The six-year-old Zuko had asked with wide eyes.
"This..." Lu Ten had picked him up so that he was eye to eye with an ornate golden ornamental dragon that was coiled around a red marble column.
"It's a dragon..." Zuko had commented, not at all impressed. "They're all over the palace..."
"Not like this one." Lu Ten had beamed. "Blow a little flame into its mouth..."
"You want me to kiss the dragon?" Zuko had looked at him sceptically.
"Just practice your breath of fire." Lu Ten had said.
Zuko had looked at him, still completely unconvinced, all but certain Lu Ten was trying to make a fool out of him, but he had relented, sending a tiny spout of flame into the dragon's gaping maw. Its tiny jaw had dropped open, there had been a grating sound of marble sliding against marble as a section of the wall slid open. A warm breeze had hit both boys in the face from the darkened opening.
"Where does it go?" Zuko had whispered in awe as the pair peered into the shadows.
"I don't know..." Lu Ten had admitted. "I've never had a chance to find out..."
"Lu Ten?" His father’s voice had echoed off the walls. "It is time to go!"
"And it doesn't look like I'm going to find out today." He had sighed. "Next time I'm home we'll check it out, okay? Promise me you won't go down there by yourself..."
"Okay..." Zuko had pouted as Lu Ten pushed the dragon's jaw back into place, the opening vanishing as if it had never been as the older boy ruffled the younger's hair playfully...But Lu Ten had never come home...
Locating the dragon had been easy enough, opening the secret door far easier than it had been ten years ago. He winced as he lit his burnt hand to see into the gloom beyond. He could see a rough hewn staircase, cut into the very rock, spiralling downwards.
"I'm sorry, Lu Ten..." He whispered as he stepped through the doorway. "But this is a promise I can't keep..." He flicked the dragon's jaw upwards, drawing his arm in quickly lest it be crushed by the closing marble door.
He extinguished his hand, standing still in the darkness as his eyes adjusted. There was an eerie luminescence to the tunnel...he let out a sigh as he discovered the source. There were crystals imbedded in the rock on either side of the path, clearly marking each broad step, their presence reminding him of yet another past deed to prick his soul.
He had no idea where the stairs led, but considering the alternative, he was willing to take his chances.
~~~~~~
Fire Lord Ozai drummed his fingers impatiently on his knee as his personal physician tended the injury. He'd been lucky, the physician had told him, it had only been a glancing blow, a direct hit would have surely killed him. There would be scarring though, it was unavoidable in a burn of such magnitude.
He placed a hand over the bandages as the physician bowed and backed from the room. He'd been surprised when the boy had redirected the lightening...he hadn’t even thought such a thing was possible.
"So the boy has left his mark on me as I left mine on him..." He thought aloud. "It would seem there is some fire in him after all..." He commented to no one in particular.
"Of course...that changes his standing from failure to threat..."
~~~~~~
Zuko had been walking for hours, in a mostly north-easterly direction he thought, and he was yet to see any light at the end of the tunnel. He was beginning to think there was no way out...that he would die down here in the darkness...until he rounded yet another corner and his surrounding changed dramatically.
He had entered a vast chamber, a cascade of molten rock casting it in a soft, ruby glow. Several other chambers branched off from it.
"You could house an army in here..." He whispered in awe.
The path was still clearly marked, curving almost due east now and he could smell the faint but welcoming scent of water. Driven by a thirst that had been building steadily, he quickened his pace and soon saw a circle of green in the distance before him. With a heartfelt sigh of relief he made his way towards it, emerging carefully into the lush rain forest.
He turned and looked upwards at the impressive face of rock that hid the caves. In the distance he could see the main island's lesser volcano, a thin column of smoke billowed from its summit. He could hear the water he had smelled gurgling nearby and headed towards it, falling to his belly and drinking his fill while cooling his tender fingers in its icy depths before sitting back against a massive tree trunk to take in his surroundings.
The sky was cast in pinks and purples, the sun just slipping beyond the horizon...he'd been walking all day. Off to the south west he could see the capitol, distant, but he feared, not distant enough.
He was exhausted...he'd never felt so drained in his entire life. His father had confirmed what he'd always known...always known but never been willing to accept. And he had sacrificed everything to truly learn this most bitter of lessons.
He would never regain what he had lost. He would never have his honour, his nation or his throne. He was no longer Prince of the Fire Nation.
He was just Zuko…