Prologue
Lau ran through the outer courtyard of the royal palace as fast as his nine year old legs would carry him, which turned out to be faster than he thought. Then again, how much could he trust his own mind if he couldn't even recall anything before waking up in the royal palace? Nevertheless, he bolted from the guards in hot pursuit. He gasped for breath as the pain in his left shoulder intensified into an almost blinding agony. He couldn't remember what had happened to cause the pain but he didn't have a moment to check it. As he reached the wall, he leapt up and grabbed the top, ignoring the screaming pain as he pulled himself up over the wall. He dropped on the other side, rolled, and leapt into an all out sprint without missing a beat. After a few minutes of running through his pain, he finally succumbed and passed out in the middle of the market square.
"What do you mean, a thief got away? What thief?" Azula demanded of the guards in front of her, her voice as smooth and sinister as always.
"I'm sorry, your majesty. It was just a boy. I-"
"No," Azula cut him off, "Even a small boy can be dangerous. I think the Avatar proved that over fifteen years ago. Now tell me, what exactly did you see?"
Lau groaned, a dull ache throbbing in his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked around the room to see two dirty kids sitting around him. One was a little girl with a gleeful look in her dark eyes. She had long black braids and her clothes looked like they could've been very expensive at some point, but had lost luster and quality from years of wear and tear. The other was a stern looking boy of about thirteen. His arms were crossed over a young toned chest. He had more peasant-like clothes on. He wore an open russet vest and black pants with worn leather boots. His black hair was long and hung around his shoulders messily. He didn't look anywhere near as happy to see that Lau had come around.
"What?" He asked of the young man.
"Lau, I always respected your honor. I didn't know who you were, or why you came. But you saved Sora from those thugs and have continued to help us despite our lack of money. Now you've made it clear how you got the means to get us food or medical supplies. You're a thief!" He stood as his words got more intense. Lau sat up, drawing a sharp intake of breath and grabbing his shoulder in pain. The girl, Sora, got to her feet and went to his shoulder. Lau glared at the boy with the intense gold eyes.
"I'm no thief." He growled, though his conviction sounded stronger than it really was. Was it possible that he was a thief? That would explain why he was in the royal palace, wouldn't it?
"Really? Then why did I have to save you from being picked up by palace guards? Why were you carrying the golden flame of the crown prince? Not only did you steal from the royal family, but you stole from the dead crown prince! I thought I knew you Lau, but clearly, I was wrong."
"Dead prince? What are you talking about?" The boy rolled his eyes, but his expression became that of sadness rather than anger.
"Lau, yesterday, there was a radical rebellion within the palace walls. The entire royal family was slaughtered in their beds last night." Lau closed his eyes, flashes of fire and screaming echoing through his mind. A woman laughing maniacally as blue tinted darkness and the scream of a child made his eyes stream with tears.
"Cairo, his shoulder is burned badly. We need to do something soon or he might lose it like Zhan did." Sora said in a small voice. Lau jumped, clutching at his burned arm.
"Lose it? I can't! I'm left handed!" Cairo put a hand on his good shoulder.
"Calm down Lau. We'll do what we can."
"Morning!" The young woman announced as she opened the door to the shop and was shocked to see that she wasn't the first person there. Iroh looked up from his table with the only other early rising guest he'd ever had.
"Good morning Toph. If you will just wait a moment, I can have a hot cup of tea for you. Excuse me darling. He addressed the woman sitting with her back to Toph as he stood and walked into the back of his shop. Though Toph couldn't see it, the woman was tall and thin with a full black cloak around her shoulders. She had long black hair flowing down her back and shoulders and choppy bangs fell in her face as she stared down at her tea. Toph sat at the table next to the woman and waited, feeling the motion of Iroh bustling behind the counter.
"And you are sure that… that he is dead?" Iroh asked, his voice choking up. The woman slammed her tea cup down on the table in a moment of fury, then let out a pained sigh and gently set the cup aside and mopped the spilled tea up with a cloth napkin.
"Iroh, I saw him… It was… the worst…" She stifled a sob and her response fell into the air, unfinished. Iroh sobbed as he brought the tea to Toph, wiping his nose on his apron. He went to the oddly familiar woman and drew her to her feet and into his embrace. She stood stalk still for a moment, and then returned the old man's hug with the ferocity of a woman who's lost all she once held dear. Toph guessed that maybe it was a son or husband of the woman. She got to her feet as she finished her tea and paid more than enough, as was her routine.
"I have to go teach my classes now, but I'll come back this evening," Toph said quietly, "I'm sorry for your loss Ma'am." She put a hand on the woman's shoulder and suddenly recognized her.
"Who's dead?" she asked soberly.
"Who isn't?" the woman responded somberly before sinking into her chair again and returning to crying into her tea.
"I will walk you to the training arena, Toph. And you know you are welcome to any accommodations my lady." Iroh directed his last line at the woman in the chair.
"You see, Toph, about two weeks ago, a group of radicals in the fire nation attacked the royal family. Azula is heading the entire thing, but what really breaks my heart is how many people within the palace were working against the royal family all along." He paused and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
"So, Zuko is dead then?"
"Yes. Mai came to me very late last night with the news. I still don't want to believe it, but she said she saw him fall. I would take her word. I cannot imagine that a man's wife would be so accepting of her husband's death without being quite centain…"
"Or maybe that's all she could do was watch. Didn't they have kids? Maybe she wanted to protect them."
"Trust me, she did. But it was too late. She told me that while she tried to get to them, a loyalist guard came from the hall where the three children were and held her back. He told her it was too late, and that he was going to get her out before anyone could take her life as well. It was his orders from Zuko to protect her and the children. He was to bring them to me, but it seems she was the only one to survive." He wept openly at the thought of losing his family to Azula. As the old man hugged the small woman's frame, she felt the pounding of small feet coming towards her.
"Iroh, I have students coming, but I'll be at the shop when class is done. I'm so sorry." She pulled away from the old man as some of the kids rounded the corner to get to class. Iroh laughed as they pulled to a stop in front Toph. She rolled her eyes and turned to Iroh.
"Don't be fooled, these are the eager ones. The other half will stumble here at dawn, groaning about how early they have to be up." Iroh chuckled heartily.
"I should get back to Mai. I worry about leaving her alone. After all, she did marry my nephew, and I had valid reason to worry about leaving him alone." He chuckled darkly and sighed back into his somber reality again. Toph put a hand on his arm.
"Hey, try to cheer up. If not for yourself, then for Mai. She'll need someone to stave of some of the gloom." She grinned crookedly and opened the stone wall of her training arena, the eager students in hot pursuit. Iroh turned away from the arena and began his walk back to his tea shop. On his way, he thought of how he was going to address such a huge problem… and how he would word it best for Aang and Katara.
"Master Sokka! Master Sokka!" Tao ran into the living room of Sokka's now very empty two story house on Kyoshi Island. Tao was the son of the warrior that now commanded the Kyoshi warriors. He was about ten with very plain messy brown hair, and light brown eyes. His muscles, though young, were fairly developed. This was due to his swordsman training since he was six.
"What is it, Tao?" Sokka asked, a bite of breakfast that had been half way to his mouth, slipped between the chopsticks and fell to his bowl as Tao slammed the door.
"A message from Ba Sing Se." He handed the scroll over and sat cross-legged at the other end of the table. He practically bounced in place, eager to hear what news came from the capital city. As Sokka unfurled the scroll, Tao decided to take a roll from the table and begin taking chunk-like bites of it without discretion.
"Hey! I- Oh no." Sokka's defense of food was quickly quieted as he read the contents of the letter.
"What is it?" Tao asked eagerly, even more interested now that it had put a worried look in even his sword master's eyes.
"The Royal family is dead." He whispered to himself.
"No way! The Bei Fong family is actually dead? Cool!" Sokka snatched the half eaten roll from the boy's hands incredulously.
"No! The Bei Fong family is not dead! The Fire Nation's royal family, not the Earth Kingdom's Royal family! Don't you have your own breakfast to eat somewhere else?" Tao shrugged and got to his feet. Then, with a very Sokka-like gait, left the house. Sokka ran his hands through his hair with a gusty sigh.
"Suki, I wish you were still here." He mumbled as he went to his desk to respond to the black letter.
A/N: Right. This is a an intro chapter. It captures interest and sort of gives you an over view of all the people and their lives. Here's some, 'you should guess it but just in case you didn't' Clarifications.
Sora is about six
Sora and Cairo are brother and sister
Yes, Lau is relevant to the story
Azula made it into the palace because she was controlling half of the militia at the time.
Iroh still has his tea shop
Toph is teaching Earth Bending in Ba Sing Se
Sokka is teaching sword fighting in Kyoshi
Toph's family is ruling the Earth Kingdom, and by default, Toph is the princess.
Yes, Suki is dead.
Good enough for you? Any other questions, feel free to ask. Ciao!