Summary: Li's been travelling the Earth Kingdom for years now, as a part of the White Lotus and as one of Chief Hakoda's people.
It's all terribly ironic, the disgraced prince of the Fire Nation wanders the countryside of an enemy country gathering information to stop the very place he came from.
Zuko – Li – leans against the wall of the worn, long abandoned house and tilts the straw hat down, obscuring his face from the harsh, hot and sandy winds.
He scrapes his foot through the sand and watches the tiny specks roll in the breeze.
The weather has been unusually nice for this time of the year, not that he's complaining considering it's a rarity he's ever able to sleep in a house.
He's been travelling the Earth Kingdom for years now, as a part of the White Lotus and as one of Chief Hakoda's people.
It's all terribly ironic, the disgraced prince of the Fire Nation wanders the countryside of an enemy country gathering information to stop the very place he came from.
To his home, Zuko the embarrassment of a prince is dead. There would have been no possible way for a thirteen-year-old who's grown up in the confines of a palace on the other side of the world to survive in a country ravaged by a war that would kill him without a second thought if they had the knowledge of his origins.
And they are right in some respects, Li muses. Because the person he was before is gone and dead. Because who is now is a resistance fighter. He's a vigilante, the Blue Spirit, a spy. He's Li.
Who he is now is vastly different from who he was. He's a refugee called Li who assists the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom in their fight for freedom.
And how ironic it all is.
The ostrich horse tied behind him – called Song, after the woman who gifted it to him – huffs out an impatient breath and knocks her head against Li's own.
He turns around and blows air into Song's face fondly. The ostrich horse rubs her head against Li's neck and goes back to pruning herself.
Song was a turning point in Li's life. He was terrified and alone in a foreign country with his mind still firmly entrenched in the propaganda he'd been fed his entire life. Song had been the start to seeing the harsh reality of the world. Where little girls got burnt, where his country is the root for her and many others suffering.
She'd looked at him and had not judged. She had looked at him and only felt empathy and an understanding that shook him more than he'd care to admit.
Li had to leave her no matter how much he wanted to stay.
Li was the disgraced ex-prince of the Fire Nation in a land that wanted him dead and Song was a nameless refugee in an unforgiving world.
Their friendship wasn't going to work then. It may work now, all these years on when Li's head isn't caught up in the ridiculous Fire Nation propaganda and Li isn't Zuko anymore. Now he has entirely fleshed out his alter ego, now random questions from Fire Nation soldiers a little too curious about the hideous scar on his face and his complexion that's so clearly foreign don't falter him at all.
And maybe one day he'll go back to her. One day, they can be friends and he can return the favour of saving his life.
Quiet footsteps interrupt his thought process and his hand tightens around the hilt of his broadswords. A figure comes into view, walking around the side of the house.
Li can't help the smile as he tilts up his straw hat. It's been too long since he's seen Suki. They both usually get the difficult long-term missions, since it's what they're used to. Blending in is what Li and Suki do best.
She grins right back and they hug, quick, brief and nowhere near long enough. He misses their late night chats under the stars, their brutal spars and he misses her. She's his best friend. Suki is one of the few people that know about Zuko's past, she's one of the only people that really know him, and he misses that. His life is built on lies and deceit, but with Suki, it's as though he no longer has to act.
"It's good to see you," she says gently. She doesn't look quite right without paint covering her face and refugee rags replacing her full body armour. Suki is a warrior through and through, and to him, she only looks at home when she's got metal fans gripped in both hands and ready to tear someone to shreds.
"You too," he says, he opens his mouth and is interrupted when Song buts her head between them, knocking her head gently into Suki's. Song likes Suki too, and Li can't blame her.
Suki chuckles quietly like she's instinctively scared to be too loud. That's another habit Li's picked up from her that's ultimately saved his life dozens of times. Unfortunately, the habit seems to have been ingrained in every aspect of their lives.
Li watches them for a moment, just takes the time to remember his best friends smiling face. The scroll in the bag at his hip burns and he doesn't know when he'll see her again.
The information in that scroll needs to get to Chief Hakoda in the South Pole, and Li needs to remain in the Earth Kingdom to continue running missions for the White Lotus.
It could be months before they're able to meet again. Li knows it's worth it, he knows peace is worth it, but that doesn't mean he has to like it.
Suki turns to face him once again, her face pulled into a solemn frown as Li pulls the scroll out of his bag.
"Be careful," he says, pressing the scroll into her hands. She nods lips pressed into a thin line. She hesitates a moment before she darts forward, embracing him in another hug.
"Of course. You too, Li."
They pull apart unwillingly. The longer they hang around this area the more suspicious it will be. Li grabs hold of Songs reins and pulls himself onto her back. "If you die," she says, grinning. "I'll kill you."
Li pulls on Song's reins to get her to start turning around and he shoots her a rare smile back. "I'd like to see you try," he calls over his shoulder. The sun immediately hits him and he tugs his straw hat down to cover his face.
He twists around on the saddle to send her a small wave, chuckling when she pulls a face at him in response.
It's rare to be able to have a moment like that. One where he can smile, let himself go and be happy and he knows now that it's those little interactions that keep you sane in a job like this.
He misses Suki already as he rides back into the nearest town just over an hour away, but what they're fighting for is peace. What they're fighting for is justice.
Li knows it'll be worth it in the end, and that's all that matters.
I love atla so damn much I hope u guys like this. I love the idea of Suki and Zuko being best friends. (Also I do consider Iroh being alive in this AU bc I didn't actually mention him in the fic. He's firmly entrenched in the inner workings of the White Lotus. Basically Zuko's/Li's other boss aside from Hakoda)