Title: The heavy crown.
Rating: T.
Characters: Zuko, Izumi. Iroh/OC.
Summary: Zuko's abdication sent shock waves throughout the Fire Nation, especially his family. After all, no one had heard of a Fire Lord stepping down before.
Chapter 1.
Iroh was stirred awake by a small pair of hands, "Hello, little man," He said, blinking the sleep out of his eyes as he looked at his son, "Did you have a nightmare?" He asked, noting the unshed tears in his grey eyes.
"Yeah." He admitted, holding his arms out.
Iroh nodded and got out of bed, careful not to wake his wife. "C'mere Zuko." He half yawned as he picked his three year old son up and held him close, "Do you want to say what's wrong?"
Zuko simply shook his head in Iroh's shoulder and started to cry quietly.
"Okay, so you want to go to bed?" He asked as he kissed his son's black hair and moved out of the bedroom and down the hall.
"Can I have some tea?" He whispered into his dad's shoulder.
Iroh nodded and changed his direction to the kitchen, "What tea do you want?" He asked, placing Zuko on a chair and moving to the stove to place the kettle on it and turning it on.
"Jasmine."
"Okay, can I have a cup too?" He asked, smiling when his son nodded.
They stayed silent as the kettle boiled and Iroh watched his son. Whilst Zuko looked very similar to him (with the exception of his eyes which were the same as Iroh's wife Akuji) his attitude was frighteningly similar to Akuji's. Neither could be rushed to say what was bothering them, however, Zuko wasn't nearly as stubborn as his mother (who took after her Earth Kingdom mother).
"Greap gran'pa died in my dream." Zuko muttered as the kettle was brought to boil.
Iroh nodded and busied himself with making the tea, "Why was that?" He asked.
"Unca Bumi said he was really old and that means he'll die."
"Uncle Bumi said this in your dream?" Iroh asked, bracing himself for the answer.
"No, when he babysat me last time." Zuko said in an overly patient tone eerily similar to his mother's.
"How did great grandpa die?" Iroh asked as he handed Zuko his tea.
"Oldness." Zuko answered, taking his cup and putting his hands around it.
"Is that all your dream was about?" Iroh asked, sitting down, taking a sip of his tea. Whilst his son was close to Iroh's grandfather Iroh doubted that was all that had upset his son.
Zuko paused before taking a drink of his tea, "The Fire Sagges wouldn't let me and mummy live with you in the palace because we're part Earth King-g'om." He started to cry again.
Iroh was up, out of his chair and hugging his son in record time, "Hey buddy." Iroh comforted his son, "Don't worry, not only is great grandpa in great health but no one will ever stop me living with you and mummy." He hushed his son.
"Really?"
"Of course." Iroh said as he rocked his son gently, "Plenty of people didn't like me dating mummy when we first started seeing each other and do you know what I did?" He questioned.
Zuko shook his head, "What?" He whispered as he wiped his tears.
"I asked her to marry me and, after we were married, we had you." It was a simplified version of what happened, very simplified but the basics were there.
Zuko nodded and smiled, "No one tells daddy what to do." He whispered in awe, "But mummy, because you love her." He amended.
"With all my heart." Iroh confirmed, "There's only one person I love nearly as mush and that's you, my little dragon-mole." He said, kissing his son's forehead.
Zuko giggled and grabbed his tea, finishing it in one gulp. "Can I go to bed now?" He asked, placing his cup on the table.
Iroh nodded as he stood up and held his son close, humming softly as he did so. When Iroh got to Zuko's room he turned the light, not wanting to trip over any toys and drop his son. Iroh placed Zuko in his bed gently, careful not to wake the now sleeping boy.
"Night Zuko." He murmured as he left the room and turned off the light.
Akuji was awake when he entered their room.
"Is everything okay?" She asked.
Iroh smiled, "Yes, just a nightmare." He told her, getting into bed, "You know I'll never leave right?"
Akuji smiled, "Of course, I've trapped you with marriage and a child." She joked.
Iroh chuckled and pulled her into a hug as they lied down, "And I did promise you a lifetime." He said as he kissed her neck.
"Night Iroh." Akuji said sleepily.
"Night Jiji." He responded, falling to sleep.
Iroh was next woken by the smell of breakfast cooking and the faint sound of his wife and son conversing.
"Morning." He yawned as he walked into the kitchen.
Akuji smiled, "Good morning," She responded, "you forgot to finish your tea last night." She told him.
"Daddy's silly." Zuko agreed.
"Get dressed, breakfast will be ready in five minutes." Akuji said, looking over her shoulder and smiling at him. "And your grandfather is visiting so we need to be presentable."
Iroh pretended not to notice her look over his half-dressed, dishevelled appearance and mock saluted her, "Yes ma'am." He responded, grinning cheekily, as he walked back to his bedroom. In all honesty he'd forgotten that his grandfather was visiting.
When Iroh was dressed he went back to the kitchen and helped set the table, whilst Akuji dished up breakfast.
"Please can I have chilli flakes over my eggs?" Zuko asked.
Akuji nodded and grabbed the container from the cupboard before sprinkling some over his eggs, "There you go." She said, as she set his eggs down in front of him.
"Thank you." Was their son's eager response.
Iroh smiled and pulled Akuji into a hug, as she moved in for a kiss.
"The eggs are going to get cold." She told him.
"Then let's eat."
They did just that.
Fire Lord Zuko looked out over Yue Bay and sighed heavily. This decision was not going to be an easy one, he knew that. He also knew that if he were to abdicate then it would affect not only him but his entire family. He was proud of the life his grandson and granddaughter-in-law had made for themselves in Republic City. He was proud of the work his daughter did, how serious and like her mother she was with it.
But he was old, so old and tired. He was tired of the politics, of the democracy and he was tired of feeling incompetent. And he missed Mai, she had been the one that had understood all of this best and now she was gone he felt like he just couldn't be the Fire Lord anymore. He had tried, for two years he had tried but he just couldn't do it anymore. He needed a less official job, one where he could help without being tied down by niceties and bureaucratic red tape. But he couldn't get that without abdicating and he knew that would send ripples throughout his family.
He smiled when he saw Iroh waiting at the dock with Zuko on his shoulders, who waved enthusiastically as he saw the ship approaching. As Zuko disembarked Iroh placed his son on the ground and he ran towards him.
"Greap gran'pa!" He yelled as he launched himself into a hug.
"Well hello." Zuko launched as he returned the hug. He straightened up as Iroh walked towards them, with one of Zuko's cuddly toys in his hand.
"Hello grandfather," He smiled pleasantly, takings his son's hand so he wouldn't run off, "Akuji's getting some paperwork done at home." He excused his wife.
"I see," Zuko responded, "The problems with the Earth Queen?"
"Yeah," Iroh said scratching his head, "She has an idea for a solution, several actually, but-" He waved his hand vaguely.
"The Earth Queen is too stubborn to be smart." They both looked to see Zuko smiling up at them, clearly pleased that he remembered that little snippet.
Iroh smiled and picked his son up, "Who did you hear say that?" He asked sweetly, already knowing the answer.
"I heard mummy say it to you, and there were words that I didn't know but one started with an 'f'." He answered honestly.
Zuko couldn't help but laugh at his grandson's face, "Shall we walk to the car?" He asked.
Iroh nodded mutely and led the way.
"Daddy are you okay?" Zuko asked, poking his father's face.
"Yeah buddy," He told him, kissing his son's cheek, "Just don't repeat that again, okay? You'll get mummy into a lot of trouble."
Zuko nodded and leaned on his father's shoulder, falling to sleep.
Iroh looked to his grandfather and explained, "He had a nightmare last night, took him a while to get back to sleep."
Zuko nodded, but didn't respond. They got into the car and after ten minutes of slightly awkward silence Iroh asked;
"Is mother still in Ba Sing Sa?"
"No, she's in the Fire Nation. She's sorting some… stuff out for me." Zuko said vaguely. "I'll tell you about it when we get back to yours."
"Okay…" Iroh responded in an unsure voice.
It took them another five minutes before they got to Iroh and Akuji's home and as they got out of the car the door opened.
"Hey Sifu." Akuji greeted him pleasantly. She was a head shorter than Iroh and was dressed in one of her more Fire Nation-esque dresses. The granddaughter of two of his most loyal supporters it was no surprise that she became a diplomat like them and worked on improving relations between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom.
She was also (in Zuko's opinion) the best thing that could've happened to Iroh.
"I hear the Earth Queen's a stubborn idiot." He said in way of greeting.
"Yeah, that's no surprise though." She smirked, "Is my son asleep?" She asked, nodding towards the car, "Or did Iroh tranquilise him?"
"No, he fell asleep." Iroh said as he joined them, "I'm going to put him in his bed, okay?"
"Oh, I thought he was supposed to sleep in the car, or perhaps outside." Was the sarcastic response.
Iroh kissed her briefly on the lips and went passed the pair of them to Zuko's room.
"Well, come on in." Akuji told him, half ushering him inside, "Are you okay?" She asked, "You seem tired."
"I'm fine," He reassured her, "Just old."
She nodded, "Tea?"
"Please." Zuko responded, going to sit in the living room. As had become the norm in the last three years it had toys left haphazardly across the floor, as Zuko left them in the wake of his playing with them, along with random cuddly toys that seemed to be standing guard over his toy people. He also saw files, lying across the table closest to the sofa, one of them listing 'solutions' on it. Interested he picked it up and read it. Whilst most of them were good ideas that were reasonable for both sides one was clearly a joke idea and written when Akuji was most annoyed at the entire situation. Then again, she had written out 'advantages and disadvantages' like with all her other ideas.
"I do hope your joking when you say we should start another Hundred Year War." He called from the sofa.
"I'm joking." Akuji reassured him.
Iroh walked into the living room then and began to clear some of the paperwork, moving sheets to the side and placing some in a bundle together, just in time for Akuji to appear with the tea. She placed the tea tray down on the table and sat closely next to Iroh, who promptly began to serve the tea. Zuko couldn't help but watch them with a great sense of pride but also with an underlining sense of slight sadness. They'd both managed to achieve a great deal; Iroh having recently been promoted to General of the United Forces and Akuji having improved the rights of those, like her mother, whose family had been from the colonies. Not only that but they were raising an excellent and charming little boy.
And he was going to turn their lives upside down.
"Grandfather?" Iroh got his attention, holding out a cup for him to take.
"Thank you." Zuko responded automatically, cringing at how wooden his voice sounded. He was still thinking of the best way to tell them that he was abdicating. 'Oh well,' He thought to himself, 'here goes nothing.' He took a deep breath, "I'm stepping down as Fire Lord in six months time." He told them.
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