Prologue: Newly Laid Plans
I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters, settings, etc. This is just for fun.
As Zuko felt the warm morning sunlight hit his face, he knew it was time to wake up. He pushed the crumpled, crimson sheets off and sat up. Briskly rubbing his eyes, he glanced at the table near his bed. Of course, nothing was odd about there being a table there. After all, Zuko had grown accustomed to his room here in Ba Sing Se. He had spent a few weeks here, relaxing with his newly formed group of friends after Aang defeated the Fire Lord.
So, while this table was ordinary, the note sitting on it was not. Zuko frowned and reached to snatch the paper from its resting spot. He knew nothing good ever came from notes, after all, no news is usually good news. He quickly unfolded the letter and recognized the writing straight away. It was a note from Mai, this could not be good. Zuko skimmed over the note picking up the important details. After skimming the note, Zuko was sure he had missed the part where Mai said she was joking. He read it thoroughly a second time, finding no hints of it being a joke. He stood up, crumpling the note in his hand as he walked to his window.
Looking out, his trained eyes tried to take in all the sights of the outside. Nothing was usual, and there was no Mai. Zuko threw the rumpled paper behind him and ignited it midair. It was nothing but a small rain of ash when it landed on the floor.
Zuko turned and slid down the wall until he was resting against it with his knees near his chest. He was supposed to be happy now. His father was dead, he is the new Fire Lord, he has more friends than he had ever dreamed of, his uncle had forgiven him and he was going to search for his mother. Why couldn't he just be happy for all that was going right for him? 'Because, you want someone to share it with' answered the voice in his head. Ever since he had been exiled, the voice in his head was that of his uncle, guiding him to become who he is today. But now, the voice in his head was that of himself. Zuko closed his eyes and had every intention of sulking all day, week, month, until someone made him stop.
It was not long before Zuko heard his house mates waking up and moving around the house. He could hear tea pots bumping each other as his uncle made tea for everyone. He heard Sokka's bad jokes and Toph's smart retorts. He heard a loud chirp as Momo flew by his door and heard the foot falls of two people chasing him down the hall. Zuko knew it would not be long before his friends forced him to be social.
Sure enough, he heard the heavy stomps as Toph came to his door.
"I know you're up Mister Fire Lord! I can seeyou sitting there all curled up in the corner!" Toph taunted kindly in a way only she could.
"I'm not curled up in the corner," said Zuko as he eyed the corner just to make sure he was a safe distance away from it.
"I heard that Pouts! You have five minutes to get your butt out here or else I'm coming in there to pull you out by your prissy ponytail!" Toph said while making a fist as if to prove her point. She then walked down the hallway and took her spot on the floor next to Uncle, blowing her bangs out of her face.
"It's not a ponytail!" Zuko suddenly yelled out.
Sokka threw up his arms and yelled back, "That's what I said!"
Zuko resigned to his fate and stood up, taking a deep breath to steady himself, he walked out his bedroom door. As he rounded the corner into the common room, he tried to put on a mask of indifference as to fool his friends, but there was always one person that he could not hide them from.
"Quit moping Pouts, your shuffling is making it hard for me to see." Toph said off-handily before sipping her tea.
"I'm not moping," Zuko said with no force behind it. His shoulders slumped as he told his friends the truth. "Mai's gone."
"Yeah, we know," Sokka started. "She left last night saying her parents wanted her to help keep the peace during the negotiations with Bumi at Omashu. Don't worry buddy, I'm sure she will be back in no time and the two of you can continue on being two love bird-squirrels!" Sokka even made flapping motions with his hands to illustrate wings.
Zuko was about to tell Sokka how wrong he was but he thought against it. Everyone seemed so happy now. He was trying to be a better person and good people did not bring their friend's happiness down.
Zuko walked past where Aang and Katara were trying to get a map back from Momo and went over to where Toph and his uncle were enjoying their morning tea. He sat next to Toph and reached past her to grab a newly filled cup of tea for himself. As he was about to touch the cup, Toph slapped her hand against the stone table and made the cup fly upward towards Zuko. If he had not had a warriors reflexes, he was sure the tea would have been spilt, and that would have made Uncle upset. But, as it was, Zuko caught the cup midair without spilling a drop.
As he brought the cup to his lips to drink, he whispered out a sarcastic "Thanks."
"No problem Pouts! Just trying to cheer you up is all!" Toph said loudly enough so that they earned a side glance from the other members in the room.
"Stop calling me that! You can't even see my face to know if I'm pouting or not!" Zuko let out with a puff. He then winced at the choice of words he used. He knew the small Earthbender could sometimes take offense to her blindness. He quickly looked down at her to see how she was reacting.
Thankfully, Toph was all smiles as she held her arm out, hand reaching for Zuko. "Well, we could change that easy! What do you say?" She wiggled her fingers to give it more jazz. Zuko's eyes zoned in on the "healthy layer of earth" on her hand. He grimaced and let out a polite "Uh, no thanks."
Toph, not being offended, simply retracted her arm and shrugged. "Your loss, now you are stuck with Pouts. Unless you can prove otherwise that is!" Toph said happily as she heard Zuko let out a breath, defeated.
The group of friends all sat around the common room quietly chatting, waiting for breakfast to be brought.
"Man, where is Suki? I'm starving!" Sokka said dramatically after his stomach cried out for food the third time that morning.
"I'm here Sokka! Now help me carry these trays in!" Suki's voice traveled in through the door. Aang and Sokka both went to help Suki bring in breakfast.
"Wow, that was a lot of food today! I am glad it won't be my turn to go get it again for a while." Suki said as she sat with the others for their meal.
Sokka was drooling over the food until he found his plate. "Is this...is this bacon?" You could hear the longing in his voice.
A happy Suki replied, "Sure is, they got a fresh shipment from the country this morning. I made sure it was pig-cow and not pig-turkey. I know you like pig-cow much better!"
"Suki, you're the greatest!" Sokka declared before shoveling the food into his mouth. His friends watched with morbid fascination.
"Sometimes, I'm really glad I can't see you guys" Toph said while scrunching her nose at the sounds Sokka was making. This made everyone laugh and Sokka slowed down his eating. A little.
Katara looked up from her food as she remembered something. "What was the good news you wanted to tell us Zuko?" Katara's question brought everyone's attention on Zuko. He knew exactly what Katara was talking about, but without Mai around, it did not seem as good of news as when he had let them all know he had something to tell them last night.
Zuko's mouth slipped into a tiny frown as his eyes scanned the table where all his friends were sitting. All of his friends but one, that is. He let out a tiny sigh and blurted out his good news. "I know where my mother is, I will be going soon to rescue her." He stated simply. Originally, he had hoped that Mai would be there at his side when he said that, if only he hadn't waited until today to tell them!
All of his friends smiled at the news and they all made sure Zuko knew they were happy for him. Toph, being that she was sitting next to him, punched his arm and let out a joyful, "That's great Pouts!"
Zuko felt the skin on his cheeks heat up due to all the attention. He was still trying to get used to having this many friends that cared about him. Zuko finally let a small smile show on his face.
"This truly is great news my nephew." Uncle said with a kind smile. "But, where did you get this information?"
"Father." Zuko spat out. He was going to leave it at that but he knew his friends would question him. "I visited him and asked where she was. He looked at me, saw I was Fire Lord, saw that I held all the power he once had. It was the first time I have ever seen him afraid." Zuko could not help but smirk as he remembered the look his father had given him.
"When are you planning on leaving Nephew?" Uncle said behind his tea cup.
"I was hoping soon. Now that I know where she is, I don't want to have her suffer anymore than she already has. I had Father draw on this map where she was." Zuko pulled a small folded map out of his sleeve. He handed it to his uncle, who studied it carefully.
"Hm. Well, it does make since that she would be taken there. You see, the place where she is was once a high security prison meant for dangerous traitors and threats to the nation. That is exactly what your mother became when she assassinated your grandfather Zuko." Uncle's mouth was set in a frown. He had always cared for Zuko's mother. She loved her son so much and sacrificed everything for him.
He looked up into the expectant face of his beloved nephew. "I wish I could tell you this will be an easy rescue, but I am afraid that the old saying of 'you have to work hard for anything worth having' applies here my nephew. Your father's supporters would have retreated to the island chain where this prison is located and unfortunately for you, he was well followed."
Zuko knew not everyone in the Fire Nation would have willingly followed a new Fire Lord, but by the sounds of it, there were a lot more than he thought, and they were all in the way of getting to his mother.
"Zuko, you will need help with this. I am sorry, but it is not something that you can hope to accomplish alone. You know I would be there at your side to help you, but I need to remain here in Ba Sing Se until a new leader is appointed. Since you have not fully taken on the burdens of Fire Lord someone has to and it would look bad on the Fire Nation if we did not help ."
Zuko frowned but nodded. He had known his uncle was needed to help rebuild their nation's reputation. He looked towards Sokka and his Waterbending sister.
Sokka's mouth pulled into an uncharacteristic frown as he answered Zuko's silent question. "Sorry buddy, we told dad we would meet up with him and the rest of the tribe in a week."
"Yeah, the Southern Water Tribe is going up north to help rebuild the capitol city. There was a lot of destruction there and because of the war, they still have not fixed it yet. If there was an attack, not that we are suspecting one, but if there was one, they would be defenseless. I am so sorry we can't help you Zuko." Katara added as her eyes showed how much she wished she could be in both places at once.
"Are you accompanying them Aang?" Zuko asked hopefully wishing he was not.
Aang shook his head no but quickly added, "I am actually going to go with Suki to meet with the other Kyoshi Warriors to help rebuild some of the destroyed villages in the Earth Kingdom. A lot of people were left with out homes. Since the Kyoshi Warriors can't bend, I agreed to help them. I'm sorry Zuko." Aang said sincerely. Suki added in her apologies with downcast eyes.
"Well, I guess that means it's just you and me then Pouts." Toph said as she sat her tea cup down.
Zuko glanced down at the Earthbender with wide eyes. It wasn't that he had forgotten about her, it was that he didn't think he would have to ask. She seemed like the only one in the group that no matter what, he could count on her. Zuko hated being cliché but she truly was like his rock in the group. This feeling may have come from the fact that Toph was the first to trust him, she even came to his camp to help him, and then she forgave him for burning her. Even though Zuko had become a much better person, he still didn't think that he could forgive someone for taking away his sight, even if it was temporary.
"Yeah," was all Zuko could find to say, not that he thought he needed to say anymore.
Katara looked across the table and asked, "How will you be traveling there Zuko?"
"I was thinking I would go by ship. Since the island is south of the Fire Nation, I could set sail from here and travel east." Zuko replied not looking at Toph. He was waiting for her protests.
Uncle was also aware of how the blind girl would feel about being on a ship for that long so when he saw her puff up and rise out of her chair he quickly spoke up. "I am afraid that is not the best option my nephew. You see, the tides do not flow in your favor this time of year. It would take longer for you to travel there by ship than it would to travel west on an ostrich-horse."
Toph sat back down with a wide grin and punched Zuko in his arm. "Looks like I get that life changing field trip after all!"
Again, all Zuko could manage was a long, "Yeah."