Pro-Bending Circuit | Finals

Team & Position: Laogai Lion Vultures, firebender

Part B: Choosing the Prince

Prompts Used: (title) The Gray Beach | (restriction) Start with the sentence - "The clock struck one and all that was left behind was a discarded paper hat." | (restriction) Include the following sentence three times - "Just because it's in a book, doesn't mean it's right."

Bonus: Use of my element (fire)

Word Count: 1,654

Summary: A series of vignettes tracing Iroh's influence on Prince Zuko as he continues to mentor his nephew throughout their lives.

The Grey Beach

I The Lesson

The clock strikes one and all that is left behind is a discarded paper hat. And the last fire flake dumpling.

"Hands off, Zuzu, it's mine."

"But I saw it first—"

Azula's fist collides with his ribs, and Zuko finds himself sprawled in the sand. Grit coats his mouth as he spits fiery frustration, but his sister skips down the grey beach, dumpling in hand.

The guests have long gone, the bonfire long dwindled to embers, but Prince Zuko remains, pouting in Azula's wake.

His uncle sighs, rubbing his back as he rises from his lawn chair. "Prince Zuko, why are you crying?"

The boy glowers back, fire stinging his eyes. "I am not crying."

"It looks like there are no more dumplings on this tray," Iroh observes, the silver glinting like lightning in the moonlight.

"Azula took the last one." He balls up his hands at his uncle's chuckle.

"Prince Zuko, let me teach you a secret."

"I don't have time for your lessons, Uncle!"

"But you should always make time for dumplings." Leading his nephew by the shoulder, Iroh walks back from the beach to the royal family vacation's kitchen.

The chef wakes at Iroh's cough, spluttering as he straightens. "Your Highnesses!"

"Pardon me," Iroh says with a wink at Zuko, "but Prince Zuko's special birthday dumplings disappeared. They were… eaten by flying dolphin fish. Would you be so kind as to make us some more?"

The second batch of dumplings taste even better than the first, but Zuko falls asleep before he can tell Iroh, his belly full and his mind at peace.

II The Bandage

The bandage itches his healthy skin. 'First we'll check each of the air temples.' His ruined flesh still burns under his bindings with the heat of the fire that scalded it. 'Then we'll scour the world, searching even the most remote locations until we find him.'

He can't see his uncle's hand rest on his shoulder, the bandage has blinkered him. 'Prince Zuko, it's only been a week since your banishment. You should take some time to heal and rest.'

The old man's words summon a fragile fury. 'What else would I expect to hear from the laziest man in the Fire Nation? The seminal texts on honour and duty are clear: the only way to regain my honor is to find the Avatar, so I will.'

'Just because it's in a book, doesn't mean it's right,' his uncle says in a peaceable tone that only serves to fuel the fires of the injured prince's anger.

'Ready my ship!' he snaps, yanking his shoulder out from under the old man's hand.

Iroh's sigh is lost to the winds of the Western Air Temple.

III Blood Traitor

"But what do I do?" His fists explode into flames. The heat laps at his palms, soothing his frustration, but when Zuko looks up, his uncle is frowning.

"Patience, Lord Zuko." The title has changed, but the familiar words rankle. The new Firelord struggles to choke back his irritation.

"Azula will remain a threat as long as she walks free," he says sharply. "She tried to kill me!"

"But she is your sister."

"So do I let her go?"

"A wise man does not turn his back on a lion vulture circling overhead."

"Azula's not a lion vulture anymore, she's… different now, she needs help."

"There lies your answer, Lord Zuko."

The words burn trueinto his heart, but the thanks catch in his throat.

IV Unsolicited Advice

"The Kemurikage… or whatever they are… their attacks have only grown stronger. They've taken Tom Tom and Kiyi, and a dozen other children from the city." Zuko's frown, reflected in his tea, deepens.

Iroh peers over the rim of his cup. "There's something else bothering you, Zuko."

Zuko almost touches his head to make sure his hair hasn't burst into a blaze. "It's nothing."

His uncle just waits, stirring sugar into his tea. Sure enough, Zuko feels the words flare out of him like fire meeting fuel. "Mai thinks our chance has passed. That it's time for us to move on."

"I thought my chance for tea tonight had passed when I dressed for bed, but—" The old general shrugs at the cup and biscuits set before him. "Now what do I always say?"

"Just because it's in a book, doesn't mean it's right?" Iroh shakes his head, but Zuko forges ahead. "I need to show her I can handle the threat of the New Ozai Society. Then she'll realize that I've grown, that I won't hurt her again."

"Zuko," Iroh says so gently that his nephew is reminded of smoke slipping through flames. "You don't need to prove that you've grown. You just need to let her alone."

"Uncle—"

"Now is the time for finding those children and protecting the throne. Tomorrow you will have time to rekindle your romance, should the lady desire."

"But—"

"Wait for her to come around," Iroh says, tone brooking no argument. After finishing his tea, he looks up with a twinkle. "And if she does not, I have an excellent young lady in mind for you."

"Uncle!"

V Silence is the Best Teacher

'He doesn't understand!' The Firelord wears his anger the way hardwood wears a flame. 'After everything we've been through, all the times I've helped him, he's turning against me!'

Iroh says nothing, he is smoke in the wind.

'He's going to side with Kuei and those Freedom Fighters!' The Firelord makes a small noise of anger, his eyes roving over the map of Yu Dao. 'They don't understand! The Earth Kingdom citizens and Fire Nation colonials' destinies are entwined. Why wont they see that?!'

His uncle's silence draws the Firelord's attention. 'I know what you're going to say,' he grumbles, taking the seat he vacated in his temper. 'Aang's duty isn't just to our friendship, it's to the world. But what if what I'm proposing is what's best for the world?!'

Iroh merely raises a brow.

'It is,' the Firelord mutters, shocked. 'Yu Dao could be the example the world needs; Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, living together in harmony. That's what the Harmony Restoration Movement is meant to be all about! If only I could get them to listen…'

Iroh sips innocently at his ginseng.

The Firelord stands again. 'I need to speak with Aang and King Kuei,' he announces. Glancing down at the old man, Zuko's expression softens. 'Thank you, Uncle.'

Iroh smiles serenely.

VI An Alternative

Uncle is supremely unhelpful as Zuko wears a hole in the soles of his wedding shoes, wracked with demons old and new.

'The fire in your heart knows what it wants, Zuko,' the old man advises calmly, his mirth poorly disguised.

The fire in the Firelord's heart flickers, wildfire in a gale. 'I know I love Mai,' he says sharply, turning for another panicked tour of the room. 'But is she the right choice for Firelady?'

The old man is older now. His grey beard is closer to white and the lines in his face begin to tell the ending of a story. 'Hmm… ours is a passionate country. Its leaders need to both embody the fire of our passion, and be tempered, cool…' The aged face can still manage a look of youthful cunning. 'Katara the waterbender would be an ideal match.'

The Firelord nearly falls over the fine carpet at his feet. 'Wh— Uncle!'

'Lady Mai has a cool temperament and though she hides it well, a stoic internal fire.' He clasps the flushed younger man's shoulder gently. 'Your heart knew all along what was best for your family and your nation, nephew.'

VII The Surprise

The palace slumbers under the full moon as the Firelord sips his ginseng tea. "I already commanded the librarians to pull all the scrolls on parenting from the shelves. We have eight months to read, that's enough time to for us to learn how to do this right."

When Iroh chuckles, Zuko knows what's coming next. "Just because it's in a book—"

"—Doesn't mean it's right. I know, Uncle. But I'm worried." The newness of it all threatens to burn him up from inside.

"I worried, too, first with Lu Ten, and then with you." Iroh smiles as he sets down his cup. "But then I realized that I can't protect you forever. I could only teach you and hope that you listen."

The way his uncle beams at him cools the fire raging in Zuko's chest. "Thank you," he says, and when Iroh slowly stands to embrace him, he doesn't protest.

VIII The Grey Beach

Zuko is an old man — older now than his Uncle ever was — when he sees the Dragon of the West again. He struggles on the shifting sands of Ember Island at twilight. These days his back aches more often than not and his fire does not ignite quite as easily as it once did. There's a tiredness in his bones now, one that no amount of sleep seems to be able to recover.

He played on these shores as a boy. His happiest memories are of the sun, his uncle and cousin, his mother. Less pleasant are those of Azula and his father, but these do not haunt him as they once did. His uncle's laugh rings distantly in his ears as he passes a slumped sand castle, a relic of earlier that day.

Grey fog clouds the beach now. And it's getting harder to see. He's so tired, this father of Firelords. He needs somewhere to sit. Somewhere to rest.

'Take a seat, my nephew,' his uncle advises and Zuko lets his body sink back into the yielding sand. 'You have done good work, Zuko, and I am so proud of you.' Tears echo in the old general's voice. 'Rest now, my son.'

Zuko rests his head, his back. His hands, his eyes.

Slowly, Zuko rests his breath.

- o -

In another world, he is a young man once more. In another world, his uncle's embrace is more real than the distant grey beach at nightfall.