Chapter 2: The Reunion
Zuko's beach house
"About time we got here," Zuko complained as he and his family lugged up the steps to the beach house late in the evening, "Next time we're taking the balloon."
"You're such a whiner," Mai replied.
"At least we could get some quiet time up here without anyone bothering us," Zuko said as he opened the door.
"Surprise!" several dozen voices shouted at once causing Zuko to jump into a fire bending stance.
"What the hell!" he yelled.
"Ha ha! Zuko, that look on your face was priceless," Sokka walked up to him laughing.
"Sokka?" he looked around, "Aang? Katara? Toph? What are you guys doing here?"
"Well, Scarface," Toph said, "We all got invitations to come here, and we couldn't pass up an opportunity to surprise the hell out of you."
"Mai," he growled, "Thought you said there was no party."
"I lied," she shrugged, "besides, they're all friends. Let's just have a good time."
She kissed his cheek, putting a smile on his face, "All right."
Mai was dragged off by Ty Lee, leaving Zuko with the kids.
"Dad, I thought you hated surprises," Rozin asked.
"I do," he sighed.
"Cheer up, Zuko," Sokka slapped him on the shoulder and handed him a drink, "This will help."
Aang then joined with his two kids in tow.
"Fire Lord Hotman," he mock bowed, "Happy birthday."
"Ha ha," he replied sarcastically.
"You've met my kids, right?"
"Yeah, a long time ago."
"Hi, Fire Lord Zuko," Ahmo bowed.
"Hi, Hotman," Kya chuckled and bowed.
"Just Zuko," he motioned for his kids, "You remember Rozin and Zek, right?"
"The kids exchanged their hellos before Zuko motioned for them to move over to where Sokka's kids were.
"So, how's things here in the Fire Nation," Aang asked.
"Not the best," Zuko looked down, "It seems there's been more and more confirmed Separatist movements in the past few months. Not to mention corruption with the governors and sages."
"Hey, you need my help just ask."
"No, I can handle this."
"Zuko, maybe you should consider the Avatar's help," Iroh said as he walked up to the trio.
"Uncle, how'd you get here from Ba Sing Se?"
"Ty Lee and Haru told me when they came in the tea shop," he sipped some tea before continuing, "It might be wise to ask for the Avatar's help."
"He's right," Aang said, "This is the kind of thing the Avatar's supposed to do. You know, preventing wars and all."
"This isn't a war," Zuko said.
"It will be if you don't do something about it."
"We can handle it," Zuko sighed, "You already have a bad enough reputation here. Interfering with Fire Nation business would only make it worse."
"I won't wait until it blows into a full out war before I get involved. Remember what happened to Roku?"
Zuko sighed, "Yes."
"And I don't think you want to put yourself or your family through another war."
"Fine. Just lets not talk about it here. I want to try to relax."
"Good."
"Glad you finally learned how to reason," Iroh said as he patted Zuko on the shoulder.
'Well, count me out," Sokka said, "I'm retired."
"You're only a year younger than me," Zuko replied.
"Still, Suki will have my head if I go off to fight another war."
"Fair enough."
"So Aang's going to help you out?" Toph walked up and asked.
"I guess," Zuko answered, "We'll come up with a plan eventually, but not now."
"Cool, count me in too."
"Why? This is Fire Nation business."
"Yeah, and I'm the ambassador to the Fire Nation," she folded her arms across her chest, "I got to look after the Earth King's investments."
"Talk to King Haru first, then I'll let you join."
"Fine."
Katara, Suki, Mai, Ty Lee
"You know, it's a little out of character for you to throw Zuko a surprise party," Katara told Mai.
"Wasn't exactly my idea," she took a sip from her drink, "Ty Lee gave me the idea and I just went along with it."
"I'm surprised you did," Ty Lee chimed in, "From what I remember, you hate parties."
"I do, but Zuko's been under a lot of stress with the Separatist issue and it could do him good to surround himself with friends and family."
"Will you guys need help with the Separatists?" Katara asked.
"Doubt it," Mai replied, "He's under the assumption that this is strictly a Fire Nation problem and should be handled by the Fire Nation."
"Well, what do you think?"
Mai sighed, "I don't know. But I do know that if things do get worse, we'll need all the help we can get."
"How bad has it gotten?" Suki asked.
"Not bad enough to be in war, but bad enough to start a war if we're not careful."
"That bad huh?"
"Oh, yeah. Since the end of Sozin's War there's been corruption in certain parts of the government, mainly in the island sector. We've been slowly weeding them out, but now they're getting desperate and threatening to emancipate."
"What's the big deal," Katara asked, "If they want to leave, why not let them?"
"It's not that simple," Mai replied, "Those Separatists were in power during Ozai's reign and still want to spread Fire Nation superiority. And if we cave in, then that opens the doors for them to come in and remove Zuko from the throne."
"Man," Katara sighed as she swished her drink around, "Well, if you guys need any help, just let us know."
"I will."
The Kids Corner
While the adults of the party had much to talk about and were deep in their discussions, the kids simply moved over to a corner of the mansion and stood around silently.
Kya and Ahmo were seated at a table and took turns bending water in their glasses and playing catch with it.
Rozin was leaned up against the wall with his back turned to the waterbenders, playing around with some fire he conjured. Every now and then he would put out the fire and smooth down his jet black hair, unaware that Kya was quietly stealing glances from him.
Zek, who shared his mother's constant boredom, casually leaned back in a chair and flipped around one of the many daggers he carried with him.
Jian, Shaola, and Dao sat at a table between the Fire Princes and the waterbenders. Dao was just as restless as Jian was and tried to run off whenever Shaola took her eyes off him to stare at the ever oblivious Zek. Jian was a talker and was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the silence after each passing moment. Finally, after Dao made his second run to the snack table with Shaola chasing him, she had it with the silence and walked over to the dagger throwing Zek.
"Hey there, Zek. Long time no see."
The ten year old Zek took his concentration off his knife and looked up at her with his amber eyes.
"Um… it's only been, like, two years or something," he replied in a monotone voice.
"Really?" Jian wondered, "Where was this?"
"When my father dragged us over to Kyoshi Island to visit," he answered with his concentration returning to the dagger in his hand, "Remember, I bet your sister five seashells that I could hit an apple off the top of her head with my shuriken."
"Oh yeah now I remember."
Shaola was walking back to the table holding her brother tightly by the arm when she noticed Jian had left.
"Now the next time you get up," she scolded her brother, "I will personally tie you to the chair and feed you to the Unagi when we get home."
"No Oonagee," the little boy cowered.
"Then don't run off again," she then spied her sister talking to the bored Fire Nation boy and her eyes widened, "What is she doing?"
She rushed up behind her sister and grabbed her arm to spin her around to face her.
"What are you doing?" Shaola hissed.
"Nothing," Jian shrugged and turned back around to Zek, "You remember Zek, right?"
Shaola blushed and put a shy smile on her face, "Hi, Zek."
"Hey," he replied not even taking his eyes off the knife.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone to catch up," Jian turned back to their table, "Mmkay, bye."
Shaola glared at her meddling sister, "I hate you."
Jian only smiled from the table. How she loved messing with her younger sister.
Kya's and Ahmo's game of water-ball quickly started to pick up speed and ferocity. Each sibling was trying hard to make the other one drop the ball of water whenever they passed it. As Ahmo threw the ball back to Kya, she caught it and threw it a little harder and off center than she expected back to her brother. Ahmo's reflexes were too slow and the water ball flew right threw his fingers and right into the side of Rozin's head. Kya gasped and covered her mouth as Rozin's head got drenched in a split second.
"Urgh! Hey!" he yelled and looked around, eventually focusing his eyes on the non-chalet waterbenders to his left. Enraged he stormed over to Ahmo, "You blind or something?"
"What do you mean?" Ahmo asked nervously.
"Look at my head!" he pulled the little boy up to eye level, "I'm drenched because of you!"
"Hey!" Kya got up, "Leave him alone. It wasn't his fault."
"You did it?" he sneered.
"Yes, it was an accident," she rose up her arms to waterbend, "I can fix it."
Rozin dropped Ahmo and shoved her arms aside, "Don't! You'll probably freeze it and make me madder."
Kya snickered as her brother joined her side, "I doubt that."
Rozin's outburst got the attention of his brother who left his seat to join him, grateful to get away from the uncomfortable silence with Shaola.
"What's up?" Zek asked his brother.
"This little water peasant just threw a bunch of water at my head," Rozin pointed at Kya.
"'Water peasant'?" Kya put her hands on her hips, "I'm the Avatar's daughter. I think that's pretty far from the line of peasant."
"You sure have the manners of one."
"Oh, and having a short temper is considered royalty?"
"You need to be taught a lesson," he smirked, "Agni-Kai."
"Agni-Kai is only for firebenders, smart one."
Rozin shut his eyes in frustration, "Fine! A duel, sparring match, whatever you want to call it."
Kya smirked back, "When and where?"
"Down on the beach. Now," he turned to storm out the door.
"Ok, but just remember both of my parents kicked your dad's sorry butt many times during the war," she said as she followed him out, "Just remember where your genes come from."
The other five kids stood there and watched them storm out.
"Maybe we should follow them so they don't burn and drown each other," Jian suggested.
"Whatever," Zek replied.
"That might be a good idea," Shaola said, nudging Zek.
The other five then ran out to join the two angry benders.
The beach
"I assume you know how to duel, right?" Rozin asked from one side of the beach.
"Yeah, my parents taught me a long time ago," Kya replied from the other side.
Zek and Shaola stood on Rozin's side, while Jian, Dao, and Ahmo stood on Kya's.
"Shaola," Jian shouted, "Why are you on that side?"
She glanced at Zek, "I like the view better from over here."
Zek groaned and face-palmed himself.
"Well, your cousin's on this side," Jian yelled again, "Get over here!"
"Fine," Shaola muttered and sulked over there.
"Thank the gods," Zek whispered to himself, "I thought she'd never leave."
Rozin glanced back at his brother for a second before returning his gaze to Kya.
"You ready, Peasant?"
"If you are, Hot-head."
Rozin made the first attack by sending a couple fire balls her way. Kya reacted quickly and bended some water from the ocean to block the fire before sending a small wave to her opponent. He jumped out of the way with lightning fast agility and charged after her, kicking and throwing as much fire as he could. Kya blocked as much fire as she could, but before she knew it the angry firebender was right in front of her. Rozin produced some fire-daggers for close combat and swung wildly at Kya who twisted and dodged each attack. She finally managed to grab one of his arms in water and push him back. Surprised by her attack, Rozin tripped and fell backwards on the sand. Kya then rushed up to him and bound his arms and legs.
She smirked, "I think it's safe to say I won."
As Rozin was struggling, no one noticed a small grenade land several feet from them. That is, until it blew up. The explosion knocked Kya off her feet, freeing Rozin to get up. He looked around and saw several dark figures rushing down from the nearby hills.
"Personal body guards?" Kya asked as she pulled herself up.
"No."
Suddenly the kids found themselves surrounded by a dozen men with white painted faces and black outfits. Kya and Rozin got in their battle stances as Zek pulled out his shuriken and Jian pulled out her sword.
"Dang!" Shaola cursed, "Forgot my sai at home."
"Just stay behind us and protect Dao," Jian ordered and pushed her sister behind her.
"Kya?" Ahmo asked nervously.
"Just stay with your cousins and remember what Mom and Dad taught you, ok?"
Kya, Rozin, Jian, and Zek formed a tight circle around the younger ones as the mysterious attackers closed in around them.
"Oh, they're just kids," one of them stated in a gruff voice.
"And we can still beat you to a pulp if you don't get out of here now," Rozin commanded.
"Hey, you're the Fire Prince, right?" he asked.
"Yes, and this is the Fire Nation and you will obey my orders!"
"Actually, we don't recognize the royal family here anymore," the attacker said as he got into a fighting stance, "In fact, we don't even want you alive, either."
Rozin's face paled, but didn't stop him from throwing a fire ball at the white-faced attacker.
The man easily blocked Rozin's blast, "Please, you're going to have to do better than that."
The man took one step forward, but was cut off by an incredible blast of fire from behind the bushes. The kids and the attackers were shocked by this random blast of fire, butt were even more shocked when Iroh jumped out from behind the bushes and stood between the attacker and Rozin.
"You will leave now," the Dragon of the West commanded, "If you hurt one hair of any of these kids, you will suffer the wrath of not only the Fire Lord and the Avatar, but of me."
"Ah, General Iroh," he sneered, "You think we don't know whose kids these are?"
"This is your last chance," Iroh growled, "Leave now."
"I don't think so," the attacker stated before blasting fire at Iroh.
Iroh deflected it and blasted the attacker with double the force, sending him to the ground. The others decided to attack the kids as well, but Iroh was quick and shot as much fire as humanly possible. Rozin was in awe of his great-uncle for he'd never seen him firebend before. It was as if under his skin, his blood, muscle, and tissue were made of fire and he was just releasing it. Rozin quickly took notes and firebended at the attackers himself. Although only thirteen, he was still a far capable fighter than some adults, and he quickly joined his great-uncle in fending of their attackers.
Kya took note and waterbended as much as she can at the white-faced men. Much like Rozin and his firebending, she had been capable enough to fight people twice her age. Though, she never fought firebenders before.
Zek and Jian fought side by side with Jian fending off nearby attackers and Zek pinning the long range ones with his shuriken.
Then, as if a silent order was given, the attackers fled and disappeared into the night. Rozin ran after to pursue, but Iroh held him back.
"Do not follow them, Prince Rozin," Iroh said and released his grip.
"These are enemies of the Fire Nation," Rozin exclaimed, "We should go after them!"
"They fled for a reason. For all we know they could be leading us into a trap, and I refuse to put my grand-nephew, or his friends, into danger," the wise old man explained before looking down, "Besides, they didn't leave us completely empty handed."
Rozin looked at what Iroh was looking at and saw the unconscious body of the first attacker. He then heard footsteps rushing down the trail and saw his father along with Aang, Sokka, and Katara.
"What happened here?" Zuko asked his uncle.
"You guys alright?" Katara pulled her two kids into a crushing hug.
Sokka did the same, and then released them, "You kids are in so much trouble."
"Why?" Jian asked, "For defending ourselves?"
"No, for sneaking off."
"You guys could've been killed," Katara scolded at all five of the kids.
"We didn't know we'd be attacked," Kya shrugged.
"Besides, it was hers and Rozins fault anyway," Shaola explained.
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked.
"They were the ones that wanted to have a duel, or whatever, so they came out here. We only followed them so they wouldn't hurt each other."
"Is this true, Rozin?" Zuko turned to his son.
Rozin looked down shamefully, "Yes, Father."
"Why would you sneak off in the first place?" Zuko blew up at his son, "You know there's Separatists out there who'd love to take out anyone of the royal family."
"I thought you said Ember Island was safe!" Rozin shouted back.
Zuko looked around him, "Apparently not."
Silence then overcame the group before Iroh decided to speak up, "I will take the kids inside. There's an unconscious man lying down over there, he may have some answers for us when he wakes up."
Iroh began gathering the kids and sending them back up the trail.
"Thank you, Uncle," Zuko said quietly.
"Don't mention it," he began to walk up the trail.
"No, thank you for saving them," Zuko stated back, "I don't know what I would've done if you weren't here."
"We all owe our thanks to you," Aang added.
"It's what I do as a great-uncle," Iroh smiled, "Sometimes I'm here to tell entertaining stories of old or play music. And sometimes I'm here to kick ass."
This earned a chuckle from everyone, but Zuko who walked over to the unconscious man lying down. Iroh then followed the kids up as Aang, Sokka, and Katara joined Zuko by the man.
"So what are we going to do?" Sokka asked.
"You know how I said that I didn't need any of your help?" Zuko asked.
"Yeah," Aang answered.
"Well, I do know," Zuko looked down, "They just involved my family and they're going to pay for it."
"They got out families, too," Katara sighed, "We'll help you as much as we can."
"It'll be just like old time," Sokka exclaimed.
"Except this time, I think we have more at stake," Zuko noted before motioning for Sokka to help him with the body.