Chapter II
Times of Madness
The resort had stocked their suite with the worst sort of fire wine, the kind that went down like water.
None of them were heavy drinkers and the wine went straight to their heads. Toph insisted on wrestling Aang in the middle of the room, and he lost badly while Katara giggled at the sight. Nearby, Ty Lee was trying to sober herself by hitting her own chakra points, her failure a great source of amusement for Mai and another Kyoshi Warrior who had hit it off with everyone.
All were oblivious to the argument taking place in the kitchen.
"What made you think I had other girlfriends?" asked Sokka, holding a bottle of fire wine in one hand and gesturing wildly with the other. "Do you think I'm that kind of guy?"
Suki's arms were folded across her chest, and while her face was nearing the same shade of red as the tunic she wore she watched the wine bottle in Sokka's hand as though considering what it might look like broken over his head.
"I don't know what kind of guy you are anymore. You spend all your time here in the Fire Nation and word gets around.
"Well then you don't know anything then," Sokka said, taking a pull from the bottle. "You just quit writing me letters, never came to visit. I'm an important guy here, you know now."
She snorted. "I guess you are," she said. "I quit writing you letters when I stopped getting yours. Hard to believe such an important guy can't get his mail sent. Maybe that girl you live with distracted you, I don't know. I don't much care anymore, either."
"What do you mean you don't care!?" Sokka said, catching the notice of the others, even those who had been on their way to nodding off. "What do you mean you don't care? How can you not care? We had something, Suki, how can you say you don't care?"
He laid his hand on her shoulder and leaned into her, tempting a hard shove but all he got was her turning her cheek. "Sokka, stop it. We had something, now we don't. Don't make it awkward."
"Make it, wha?" he was far too drunk to be having this conversation, this he knew somewhere deep down. How much wine had he drank? This felt like his second bottle, but there were more in the kitchen with him. "No, no, no. This, come on. How can you say these things? What happened, Suki? These people...these people are just, you couldn't even."
He wanted to explain to her how rumors fueled this town like a national pastime but the words would not form.
"Sokka, please..." she said, pushing him back. "Put the bottle down, you've had enough."
He finished the bottle and felt something in him tip. -Aaand there you go. Bye-bye, Sokka old buddy,- he thought.
"Suki. Suki, Suki, sweetie we can work this out. Let's just talk. Come on, let's talk. Just talk, I just want to talk, and say things to you that I think and feel, you know, come on Suki, please..."
"Sokka, we can talk in the morning, just lie down," she said, trying to lead him back to the common room where most of the activity had stopped.
"Suki...we almost died. The airships, the mountains, the blobs."
She scowled. "Come on, Sokka, let's go," she said, and waived for Ty Lee to come help her. Sokka could see what was happening.
"Fine!" he shouted, jerking away from her. "Fine! You want the truth! I'll tell you the truth. Are you ready!?"
He did not know where to begin so he blurted. "I love Suzi!"
"Her name is Suki," said Ty Lee, poking Sokka in the back.
"I know what I said," Sokka proclaimed, puffing his chest out. He was dimly aware that someone was coming up the stairs, likely a house keeper coming to tell them to shut up and go to sleep. He would have to say what he had to say now. "I said Suzi. That dark haired girl you heard about. I love her. How do you like that?"
Suki was looking past him, her face a mixture of disgust and vindication. Sokka turned to see Suzi herself standing near the door, her amber eyes darting around in confusion. "Hi," she said. "I'm...Suzi."
-Oh yeah, you never told her you'd be here so she went looking for you. Resourceful, ain't she? Great sense of timing, too,- he thought.
"Pleased to meet you, Suzi," said Suki. "Can you take lover boy here home? We're all very tired of him."
Sokka felt himself get shoved and was caught by Suzi, who gently led him down the stairs while smiling politely and moving fast. When Sokka reached the bottom he looked up to see Suki, her back lit by the lantern light. Ty Lee was standing next to her. "Oh, Sokka? While we're all telling the truth..."
She grabbed Ty Lee by the waist and pulled her closer as the sliding door was shut. Sokka blinked as the stairwell spun and he felt himself tugged along by Azula. No, Suki. No, Suzi.
"Can you believe that?" he asked the woman next to him. "She said she didn't care. After all we've been through together."
He looked into Suzi's face. "After all we've been through. Your leg...your poor leg. I know it hurt you so bad..."
"Sokka, you're scaring me," Suzi said, pushing him away from her face while managing to support him still... "Just keep walking and we'll get you into bed without mother seeing you. Everything will be okay in the morning."
"I'm sorry they scared you," Sokka muttered as his brain spun off into a muggy haze. "I'm sorry it's so dark down here. I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone about it. Maybe they'd be nicer to you if I had."
"Shh, Sokka, take it easy," Suzi said. "No more fire wine for you. Ever."
"No more fire," he said. "Oh, no your fire's gone out...gotta get it back..."
The world was a complete blur of darkness by the time she got him to his bed.
-888-
"Sokka! Sokka, wake up!"
Suzi was shaking him, making his brain rattle in fuzzy agony. He groaned and tried to roll away from her, but she was incessant. "Sokka, something's happened! There are soldiers here to see you."
He smacked his lips and tasted stale fire wine and vomit. -Oh no, what did I do?-
He thought of the young nobles who would drink too much and carouse the city, using their connections in the morning to slip responsibility. Was he one of them now? He did not recall the party, but knew like he knew the sun was up that he had made a terrible ass of himself.
"What do they want?" he said, forcing his voice to be hard and flat.
"I don't know. They say something happened at the resort and they want you there right now. Sokka, this is serious!"
-Time to go pay the piper,- he thought, and sat up. He regretted doing that, but Suzi had come prepared with a large mug of some rich, red vegetable juice which Sokka downed in one long gulp.
"I tried to get you to drink some water last night, but you had completely passed out."
"Thanks," he said, handing her back the mug. "I owe everyone a huge apology for all of that, especially you."
"Oh, no, just forget it. But promise you'll never drink like that again, please?
"No problem there. Where are those soldiers?"
They went to the front door where two dour looking men in leather padded uniforms stood. "Your excellency, the Fire Lord is demanding your presence at the Sunset Resort, room twelve. There's been an incident."
"Level with me guys, what happened?" Sokka asked, pausing as he expected shackles to soon make an appearance.
"That's strictly classified," said the younger of the two soldiers.
"So classified no one told us," said the older. "You're to come alone."
"Alone, but with us," said the younger one, earning a sideways glance from his comrade.
Sokka nodded to Suzi who promised to have a large breakfast ready when he returned, plus a special cure for hangovers her mother swore by. Sokka rubbed his eyes and followed the soldiers after bidding her farewell.
The resort had been abandoned save for soldiers who roped much of it off.
At the top of the stairs to the suite they had been in was Ty Lee. Her war paint was smudged and her armor bore dings and scuff marks that had not been present the night before. "Ty Lee, what happened?" Sokka asked.
"You better go in," she said. "I'm sworn to secrecy." Even upset she sounded bubbly.
The first thing he noticed was the wall facing the sea was nearly gone, blown inward by some tremendous force. Nothing inside the suite had been left untouched, as if a typhoon had crashed the party.
Zuko stood with his arms crossed near the missing wall. Next to him was Toph. Her head was wrapped in a white bandage that had a brown spot over her eye. Her lip was fat, and there were dark bruises on her arms. "What happened? Where's Katara? Is anyone else hurt?"
"Your sister is in the infirmary. Relax, she's going to be fine. Suki is around with some of the other Kyoshi Warriors trying to get to the bottom of this," said Zuko.
"And Aang?" asked Sokka, thinking the fire wine had triggered his avatar state and he was responsible for this destruction.
Toph stepped in front of Zuko, hands on her hips. "After you left we talked about what a jerk you were, then we went to sleep. Then the wall exploded, and Aang was taken." Her voice was a mix of rage and sorrow and when her voice cracked Sokka thought she might cry, but she held it together and continued. "It was like a crate of blasting jelly went off in here, so it was hard to tell what the things were, but I know they had wings."
The hard floor beneath his feet felt like sand, and as he started to slip he realized there was nothing wrong with the floor, but everything had come loose and was moving. He shook his head and let the pain from his hangover bring the world into focus. "Things with wings? Like wolf bats?"
"I don't know!" Toph shouted. "More like slug bats or something. There were lots of them. Aang and Katara were bending. I don't know what happened, okay!?"
"Okay, I get it," said Sokka. "There was nothing you could do."
Zuko was waving his hands for Sokka to stop but it was too late. Toph stomped over to him and shoved him in the stomach, nearly making him puke. "If you hadn't been a moron, maybe you would have been here to help, but since you weren't you don't get to talk, got it?"
"Got it," he said, too sick to be angry. She left the room and punched the wall in the stairwell hard enough to splinter the wood.
"So, something kidnapped Aang. Great," said Sokka. "Just when were about to go to that island, too."
"You keep saying 'things' did it," said Zuko. "Unless we learn different, it looks like a group of people riding wolf bats swooped in here and took him. They might have left some kind of trail in the grove outside, which Suki is following. Maybe they dropped something that will be a clue to who they were."
"They'd have to be awfully big wolf bats for someone to ride them while they flew," said Sokka. "And what's all this stuff?"
He pointed to dark streaks of mud left around the room. Much was on the floor, but the walls had been stained.
"It's dried up since we got here," Zuko said. "It was slime or something."
"Slime," said Sokka, wiping his finger in some of it and bringing it to his nose. It smelled of the sea. "Are wolf bats slimy?"
"No," said Zuko, staring at Sokka.
Sokka was glad when a Kyoshi Warrior came running in, out of breath. "The beach," she said. "You should come, now."
"I need to see my sister first," said Sokka, knowing whatever physical injuries she bore would be nothing compared to news of Aang being taken. He dared not stop to wonder why he was as calm as he was.
The warrior paused and looked to Zuko. "I think you really should see this first," she said.
Kyoshi Warriors did not unnerve easily, they both knew. "It's just down on the beach, right?" Zuko asked, getting a nod. "Stay here, guard this place and rest. Ty Lee, come with us."
They reached the beach by going to the front of the resort and cutting through the grove of palm trees the kidnappers had plowed through. More of the slime was on the ground along with bent and broken trees and torn fronds. -Wolf bats my butt,- thought Sokka.
Suki and two other warriors were standing several feet from a pile of gray meat that seemed to have washed up on the beach. Behind them were soldiers busy shooing a curious crowd. Sokka thought the mass was a tiger seal or some kind of dolphin, but once he got closer he saw why the others had given it a wide berth.
It was the length of a very tall man. Its body was barrel-shaped and at one end it split into five prongs, like that of a starfish, only at the tip of each star arm was an dull red orb. Around the orb-tipped arms were a number of chela, and it appeared from the look of the teeth on the inside of the arms that this was the thing's mouth. Halfway down the body were long, sail-like wings. Opposite them were two strange appendages that fanned out into spider-like tendrils, and at the creature's base were five more starfish-like arms only thicker.
"It washed up while we were following the trail down the beach," said Suki. "The trail ends at the water."
"Looks like some kind of squid," said Zuko.
"It's the worst squid ever, then," said Ty Lee.
"It's a monster," said Suki. "And there were more of them. They took Aang out to sea!"
"Keep your voice down," hissed Zuko, looking at the soldiers farther down the beach who had managed to stop the onlookers from advancing, but had not driven off completely. "We need to get this thing off the beach and under cover before too many people see it."
"No way I'm touching it," said Ty Lee.
"Zuko, the lemur monkey is out of the bag. Let's just get some soldiers to move it then we can have some scholars find out what it is."
"If you think there was trouble before with the island and the tsunami, wait until people...Agh!"
The thing moved. Its wings flexed and for a moment they thought the wind had done it but when the barrel-shaped body contracted and the powerful feet tentacles got under it, the thing stood upright and began to emit a hideous piping noise.
Sokka quailed under the sound, for he had heard it before. Not it exactly, but an imitation produced by hundreds of amorphous mouths. Hearing the original sent his mind reeling back to that place of cold and dark, thousands of miles from where he was.
While the others jumped back, Sokka was frozen and helpless against being grabbed by bizarre appendages that erupted from a seam in the creature's body. The thing focused each of its red orbs on him, letting him see down its toothy gullet as its raucous piping noise became louder.
Two things occurred to him at once. One was this thing was gravely wounded, and seemed to be falling apart. The other was that the red orbs were eyes, and the toothy hole he was facing down its mouth. He supposed he was looking into its idea of a face, but this thought was short-lived as his mind suddenly felt like it had been left outside of his skull, unprotected as it was blasted by the wind.
-888-
The air around him was thick, almost like water. He stood on a stone plaza beneath an orange sky, hazy with vapor. He was part of a circle formed by dozens of the starfish-headed monsters. Behind them he could see the ocean, and nearby a sea of green ferns, massive ones like he had never seen before.
There was a noise in the air like a concert of flutes, the voices of the creatures. He tried to speak but soon found he was little more than a presence. The piping stopped and their attention was diverted to the horizon where the orange had become a bright red. What appeared to be a comet had streaked down from the sky, leaving a long trail behind it and kicking up a mushroom cloud the size of the sky itself. Sokka could feel the thick air vibrate from the impact and heard the creature's piping become louder and take on a note of panic.
They were all in motion now, and he grew dizzy for he could see in all directions at once. When his gaze dipped he caught a glimpse of the body he wore, and screamed soundlessly.
-888-
The sweat-soaked sheet on his body made him think he was still in that other world with its orange sky, thick air, and giant ferns, and he thrashed about in a brief panic. Darkness and then smells of stone and an extinguished oil lamp settled him.
Suddenly he was being smothered by something warm that smelled of saltwater and flowers. "Sokka, you're awake!" his sister said. She pulled him tighter to her, and he returned her embrace with a gentle pat.
"Had a nightmare. I dreamed I drank too much fire wine and said a bunch of stupid stuff."
She let him go and sat back in the chair next to his bed where she relighted the lamp. The stone walls told him he was not in Suzi's house. A dungeon, perhaps? "No, that actually happened," Katara said.
He groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Let me guess, monsters kidnapping Aang was real, too."
He had not seen her face like it was since their mother had been killed. Sokka wiped his face with his hands and would have wanted more sleep but for the dim memory of his nightmare. "I haven't been hanging out with weird starfish monsters have I? Is the sky orange?" he asked, wanting desperately to see her smile.
"No," Katara said, her eyebrow raising. He would take confusion over her sick, stricken look. "One of the things we think took Aang got left behind. It attacked you, then died. Zuko burned it up."
"How long have I been out?"
She had been hale and plump-cheeked at the party, but now her skin was an ashen color and he could see the hollows in her face and eyes. "Two weeks," she said.
"Wha!?" he rolled of the bed and his weak legs refused to support him. Katara rushed to his side and helped him first to his knees, then onto the bed.
"Sokka, listen," she said. "Just listen and promise me you won't do anything right away, okay?"
"What do you mean two weeks? How hard did that thing hit me?" he was checking his head for bandages, or lumps, or cuts and finding nothing but unkempt hair.
"I couldn't find any physical injuries on you at all. Now, promise me you won't do anything rash, okay? Promise me."
"Alright, I promise. What is it, what's going on?"
She had been crying a great deal, but was tapped for tears now. "Zuko and the others went to that island on a ship a week and a half ago. Three days ago, it sunk."
"How'd the ship sink?"
"Not the ship, the island! They found the ship abandoned and there's no sign of them."
Her eyes had become moist, and Sokka put his hand out to comfort her. It felt like he was holding out a brick of stone. "By everyone you mean..."
"Suki, Toph, Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee, and a few of the Kyoshi Warriors."
-Suki, no. Not after all that garbage.- Sokka swallowed hard, knowing now was not the time to let his feelings run away with him. They might crush him completely if he gave them an inch, so he choked back his madness and squeezed Katara's hand.
"Who knows about this?" he asked, reminding himself that Zuko's fears about usurpers had not been unfounded.
"Everyone knows they went, and the rumors about them disappearing are spreading," she said. "Iroh fights at least one firebending duel a day against people who want him out of the way. He's holding the throne as regent for now."
Her voice was flat. She had rehearsed these words. "And you're afraid I'll run off after them and get lost myself?" he asked.
"I know it's silly. I should have gone with them, after Aang, but I couldn't leave you. I didn't know what to do," she said, her tears coming back.
He hugged her close to him and rubbed between her shoulder blades. "Everything will be fine. We don't know what's happening, so we can't assume it's hopeless."
-It might be, though,- he thought, remembering words he had shared with Azula in the South Pole years before. She had come to know things about what was going on beneath the desolate mountain, things too strange to be idle fancies. And then there was the journal they had found.
He wished he had not sent Hoplo's journal back to the Northern Water Tribe, for he was certain something in it might make their situation clearer. While he had poured over its maps and notes, using the information to orchestrate their survival, there had been other writings, things that made no sense, that had no context.
"Okay," he said, feeling his innards calm back to normal. "We have to take one thing at a time, just like when I was stuck with Azula. I need to get a handle on the situation. Where's Iroh? And Master Piandao?"
"Iroh has been in the war counsel room with some of the generals he trusts. There aren't many. Piandao is sometimes with him. What are you thinking of doing?"
"It depends on how much time we have," said Sokka. "I care about everyone we're missing, but Aang and Zuko being gone is going to hurt us the most. If the Fire Nation gets a new Fire Lord, that could mean another war. We need to take care of that first."
"Then what?" she asked.
"So totally not there yet," he said. "Please tell me we still have Appa?"
"Yes, but he's really upset about Aang. They had to tie him down."
Sokka clucked his tongue. "I'll make it a point to go see the big guy soon and calm him down. We lost Aang once before, remember?" He got dressed behind a screen and after getting his hair in order, he and Katara left the room. They were now outside on a stone path that ran atop a wall separating the palace grounds from the city.
"I need you to do something for me," he said.
"What?"
"You remember those underwater boats we used on the Day of Black Sun to invade the Fire Nation? The submarines?"
"Yeah, they were all captured," Katara said.
"And hopefully not scrapped. Find Piandao and get his help figuring out what was done with them. If there's one left we might need it."
Her mouth pressed into a hard line, and she nodded. "We'll need them if we're going to the bottom of the sea. The pressure is too much for my bending. Will the submarines handle it?"
"If they can't, I'll make it so they can," he said. "We might not need them, but if we do it's best to be ahead of the game. Meet me back here later, okay? And tell Suzi I'm awake."
"Suzi, that girl you like? She looks just like Az..."
He sputtered and shook his finger. "Never mind all that nonsense! She's been a good friend to me, better than I deserve. Please?"
"Alright," Katara said. "I guess it's not fair to dislike her for how she looks. But it's eerie, don't you think?"
He rolled his eyes but figured Katara needed something to take her mind off the desperate situation, even if only momentarily, so he nodded and thought he could use something to divert his thoughts also. "Yeah, it's weird. I'll see ya later." He patted her on the arm and they parted.
-888-
Seeing Iroh in the shadows of the war room made him appreciate how young the man had once looked, despite his age. His wrinkled skin was ashen in color, his gray hairs gone to white, and his once sparkling amber eyes were now flat and the color of pus. There was a burn on his right hand from a recent Agni Kai he had fought with a young general, a man who had been willing to risk banishment to weaken Iroh's position as regent.
"So it's that bad, huh?" Sokka said, after hearing of Iroh's woes. The fires that normally lit the room were out, and all they had for light was some lamps hung from posts.
"I'm afraid so," Iroh said. "Part of the problem is that Zuko's claim to the title of Fire Lord was his defeat of Azula in an Agni Kai at her coronation, but as we all know he had a little help."
"But she threw the lighting bolt at my sister," Sokka said, who like everyone else only knew of Azula's last battle from accounts Katara and Zuko had given. "She's the one who failed the Agknee whatever when she got someone else involved."
"Agni Kai is a set of words used to describe a fight, and all a fight proves is who won," said Iroh. "Perception is what is important here and Zuko has not been Fire Lord long enough for all to perceive him as being a true ruler. As you know, many think my brother is the true Fire Lord and if not him, then Azula."
"We just need to find out what happened to Zuko and Aang before these people can try something serious," said Sokka. "I've got my sister looking for Piandao who might know where some old submarines are. Once we get one, we can..."
"There's no time," Iroh said. He took a deep, rattling breath and looked like he might collapse into himself where he sat overlooking the long table. "I know you will go looking for the others in any event, but I fear there will be a coup here soon, and if that happens the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom will be at war again."
Sokka signed, not wishing to arguing politics with the old man. He was right anyway. Thankfully he had not brought up a possibility that had crossed both their minds, one Sokka felt was useless to consider.
In the silence and gloom, the wheels of Sokka's mind turned. He and Iroh had discussed the strange happenings, and he had told the old man of his dream. Iroh asked many questions, and while both agreed it was likely no normal dream neither could say what it meant.
"I know you and your friends are used to solving big problems, but this may be out of your hands. Focus on finding the ones we love and let me and the rest of the White Lotus do what we can here," said Iroh. "After my son died I stepped away from power and focused my attention on my nephew. That was wise then, but not now."
"I think you're right," said Sokka, knowing it had taken all of Iroh's wisdom and self-control not to insist on searching for Zuko himself. "It's too bad we can't pull the same trick the Dai Li did in the Earth Kingdom, only in reverse. The Earth King didn't have a clue there had been a war going on his entire life. We could make everyone think Zuko is still here and calling the shots."
"The Fire Nation is very different from the Earth Kingdom," Iroh said. "There they place a great deal of importance on institutions and customs. The system rules, while here the strength of a ruler's personality is what binds us. But perhaps not...Since Fire Lord Sozin, it seems like it's been the same man ruling only with a different face."
"Yeah," Sokka said, stifling a yawn and knowing when he had provoked an old man into rambling. He stood, then nearly fell down as an idea struck him. "Faces! Yes! No...wait, yes! I have an idea, but you're the only one that can tell me if it will work."
Iroh's brow furrowed, but his dull eyes had threatened to twinkle. "Oh?"
"Follow me!"
Iroh had thrown on some peasant's robes before leaving the palace along with a straw hat and followed Sokka to Suzi's house. It had become dark and the loss of the day made Sokka bounce with impatience. Suzi opened the door and in the lamplight her eyes were puffy from crying. He felt his throat lock up when he realized the massive favor he was about to ask her. "May we come in?" asked Iroh after Sokka had been silent for too long.
"Yes, of course," Suzi said.
"Az...no," Iroh said when they were inside and all was bright from lanterns. "I think I see where you're going with this, young man."
"What's going on?" Suzi asked.
"Well, there's something I kinda wanted to run by you," said Sokka. "It's a huge favor and I'll owe you more than I can ever pay you back for."
"The world may owe you a debt," said Iroh. "Ah, forgive me. We've been terribly rude." He bowed. "I am Iroh, Regent to the Fire Nation. Eh, Sokka is my adviser but you know him."
"Yes, I do," she said, smiling and wiping her eyes. "Why don't we talk over tea? Mother is out, as usual."
The mention of tea brightened Iroh's spirits considerably and soon they were sitting around the same table Sokka had felt so at ease at weeks before with steaming cups in front of them. "This is fine tea," said Iroh. "If you ever want to work in a tea shop, come to Ba Sing Se."
Suzi smiled, but her looked hardened when she turned to Sokka. "You should thank your sister that I even let you in the door," she said. "You're in a coma for days and when you wake up you start running around instead of coming to see me...tsk, tsk, tsk."
She was kidding, and he let out a breath into his tea making it look like he was cooling it. -Something tells me Katara said a few others things to her, too,- he thought, sensing Suzi was now more distant than she had been, although the space between them was warm.
"I was supposed to meet her earlier, too," Sokka said. "But let's get down to business, and I'll confess I haven't had all the details worked out, but, Iroh, you know what I've got in mind, will it even work?"
Iroh looked to Suzi and held his hands up before him to frame her face. "With some acting and a little makeup, I think it could. The resemblance is...disturbing. No disrespect."
Suzi squirmed. "This is getting a little creepy," she said.
"You look just like Princess Azula," said Sokka. "I mean, you're hair is cut different and you're way, way, way, nicer and a lot less crazy, but with some effort only the people who knew her well could tell the difference."
"It's true. Azula is my niece and I doubt I would be able to tell the difference right away if your makeup and hair were done differently."
Suzi nodded and pushed an errant strand of black hair back into place. Her look of befuddlement had not left her features. "I've had some people remark on the resemblance, but I've never seen the princess herself. I heard she was locked up in a special cell somewhere because she went mad."
Sokka almost said it was more complicated than that, but he merely nodded. "The real problem is that with Zuko and Aang missing some people want to take over or maybe even put Azula back on the throne. The war would start again."
Suzi's face hardened and it was as though Azula had stepped into her skin, making both men squeeze their tea mugs tighter. "Why would anyone do that?" Suzi said. "Haven't enough children grown up without fathers?"
"More than enough," said Iroh, his eyes rolling over the portrait of a man that hung on the wall between two windows. "If you could pretend to be her, I could arrange it so you were crowned Fire Lord. You would make your first act the appointment of me as your adviser, and we can prevent a war from breaking out. With the help of some Pai Sho players I know in the Earth Kingdom, maybe this can work."
"I'm game," said Suzi, and she took a deep sip of tea. Sokka looked to the portrait on the wall. It was a detailed pencil drawing of a man with soft eyes and sharp features. "This is going to be dangerous," Sokka said. "Even if you're not discovered, being someone like Azula isn't easy."
"Iroh can give me pointers," said Suzi. "But where's the real Azula going to be during all of this? What are we going to tell my mother? She's not around much, but she's kinda protective."
"We can tell your mother the Southern Water Tribe is looking for a Fire Nation ambassador, and given that I'm the Water Tribe's ambassador here, it seemed like a good fit. Tell her it's only for a few months and it'll move you up in the world. As for the real Azula, I don't know what we're going to do with her yet. There's a lot I don't know, but this is going to give us some breathing room."
"It doesn't matter how long the journey is, it's all accomplished by putting one foot before the other," said Iroh. "And your next step should be to find your sister before she gets mad. I'll talk with Suzi some more. You can leave much of this to me now."
"Thanks," Sokka said. "I'll come by later." This he said to Suzi who smiled kindly at him. When he left, he ran back to his room in the palace and found Katara there, sitting in the dark by herself.
"Sorry I'm late, but one our biggest problems might be solved," he said, and told her about his plans for Suzi and Azula.
"It is a good thing I talked to her," said Katara. "She liked you, you know."
"I know," said Sokka. "I didn't know how to put her off without being a jerk so I never did. And now Suki thinks I'm a jerk, and she's..."
He sat on his bed and hung his face in his hands. Katara sat next to him and put her arm over his shoulder. "I have good news, too. I found Piandao and he seemed like he could find one of those old submarines easy enough."
"Good," he said, picking his head up. "I need to go see Azula."
"We'll go in the morning," said Katara.
"No, just me. We need her on board, at least a little, and I think I can convince her if it's just me."
"Okay," Katara said. "I know I'm not her favorite person. The feeling is mutual, actually."
Sokka kicked off his boots and laid down. Katara did the same and lay on the other side of him, and after the lamp was blown out he could almost pretend it was like when they had been children, sharing a pile of furs while Gran Gran snored. There was no snoring now, only the hum of Sokka's mind as it spun in circles, threatening to form terrible patterns.
To be continued...
