Disclaimer: Avatar and all references to it are the property of Nickelodeon, a subsidiary of Viacom. I do not own Avatar, although I wish I did. I do own the idea of Kangdi and the role she plays in this story.

Chapter 4: Stranger

Acting is just a skill

And so is putting up barriers.

What's a true virtue is knowing who we really are,

Through the eyes of strangers.

-- Anonymous

He had been fooling the guard, all right. Iroh grinned as he slicked back a couple of rebellious strands from his forehead, and hung there by the bars of his cage, munching contentedly on his bread-ball and pondering the latest gossip. The prison grapevine was not something to be laughed at, especially when the 'prison' referred to his brother's Royal Dungeons. Royal? Huh. Honestly, the common Earth Kingdom cells were more comfortable than this. His metal cage was cold, damp, and claustrophobic: if these conditions were called royal, then the Dragon of the West had only a guess as to how the peasant 'guests' lived.

"Huh!"

A grunt of effort, released as he curled up and hooked his feet around the cage bars, the mound of steamed dough gone, and his body began churning out inverted sit-ups. Soon, his time would come. Soon enough…

Clang.

The mournful sound of yet another prisoner being brought in, the clinking of the metal fetter amplified by cold steel walls, reached his ears. The guards were coming! He dropped lightly down from the top of his cage and scrabbled over to the door, for although he could not see the visitor from the small window installed in the cell door. Sounds of the prison warden rang down the narrow corridor.

After a forcible dragging out of the royal conference room, Kangdi had been confronted by one of the Princess' lackeys, the pink idiot. Tie Me, had it been? Tie…Ty… Ty Lee. Yes, that was it! The bubbly acrobat had proceeded to hit several nerves in Kangdi's body, rendering the Firebender's abilities useless, and then stopped all movement with a sharp jab to her left shoulder. Subsequently, the rebel had been hauled to some 'royal dungeon' place, and left with an extremely annoying man with a pinched, arrogant look about his face who carried a rip-off of the traditional spear. He jabbered on and on about himself, his rules, and his patriotism as he led her to her jail cell. But as far as Kangdi could tell, the dolt was a prick with an over-inflated ego and a big mouth.

"That's where you're headed, traitor. And as a warning, never, ever try to oppose anyone of our royal family again. Got it? Or me. Because I'm a part of the great Fire Nation, unlike you."

You're annoying.

"Don't try to pull any tricks, or I'll see that you receive a fitting punishment! You may think you can beat me, but you can't! Look at you. You could have made a fine soldier in the army, enjoyed the good life, but no, you had to betray your nation! Traitor! You're not even worth –"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Now SHUT UP!"

She was tired of the idiot's voice bombarding her sensitive ears, tired of watching his jaw go up and down like that of a fish in the rain. Frankly, Kangdi had much better things to be doing with her time, even if she was a prisoner.

A stumble as she was roughly ushered through an open door and into a small, barred room. The guard unshackled the disabled Firebender, grabbing Kangdi's shoulder and shoving the girl into the cell.

"Itai! Watch it, fool!"

Her polite request was ignored as the guard slammed and locked the doors, then strode out in an apparently excellent mood. He was sniggering.

Iroh waited a while.

And waited.

Silence. The guard was gone.

"Hello?" In the palpable quiet, his voice became the rusty creak of a door hinge. He cleared his throat and tried harder. "Hello?"

Kangdi had been seated in the corner of the cramped quarters, staring up at the last streaks of the crimson-hued clouds above, when the voice reached her ears.

"Erm…" She rose hesitantly, heading towards the front of her cell in a halting stumble.

What am I doing?

The rebel could only hope that she sounded more confident than she felt. As her Firebending started to return to her, she could sense the inner fire building up on the coiled side of her core, and then exploding into her nerves and limbs in painfully haphazard jolts. Terrible, really…ow!

There went another nerve, and her right elbow gave a spasmodic twitch. Truly, Kangdi would have found the sight so much more comical had it not been for the lingering sensation, as if a red-hot branding iron were running along the insides of her capillaries. Straightening up, she ignored the pain and called out in the most commanding tone that she could possibly muster.

"Hello? Who's there?"

No response.

"Eh?"

On the other side of the corridor, Iroh had also arrived at his cell door. He grasped the metal bars and peered out. It was then that he received what could be called a welcome surprise.

A dark head protruded from between the bars of the cage directly opposite him. Odd features at first, but as it turned towards him, the figure was decidedly feminine, despite the messy hair and dark red prison garb. A pair of dark amber eyes locked onto his gaze.

"You're not new here, are you?"

It took him a while to realize that she had spoken, but Iroh regained his composure quickly enough. He chuckled calmly. "No, but I wish I was."

The retired general was rewarded with a grin. "That I understand. My name's Kangdi. I got locked in here for trying to blast some Dai Li into the next life and give Azula-teme some trouble. How about you? What's your name?"

Interesting child… "I was caught on Fire Nation grounds after being exiled."

Kangdi gave him a straightforward questioning look. "That doesn't sound like very much. Still, if they locked you up in here, you must be pretty important. Friends?" She was cut off sharply, and the head receded, accompanied by a loud "Itai!" as a jolt of pain and bending energy flooded the rebel's core.

Concerned hazel eyes gazed at the other cell door. "Friends – but are you all right?"

"Yeah. That pink girl hit me really hard and took out my movement. The last of my Firebending just came back."

Inwardly, Iroh winced at the statement; he remembered full well the discomfort of bending abilities returning after Ty Lee had disabled him. "Oh. That must have hurt."

"You think?" Edges of sarcasm tinged the teen's deadpan; for a moment, the old general was reminded of his nephew, who had often used the same tone with him.

"Hey, you never told me your name." Kangdi was tapping a finger to her chin thoughtfully and directing a stare at him.

He grinned.

"Iroh."

A moment of silence.

Then, an audible clang reigned supreme as the girl's hands seized the bars, staring so hard that the general feared her eyes might fall out. "Iroh? As in the General Iroh? As in the Dragon of the West?" She gaped. "Wow…forget what I said earlier about you just being important. How many chapters do you have in the history books?" The right eye twitched in astonishment.

Truly, an interesting reaction. Iroh's hearty chuckle filled the corridor. "Retired general," he corrected out of pure habit, "I haven't counted yet, but the schoolteachers may be censoring those chapters anytime now." He pondered. "You come from the Fire Nation, yes?"

Kangdi finished gathering her meager composure. "Yeah. I was born in the northeast of the Fire Nation, but we moved to Rei soon afterwards. Southern half, sleepy little town that few outsiders entered. Fewer left." Accompanying the words came a small half-smile. "I don't suppose you've heard of it? They got…disbanded almost two years ago."

Iroh gazed solemnly at her. "I am sorry to say that I have never heard of it, Miss Kangdi, but I wish that I could have prevented it. As the brother of the Fire Lord and as a general in the army, it should have been my duty to keep up with our nation's military actions."

The rebel shook her head. "No, it wasn't your fault; it happened after the, ah, exile news. Couldn't have been avoided anyway. They were looking for traitors who they thought had been harboring Earth Kingdom fugitives."

A kind of grim finality settled over the two, as footsteps sounded and the guard passed by. "Oy!"

"What?" Kangdi glared at his face.

"No talking, prisoner. You hear me? You heard me, right? Good. Excellent, excellent. Now – "

"ZIP IT!"

Her Firebending was back, but she didn't need it. The rebel lunged at her jailor, snarling furiously and slavering at the mouth like a rabid dog, her voice rising as she bit off the end of each word. "Here's a suggestion for you: get lost to the ends of the SPIRIT WORLD!"

The guard's reaction was appropriate to his situation. He balked at the sight of a young prisoner inexplicably going mad – a female one at that – and stumbled back from the bars with a very un-masculine yelp as her fist thrust through at him. "A-are you crazy?" Without waiting for his answer, the thug took off down the hall at a brisk walk. "You're not getting any food for the next week!" Out of sight, footsteps doubled time as the prisoners heard him take off running.

Kangdi brushed foam away with the back of her hand, staring after him. "Ehhhhh…" She turned to Iroh. "Remind me who appointed that guard here, please. He needs someone more competent as a replacement!"

A giggle escaped from the hold two cells down, accompanied by another girl's head popping out of the bars. Kangdi turned to assess this new arrival. "Hi, Kangdi, but I guess you already know me by now." Her eyes gave the other girl a quick once-over.

Auburn hair glinted dully in the dim light, blue eyes bordering on dark steel gray. "Pleased to meet you, Kangdi." The sleeveless red smock of a Fire Nation first-class prisoner was draped over tattered green Earth Kingdom regalia, brown armguards each bearing a gold badge with the kanji for "capitol" inscribed in block lettering.

"My name is Suki."

Zuko definitely had a headache.

It pounded and pounded on the delicate lines of his skull, it crackled and it charred and it blazed away merrily, scorching the lining of the brain and causing him to toss and turn in the middle of the bed.

Until he sat bolt upright, looking wildly about and realizing (to his consternation) that the bed was on fire. What an idiot he was. He must have been Firebending in his sleep again. Snorting in disgust at his own stupidity, Zuko leapt out from underneath the flaming red covers, beating and stomping at the furniture until the sheets only smoldered and smoked.

The scarred teen sat down on the hard metal floors of his royal bedroom, drawing his knees up to his chest and burying his face in his arms. Long silk robe settling about his figure, Zuko allowed himself indulgence in one long, troubled puff of smoke that issued from between clenched teeth and curled up about his frame, before raising his head again to look about himself.

He was home, all right. Home. Where was home, again? Zuko found himself wondering at the abrupt turn his life had taken. He was back in the palace, he was back where he had grown up and where his true family lived, and his three-year hunt for the Avatar was over. Yet something niggled insistently inside his chest and told him that his true quest was still not over. Why was this happening to him? He should have felt happy to be back after so many years of banishment. His father loved him. Azula agreed with him for once. Mai was more than willing to be his girlfriend, and he had no problem with that. His nation, his people, had accepted him back. He had everything that he'd ever wanted. He had his honor, his country, his throne. He had it all back. Didn't he? Instead, Zuko felt more miserable than ever.

But he didn't understand. The teen's spine slouched in a deep sulk; lifting his head and staring about himself, he took in the sight of the cold metal and rich red carpet in his bedroom. The royal architects need to get more wood in here. But then, wood burned. It was a flammable item, something that could easily be reduced to ashes. Reduced, gone, just like he wanted all of these memories and troubles. His childhood bound him here out of a sense of duty and familiarity, the same familiarity of the room that he sat in. Yet now, the scene before Zuko's eyes was cold and alienating, the red of the carpet becoming the red of all the bloodshed, inside and out, that he had seen in his travels. Azula wouldn't understand. She had never experienced any pain before; she was always too busy doling it out to others. Neither would his father, who would merely cast aside Zuko's concerns as a sign of weakness. "A good ruler," Ozai's voice floated up from the prince's subconscious, "a good ruler is strong and powerful. The Fire Lord holds the most power in his nation, and when this war is over, the Fire Lord will hold the power in the world. The Fire Lord must provide an excellent, rigorous example for his people. He must never falter or take back his decisions. He must be swift, decisive, ruthless and merciless to all those who oppose him. A good ruler rules with fear, and thus commands the loyalty of his people, for it is only out of fear of punishment that subjects will obey their ruler. Remember this."

Was Zuko feared? No. If anything, he was probably detested by his people because of his scar, he reflected sullenly. The Fire Prince rested his chin on his knees. What was he supposed to do? What was going on? What was happening to him? He was sure he'd made the right choice by coming back, but memories began to flood his mind and confuse him even more. "Is it your own destiny? Or is a destiny someone else has tried to force upon you?" Thoroughly drained of energy, his head dropped further into his arms, and letting out a groan of frustration, Zuko rolled over and slumbered on the cold floor.

Author's Note: I'm extremely late getting this up. PSATs and schoolwork have been draining my mind, so I took time over Christmas break to whip up the best possible chapter that I could get. For everyone who's reading this, here's your Christmas present! Some Iroh/Kangdi/Suki interaction, and next chapter, we see more of Zuko's past and what made him this way!

I'd also like to thank everyone who's reviewed so far (only 2, actually) and give a big shout-out to The-Jaron. His questions and advice really inspired a lot of this chapter when I couldn't think of anything to write about; I was seriously considering putting this story on permanent hiatus when he reviewed it.

As always, I hope that you will read and review this chapter! I'd like to hear your thoughts about it: what you liked, didn't like, thought should change, were/weren't expecting, etc. Expect a bit of morbidity to crop up in the next chapter. As a friend of mine says: "Celebrate every death because it's great for population control." Happy Holidays, everyone!

P.S. The quote in the beginning of this chapter is actually something I wrote, because I couldn't found a song that fit.