Chapter 8: The Reunion
Lu Ten had known he would find things changed after so many years. He had tried to prepare himself. But it was still almost too much to take.
Aang had been the first shock. All of Lu Ten's life, the Avatar had been a myth, a godlike being who had tried to destroy the Fire Nation, only to have his entire people destroyed instead. That was what they were taught in school. His father had said that he doubted the official version was the entire truth, but it hardly mattered – the Avatar was long gone and the Fire Nation was flourishing just fine without him.
To have the Avatar returned, in the shape of a cheerful young boy with a furry hill for a pet, was a lot to deal with. To find out that Aang did not hate the Fire Nation for the genocide of his people, did not even hate the Fire Nation royal family who were directly responsible, was even more difficult to comprehend.
Then there had been Zuko. No longer a happy, thoughtful boy who followed Lu Ten around like a mooselion cub begging for tales of heroic battles in other lands against evil but honorable foes, but a young man who looked like a tired warrior of far too many battles that were not at all heroic, and had the physical and emotional scars to show for it. A young man with tales of a cute and very clever younger sister turned murderous, and a father gone completely insane. A young man who had obviously formed an important bond with Lu Ten's father, the last of the family to not desert him in one way or another.
How did this strange young man, who had once been the younger brother Lu Ten had never had, truly feel about Lu Ten's return? On the surface he seemed overjoyed, but Lu Ten had caught a few glances from Zuko that looked thoughtful and not altogether happy.
And what about that father, General Iroh? How had he fared in the seven years since his son had been taken captive? Did he think Lu Ten was dead? Had Ozai been able to use Lu Ten as a crude weapon against Iroh, to force him to support Ozai's false claim to the throne? From the bits of the story Lu Ten had picked up, it seemed Ozai had indeed broken his father's spirit somehow – Lu Ten was certain Iroh would not have stood idly by and allowed Ozai to ignite a genocidal war against the rest of the world.
Even now, Lu Ten wondered if the rescue from the island was some kind of dream or fever hallucination. Could it really have been only this morning that he had looked up and seen Appa flying overhead?
At the sound of his father's voice at the door, Lu Ten froze. Iroh sounded much the same – perhaps a little hoarser, voice a trifle less crisp than his sharp, commanding military leader's bark. What would he see when that door was opened?
And then the door was open, and Lu Ten saw his father for the first time in seven long years.
He had a brief moment to take in the hair, much more gray now than it had been during the siege of Ba Sing Se, and the eyes, shadowed with years of sadness, before his feet took over and he threw himself into his father's arms.
Iroh stiffened, perhaps wondering who this strange man hugging him was. Then he spoke, his voice breaking with wonder. "…Lu Ten?"
"Yes, father. It's me. I'm home. I came back. I missed you so much. How are you? Are you all right?" The words came out in a flood.
Iroh's arms came up tentatively, as if he feared to hug a ghost and have it vanish away at his touch. "Lu Ten. Ozai said he had killed you in retaliation for my traitorous acts at the North Pole last winter. He sent me a letter…detailing how you died. What he had done to you." His grasp closed around Lu Ten, tighter and tighter, as if to hold the ghost here in the mortal world. "I thought I would die then myself. I decided to fight him instead, the way I should have from the start." His hands traveled over Lu Ten's strong shoulders and chest. "You…are you unharmed? He did not cripple you?"
"No, no, I'm fine. Ozai never touched me after he arranged my fake death and had me taken to the island. He would come by sometimes to taunt me about how he'd broken you, how he was using me as a weapon to keep you tamed and harmless, the great General he could never hope to outdo by honorable means. I wanted to kill him so much – I tried, once, but he was ready and I failed, I'm so sorry –"
"For not killing your uncle? You have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing at all. But oh, to have you alive and whole and in my arms again! I may die of joy." Iroh eyes were shining with unshed tears. He pulled Lu Ten close again, his head resting on his son's warm shoulder. From there, he saw the others in the room – Aang, grinning ear to ear; Zuko, shining quietly with happiness tinged with a small edge of anxiety; a boy about Aang's age he did not know; and a stately, smiling woman of unusual beauty that, to pile astonishment on astonishment, he recognized.
"Ursa?" His eyes locked on her. She nodded and then gave him a small formal Fire Nation bow. "Oh, my dear – two such joys in one day! I fear I drifted off to sleep in the audience chamber and am having a wonderful dream. How did this happen? Both of you, home once again?"
"Zuko and the Avatar found us," Lu Ten said. "Ozai kept the two of us in the same island prison, along with little Mikka there." He nodded at the small boy, who was half-hiding behind Ursa and looking more than a little lost. "They still haven't told us exactly how they managed to find us."
"I went to Ozai and made him give me a lead on where he had put Mother," Zuko said. "He gave me a half-true one. Aang insisted on coming along, so we went and searched. We found them in the Whitesteam Archipelago out west. Ozai told me to look in the south, but we found them in the north." He didn't mention the strange unconscious impulse that had guided them onward, when he had been ready to quit.
"Then we had to deal with Lu Ten attacking us," Aang put in, "And with Ursa's being ill. But we handled it – and now we've got three new allies!"
Iroh shook his head in wonder. "Truly, destiny was on your side. I cannot believe Ozai left my son and his wife alive and untouched all these years."
"If Zuko hadn't made him talk, we would have been dead within a month or so," Lu Ten said. "The place we were kept couldn't have supported us much longer than that. It would have been a long slow death from starvation if it weren't for the runt and his friend."
Iroh eased up on the bear hug, and motioned with one hand. "Come, Zuko, Ursa. Our family is much closer to whole than it has been in many years."
Zuko hesitated a moment, but Ursa took his hand and drew him over, and the four of them stood together, arms linked and bodies close, for several long minutes.
Behind Iroh, the door, which he had not closed, silently drifted open a few more inches. Sokka peeked through, ignoring Suki and Ty Lee poking at him to get out of the way.
"Tell us what you see, Snoozles!" Toph demanded.
"I see it, but I don't really understand it," Sokka complained. "There's a lot of hugging and laughing going on. There's this guy who looks like a bit older version of Zuko – a lot like that – and a nice-looking lady, and Zuko and Iroh and Aang hanging back. Aang's grinning like a loon, so I guess everything's okay, but I don't get what's going on, or who these people are."
"Move aside, Sokka," Katara said, and Sokka, knowing better than to stand in his sister's way when she wanted something, meekly gave up his spot. Katara peered through the door. "Oh! Could that be – maybe – it would explain Zuko's behavior – but I don't know…"
"Could it be what?" Mai asked.
"I don't know about the man, but could the woman be Zuko's mother? I know he thought she was alive, and he was planning to find her. I didn't know he'd started looking, though. Why wouldn't he tell us if he had?...Never mind, dumb question."
"Let me see," Mai said quietly. Katara yielded the viewing space to the older girl, and Mai bent close to look through the space. "Oh my," she breathed, and the emotion in her voice was clear enough that the others shared several startled glances. "Yes. That's her. That's Lady Ursa. And the man – Ty Lee, take a look. Is that who I think it is?"
Ty Lee bounced into place. "Oooh! Do you think that's -- ! Ooh, I had such a crush on him when I was little! But isn't he supposed to be dead? He looks really good for someone who's dead, don't you think, Mai?"
Mai sighed and didn't bother to respond. Suki said, "Okay, who is he? Spill it, Fire Nation people."
"We're not sure," Mai said, "but just based on his age and the family resemblance, and the look on General Iroh's face, that might be Lu Ten."
"Who's Lu Ten?" Sokka asked.
"Iroh's only child, and one time Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. He supposedly died seven years ago when he was only nineteen, as the siege of Ba Sing Se. A portion of the outer wall collapsed and he didn't get out of the way in time. Or so everyone was told."
"I cried for days!" Ty Lee said. "And he got the most magnificent funeral."
Mai quelled her friend with a look. "That was back when Lord Azulon was still alive, and Iroh was expected to follow him to the throne. But losing his son broke his spirit, and he gave up on the siege of Ba Sing Se. Then Azulon fell suddenly ill and named Ozai as his heir on his deathbed. Everyone thought that was pretty strange, but Ursa and Iroh both supported the claim, so Ozai kept the throne. Of course, the next night Ursa left on a 'spiritual retreat', and no one's heard from her since."
"Something about that situation smells rotten," Sokka said, frowning.
"You're not the only one to think so," Mai told him. "But poking into the affairs of the Royal Family was not a safe thing to do in those days. Everyone pretty much just decided not to risk the safety of their families and themselves by prying. Ozai had a reputation as a vicious guy even back then, and it only got worse."
Katara gave Mai a skeptical look. "I thought your family did pretty well under Ozai."
"Better than some," Mai admitted. "But it was never a comfortable situation. Ozai didn't tolerate failure well. At Omashu, we had emergency drills in case the Omashans attacked – and one in case the Blazing Swords came for Father."
"Ouch," Sokka said. "Did Ozai ever rule with anything besides terror?"
"Not as far as I know," Mai said. "I think it was all he knew. So that's what he taught Azula." Her face sobered a bit, thinking of the Fire Princess in her tower, locked in the darkness of her own mind, but she shook it off. "This will be so wonderful for Zuko, having his mother back."
"Not to ruin the mood," Toph said, "But if that's really Iroh's kid, you think he's going to challenge Zuko for the throne?"
"No idea. I was very young when Lu Ten was deployed to Ba Sing Se, and only knew him as the teenager who gave me candy and hugs whenever I visited the Fire Palace. He seemed like a decent guy, but who knows what's happened to him since and what it's done to him?...But if he tries for the throne, Zuko will probably step aside out of a sense of justice….if I let him. Which I'm not so sure I will. Zuko has the makings of a truly great Fire Lord, and Lu Ten's a mystery right now." She sighed. "And it won't help with that stubborn group that thinks Iroh belongs on the throne. Now that he has an heir, miraculously returned from the dead, they're going to be more of a problem than ever."
Sokka groaned. "We can always count on you to kill a good mood, Mai."
"It's a gift," she said, shrugging.
Sokka pushed his way back to the door opening. "Well, you think we can go in? They've barely touched that food cart. It would be a shame to let it go to waste." He smacked his lips. "And I want to get one of those custard tarts before Aang eats them all."
"Yeah, let's go!" Ty Lee said.
"No! This is a private moment," Katara objected. "If Zuko and Aang wanted us in there, they'd have let us in already."
"Maybe we could split the difference and just knock," Suki suggested.
A whispered argument started up over who would get the honor. Before it really got a good start, though, Toph ducked under everyone else and rapped firmly on the door.
The voices inside fell silent. A moment later, Aang stuck his head out. "It hasn't been an hour yet!"
"We know," Toph said. "But we're tired of waiting.
"And we're hungry," said Sokka.
"And we want to know what's going on," Katara said.
Aang looked over his shoulder and asked, "Is it all right?" They heard Zuko say something, and then Aang swung the door wide. "You guys don't really deserve this, but Zuko says to let you in, so come on."
They entered single file – Toph first, followed by Mai, then Sokka and Katara, and finally Suki and Ty Lee. The group of four in Fire Nation red and gold split apart and lined up as well: Zuko and Iroh in the middle, with the woman next to Zuko, and the unknown man next to Iroh. There was a moment of silence as the two groups studied each other. Aang stood to one side, watching, smugly pleased at the array of allies he had acquired.
Sokka broke the silence. "So what's left on the food cart? Any custard tarts left?"
The two newcomers looked taken aback. Aang shifted his stance, and a custard tart blew off the cart and sailed right at Sokka's head. The water tribe boy yelped and ducked. Suki easily picked the snack out of the air and calmly took a big bite.
Zuko decided he didn't want this momentous occasion degenerating into a food fight. He stepped forward. "I've got some introductions to make, so everyone just settle down."
He started with Aang's first group. "The clown with the custard obsession is Sokka, son of Hakoda, chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Next to him is his sister Katara, master waterbender and sifu to Avatar Aang. On the far end is Lady Toph Bei Fong – " Toph growled at him. " – who prefers to go just by Toph, a master earthbender and another sifu to the Avatar. Oh, and several times winner of the Earth Rumble Championship. Next to her is Lady Mài Lǐ, who you probably remember. She's – ah, my girlfriend." Zuko reddened a bit. "On the other end is Lady Ty Lee Sakasu, who you may also remember, star acrobat of the Mǎ Xì Tuán Circus and now a Kyoshi Warrior. And next to her is the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki."
"I'm Sokka's girlfriend," Suki announced, to Sokka's mixture of pride and embarrassment.
"I'm not anyone's girlfriend at the moment," Ty Lee pouted. Then she batted her eyes at Lu Ten. "So I'm, like, available!" Katara reached out and yanked on her braid. "Ow! What was that for?"
"For interrupting."
"But Suki was the one who – Ow! Okay, okay, I get it!" Ty Lee subsided.
Zuko didn't try to hide his smile. "And over here, it's my honor and pleasure to introduce three friends, two old and one new. At my side is my mother, the Lady Ursa. On the end is my cousin, Lu Ten, son of my uncle Iroh. And standing over there is –" He broke off. "Aang, where did Mikka go?"
"Huh?" Aang took a quick look around. "Uh…I don't know. I didn't see him leave. Hey Mikka!" he shouted. "Come on out! My friends want to meet you!"
There was no reply.
To Be Continued
