Note to self, Huojin thought, head still ringing from hitting the clinic wall, do not shake sleeping imperial firebenders. Bad idea.
"H'ojin?" Lee muttered, blinking as if he couldn't figure out why, exactly, he was half-dressed with a groaning Guard at his feet. "'S middle of the night… two hours 'til dawn, easy…."
Blinking away a few stars, Huojin eyed him with disbelief. "You can't be looking at a clock."
"Who needs a clock? I know-" A jaw-cracking yawn. "Know where the sun is. Isn't. S'night. Go 'way." Eyes sliding shut, he meandered back to the cot.
"Healing emergency." Face freshly washed, Amaya emerged, giving her apprentice a look of rueful sympathy. "If you've rested enough, I could use your help." She glanced at Huojin. "Are you all right?"
"Had worse," Huojin admitted. Touched the sore spot, and winced. "Remind me to throw water on him next time."
That seemed to jerk Lee awake. Green eyes widened, guilty. "I'm sorry. Uncle always calls from the door to wake me up, don't move-"
"I'll handle it," Amaya said firmly. "Get dressed. You're coming."
Nodding, Lee grabbed his clothes from the foot of the cot, and stumbled off to the washroom.
Sprawled on the next cot over, Mushi simply snored.
Amaya's cool touch washed away the pain, and Huojin picked himself off the floor. "Thanks. What are they doing here?" He didn't mean for it to sound like an accusation. Much.
"Aftereffects of Lee's drowning," Amaya said blandly. "The spirits really do have it in for that young man."
"Maybe this isn't the best call to take him on," Huojin said reluctantly. "Everything's supposed to be handled…." But you could never be sure. Not with creatures like these.
"What's handled?"
Kid moves fast. "Let's just say, this wasn't a regular house fire," Huojin told the firebender plainly.
"And there are reasons I treat the Dai Li, if they need me," Amaya added. "They were meant to protect the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. They still do. But protecting history means protecting ancient artifacts, and with that…."
"Tsukumogami." Lee looked a bit more awake, feeling at his sash. "I've got salt, but I don't know anything about consoling ceremonies. That's more of a Fire Sage thing… what?" he asked at Huojin's raised brows. "They held ceremonies every solstice where I grew up. Ba Sing Se's not the only place with old things."
"Hadn't occurred to me," the Guard said honestly. "Is that what you call ninety-nine-year spirits?"
"We have some odd words," Lee said after a moment. Sighed, and seemed to brace himself. "So Dai Li handle spirits? They must be pretty strong benders."
"And how," Huojin agreed grimly. Eyed Amaya again. "You sure you want to bring him? It's supposed to be just cleanup, but…."
"Anyone who can dodge the Ocean Spirit in a bad mood is safer than you are," Amaya replied, dryly amused. "Let's go."
I tried. Shivering slightly, Huojin led the way.
"What's wrong?" Lee asked as they threaded their way through dark streets.
"What's wrong?" Huojin echoed, incredulous. "Spirits, Lee. Any sane man would be heading the other way."
"That just lets them hit you from behind."
Which implied Lee was both pessimistic enough to believe running wouldn't do any good, and optimistic enough to believe he could survive anyway. Ow.
At least the aftermath looked quiet. An unassuming block of Lower Ring apartments, now smoke-stained and surrounded by a huddle of evacuated residents and a few nervous City Guards. You couldn't see the Dai Li moving through shadows and over rooftops, but you knew they were there.
Amaya headed for the worst of the wounded, those already being tended with herbs and poultices by some of the local non-bending healers. The looks of relief on their faces were enough to make Huojin wince.
Lee hung back a little, taking a few moments to glance over buildings and knots of people before he murmured in Amaya's ear and started setting up his firepot.
Marked the trouble spots, Huojin realized, following the firebender's gaze to suspiciously thick patches of char, and faces more angry than glad to be alive. Ready to pull out and take Amaya with you, aren't you?
Not the most professional reaction from a healer. But personally? He couldn't blame Lee one bit.
Let's see if I can't head some of that trouble off.
Some of the would-be troublemakers just needed someone to talk to. Or talk at. He wasn't the only Guard listening and nodding politely as various people recounted their fiery encounter with an old stone lamp and a couple of theater fans gone really, really bad.
"-Flapping like a bat-raven!" the latest shocked oldster was recounting, hands up and clawing the air. "Black tears for eyes, that glowed like evil lava…."
Huh. Didn't sound like a fan-spirit. "I'm sure they've gotten all the spirits left in the apartments-"
"No, no, no! Not in there!" A gnarled finger jabbed two alleys over. "I saw it! Before all this happened! But no, no one listens to old Hu…."
Right. And what were the odds of four ninety-nine-year spirits loose in the same area? "I'll check it out," Huojin sighed. Traded a few words with the officer in charge, and headed down the alley. Panic tended to spread; nip this in the bud, and there'd be less chance of a riot later-
Something hooked around his throat and yanked him into the wall, hard.
What the-?
Silky membranes whipped dust into his eyes, battered his fingers away from gripping the vice on his throat. The alley went red and black, he couldn't breathe-
Something snapped like the crack of a whip, and there was air.
Black and flapping, all right. But caught like a netted cat-owl in a translucent sphere, water leading back to….
That's not Amaya.
Lee was a firebender. Huojin knew that. He'd seen it.
Just as plainly as he saw water wrapped around the teen's hands, anchoring the net holding a squealing, homicidal spirit. A black, tattered….
Huojin closed his eyes, and shook his head to rattle the image free. Peeked.
No good. Still there.
I almost got strangled to death by an umbrella.
I'm never going to live this down.
"Get help," Lee said tightly.
"No need," came a familiar voice. "We're here."
Iron chains shot out, trapping the indignant spirit with an almost cheery rattle. A familiar Dai Li dropped to the ground, hands clasped behind him as he regarded the thrashing umbrella. "You can let go now."
"Agent Shirong." Water swept back into Lee's waterskin in a flow that stuttered, like a spring freshet around a just-dropped log. "I didn't know the Dai Li handled… things like this."
"Most people would rather not think about it," Shirong shrugged. Eyed Lee. "I don't remember that move from the scroll."
"…I kind of made it up."
Must've hit my head on the wall harder than I thought, Huojin concluded. It was the only way any of this made sense.
"Hmm." Even shadowed by his hat, a flicker of Shirong's surprise still showed. "Then you might want to see if you can modify it. As it is, you're using both hands…."
"So once I've got it, what do I do with it?" Lee sighed. "I know. I can switch off to just one, but it takes a lot of concentration. I'll ask Master Amaya… what?"
Shirong was studying him, very carefully, as fellow agents vanished with the umbrella. "You're far too calm. What kind of kamuiy have you fought before?"
Oh, this is bad, Huojin realized. No way can he tell them - and damn it, Lee's an awful liar-
"A plague spirit," Lee said quietly.
"Seriously?" Huojin croaked.
"One of the scariest nights of my life." Lee started to go on, stopped, and drew a deep breath, obviously gathering his thoughts. "While Uncle and I were traveling, we came to a ranch, where the animals were sick, and…. We're not sure of all of it. This is just what we figured out after - after we found the body."
Shirong winced; the most human reaction Huojin had ever seen on a Dai Li. "A mother with child."
"She was just a girl," Lee said sadly. "She wasn't even my age. We found out there'd been a Fire Nation raid there, months ago, and-" He spread empty hands, helpless. "Her father said she was missing. Her brothers were going along with it."
"That'd do it." Shirong actually looked ill. "How did you stop it?"
"Burned the ranch down," Lee shrugged.
Huojin clapped a hand to his forehead in disbelief.
"At least we hope it worked," Lee said sheepishly. "We couldn't exactly stick around. How do you prove you're not a firebender?"
…He did not just say that.
"Good point," Shirong chuckled. Turned to go, and paused. "By the way. Plague spirits are vindictive little bastards. If it didn't follow you, then it worked."
Some of the tension went out of Lee's shoulders. "Thank you," he whispered.
"Try to stay out of trouble," Shirong advised, almost kindly. "I know you won't be able to entirely, the spirits have painted a target on your back just like the rest of us… but try not to get into any human trouble." A vicious chuckle. "It's so messy when we have to scrape people off walls."
A rumble of earth, and he dropped out of sight.
"Showoff," Huojin grumbled. And eyed Lee uncertainly. "What… how?"
"I drowned." Lee was eyeing him right back, wary as if trying to gauge which way to run. "The Moon - did something to me. It's crazy, but it's real." He swallowed. "Amaya's going to help me train that, too."
Too? As in- "You're… both?" Huojin got out.
"I thought Uncle would be mad," Lee said in a very small voice.
"No, really?" Huojin managed. Firebender with a waterbending nephew. Ouch.
"But he's not," Lee went on, surprised.
"The clinic still standing was a clue," Huojin said dryly, rubbing his throat. Ow.
"Uncle doesn't - um. Well, he hasn't… for a while… he's retired…."
"I don't want to know what from, do I?"
"No," Lee said honestly. Glanced aside, as they started walking back toward the survivors. "He should be really retired. Playing Pai Sho, like he wants… but when he got home, Father - dumped me on him. I didn't - didn't really take it well."
That sounded like an understatement. So why are you telling me this? Huojin wondered.
"Did you do that to Amaya?" Lee asked, low and quiet. "Just - get mad at her, because she wasn't who you wanted there?"
Oh. Sounded like drowning had made someone think a little. "I did," Huojin admitted. "You can tell a kid 'til you're blue in the face he can't have what he wants. Doesn't make it hurt any less." He arched a paternal brow. "You could start by apologizing."
"I thought I'd start with your throat," Lee said wryly.
Huojin brushed the edge of bruises, and winced. "I can live with that."
---------
Uncle,
I'm sorry for being angry with you. Because you were there, and Mom wasn't. Because Father made it clear I wasn't worth his time, and she was. Because of a lot of things.
I'm going to try to do better.
You're probably going to have to thump it into my head a few more times, though. Family temper. Reckless. That whole mess.
Going out with Amaya to visit some villages near the Outer Wall. Will be back.
…And don't tell Huojin, but it's really hard to save somebody when you're trying not to giggle. Rabid umbrella-spirit. Heh.
-Lee.
Rereading the note in a lull between customers, Iroh smiled. Folded it away, and turned back to his tea.
---------
Shifting his weight in the apple tree as it swayed in the wind, Zuko looked over the green patchwork of fields and villages inside the Outer Wall. "You could lose small islands out here."
"Can you see my Fluffykins?" called up from below.
Zuko eyed the fluffy white creature cleaning itself in a cleft of thinner branches, just out of safe arm's reach. "I see her."
"Well?"
"If I get her, she's not going to be happy," Zuko warned.
"Just get her down, please!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Zuko muttered. Gathered water, and threw.
The squalling wet white tornado hit a compost pile, and shredded leaves flew.
---------
Even as a waterbender, he's a born firebender, Amaya thought, wryly amused as she helped clean the last of the scratches on those who'd volunteered to catch the city woman's pet. Never work around a problem when you can cut right through it.
Ah well. No one had gotten worse than scratches, and Fluffykins was back with her owner, who'd already left to catch the train, after cooing over her still-damp kitty and gratefully dispensing a small sum of coins to everyone who'd helped.
"So what's a city cat doing all the way out here?" Zuko asked, frowning as he checked over one of the wide-eyed farm children.
Good question, Amaya realized. And glanced covertly at her apprentice. You always know when something's out of place, don't you? Good habit.
"Some crazy young earthbender from the Upper Ring," the headman's wife, Wu, said with a disapproving scowl. She waved a hand, indicating vaguely north and west. "Carved up some of the fields outside the Inner Wall for a zoo, of all things. They say there was a stampede of animals a few days ago - everything in the city!"
Which unleashed a flood of gossip and speculation; what were the Inner Ring nobles thinking, who was going to feed the city if this caught on, how much had the farmers been compensated more than they admitted they had, did this mean the generals were going to move the Outer Wall outward again, and did that mean the war was going well, or…?
Zuko, Amaya was startled to notice, paid careful attention to all of it.
And why are you surprised? the healer asked herself after a little thought. No few of these people are Fire Nation; he can see that as well as they can see him. If he and Mushi are planning… that impossible thing they're planning… of course he needs to know what they're worried about.
An attention to detail she'd never have expected of someone Zuko's age. Tested by the spirits or not.
They're really planning to do it. Evacuate their people. Create a sanctuary, outside of Ba Sing Se.
I've looked after my hidden folk so long….
But being a healer meant you did what was best for your patients. Not what you wanted. Amaya braced herself, and got through the morning of seeing to those who didn't have the time or strength to come into the Lower Ring. And waited until they were on the train back to murmur, "Do you think you'll be able to send word back to the city, once you're all safe?"
Zuko raised that lone brow and gave her a smirk that reminded her of his uncle. "You want to just hear about it? Or do you want to help make it?"
--------
"I don't want to!"
Sitting off to the side in the cellar, Tingzhe held his breath, glad he'd sent Suyin upstairs at the first signs of Jinhai heading toward a full-blown temper tantrum. He could see "Lee" silently counting to ten… and the royal line of Sozin wasn't exactly known for calm and even tempers.
"Firebending," the young prince said levelly, sitting still, "comes from the breath, not the muscles. It took my teacher years to get that into my head, but I have a lot of bad habits. You need to start out with good ones. Fire isn't like other elements. Earth doesn't rise up and crush you; water doesn't decide to pull you down. But fire will spread, and it will try to consume everything it can. You need to control your fire. And you have to start with breathing."
"I won't! It's stupid and you're no fun and-"
The teenager breathed out sharply, and fire erupted.
Tingzhe forced himself to sit there, even as Jinhai yelped at the flames encircling both firebenders. He won't hurt a child. Forget his father - the boy you've seen has been patient, kind, and not someone who enjoys the sight of others in pain.
Spirits, please let me be right….
"You can part another bender's fire with a defensive move. If you control your own fire." Zuko's voice was iron. "You want to leave this circle? Do it."
Jinhai's mouth dropped open. "But - that's not fair!"
"Who ever told you bending was fair?" Zuko's voice didn't soften. "This is fire, Jinhai! Any time you bend, you're walking into a cage with a dillo-lion. A hungry, angry dillo-lion. If you don't have control, it will chew you up and spit you out!"
"Daddy…."
Clenched fists hidden in his sleeves, the professor shook his head. "When I was in training, my teacher threw an extremely large boulder at my head, son." I grant you, I was a bit older. "Lee is correct. Bending is not fair."
Jinhai reached out to the flames, and yanked his hand back. "But he's got the fire!"
"Of course I do," Zuko said dryly. "You want the whole house to burn down? If I let go, that's exactly what will happen." Green eyes narrowed. "Fire is power, Jinhai. It's the determination to get what you want. How badly do you want to get past these flames?"
Don't move, Tingzhe told himself grimly. Unless he's in actual danger - don't move.
Another deliberate breath, and Zuko's circle of flames shrunk inward. "How badly do you want it?"
Jinhai was backing away from the flames, wide-eyed, glancing at his father as if he couldn't believe this was happening. "You're being mean!"
"You haven't seen mean yet." Zuko's voice held an edge of threat that put the hairs up on the back of Tingzhe's neck. "Jinhai. I'm tired is a reason to stop. I don't know what I'm doing is a reason to stop. I don't want to is never a reason to stop." The circle of flames flickered a little lower. "Determination. What do you want?"
Fingers almost brushing flames, Jinhai pulled back, almost tripping over Zuko's knee. Looked at his father again, still stunned that Tingzhe wasn't doing anything.
Oh, how I want to. But Tingzhe arched a brow instead, the same as he would when Jinhai brought him any problem the boy needed to solve himself. And mouthed, "Think."
Jinhai blinked, and swallowed. "I want… to stop?"
The fire went out.
"That works," Zuko said tiredly. "That's enough for today."
Jinhai was already halfway across the cellar, skidding to a stop in front of his father with wide, hurt eyes-
Turned on his heel, and bolted up the steps.
Tingzhe sighed, heart sore. Eyed the teenager standing there, face closed and defiant, stance balanced and subtly braced.
He expects me to attack him.
Well. And what else would he think?
"Come up to the garden," Tingzhe requested. "I think you need the sun more than Jinhai does."
Surprised and wary, Zuko followed him out.
"As one teacher to another," Tingzhe said levelly as they settled on a bench, "if you're tired enough to start losing your temper, tell your students to go home."
Zuko winced.
No stranger to proud young men, Tingzhe waited, letting the silence stretch out.
"…It wasn't supposed to be like this." Zuko glared into the tangle of a mustard bush. "I promised Uncle I'd try to think. I'm… things are better right now than they've been since - we were on a raft for three weeks with nothing! I shouldn't be angry!"
"Perhaps," Tingzhe mused. On a raft? Exiled or not, how does a young prince end up… save it for Meixiang. If she's right, we'll hear quite a story. "But if I'd been stuck on a raft three weeks, I think I might still be angry. Let alone if I'd suffered the other events you mentioned."
The unscarred eye narrowed. "When an Agni Kai's over, it's over."
"So I've been told," Tingzhe acknowledged. And here you risk your life on the hope that you are right, and he's more like his uncle than his father. You're a sentimental old man, no doubt. "But the outcome of the duel does not change the fact that you were betrayed before it ever began."
Smoke rose from between clenched fingers. "I owed him loyalty," the teen gritted out.
"And as one of the Earth Kingdom, I don't pretend to understand how strong that bond is," Tingzhe said bluntly. "But my wife tells me loyalty never demands suicide. Forcing a thirteen-year-old boy to duel an unexpected, far stronger opponent - I'm not certain suicide is a strong enough term." Attempted murder comes closer. That man, I could believe it of.
"But as I said, I can't ever know," Tingzhe stated, a bit wistfully. "My wife granted me not only her hand, but part of her spirit's strength. Sometimes, I wonder if my love can ever be a fair return." He smiled sadly, and leaned back. "Meixiang would like to invite your family to a potluck, next week."
Zuko hesitated, smoke wisping away. "What's that?"
Oh dear. "Why don't we both talk to her," Tingzhe said plainly. "She can suggest a few things that aren't hard to cook, and anyway I can never keep straight how much you need to bring for this many people myself." If he even knows how to cook, the professor realized ruefully. Some of our noble children can be spectacularly useless….
"How many people?" Zuko asked warily.
…Well, let's hope for the best.
---------
"Six children, and six adults," Iroh mused, scratching notes on tattered paper with a bit of charcoal. "Hmm."
Keep it slow. Get the wrist movements right…. Zuko pulled most of the water from the pitcher with only one rippling splash, and started snaking it between his hands. "It's a bad idea."
"It's dinner, nephew. Not a surprise attack."
"Surprised me," Zuko muttered. "They can't really want me there, Uncle. I scared Jinhai."
Iroh only raised a brow. "And what did he do, to deserve being frightened?"
Zuko winced, and had to swirl a hand to keep the stream from falling. "He was being a brat." It sounded so petty.
"During training?" Iroh nodded once. "Then it was wise to correct him." The retired general held up a warning hand before Zuko could protest. "If you feel now that you were too harsh, watch him closely in the next lesson. You do not wish him to be afraid of you. But a little fear, in and of itself, is not always bad. Fire is dangerous. Self-control is essential. A firebender cannot act like a temperamental brat." Iroh paused, looking into memory. "No matter how much a young one might deserve to."
"I break things," Zuko muttered, feeling even more guilty. "He just - didn't want to breathe."
"You have not broken anything recently," Iroh stated. "Your temper will always need work to control; it is a flaw of our family, and none of us escape it. But unpleasant as that is, nephew - you break things. You do not harm people. A firebender who does not control his breath will never control his fire. We both know what that leads to." He set his notes aside, and nodded at the liquid flowing with Zuko's movements. "What is that?"
"Amaya calls it streaming the water," Zuko answered, concentrating as he arced it high. For some reason, moving it over his head always threatened to make it fall apart-
Oh. Idiot. North Pole. Ice and water over your head was not good, remember?
He'd melted it then, and survived. This was just a little water. It was not going to drown him.
Rippling water steadied, and he breathed easier, looping the ribbon back down near waist level. "It's a beginner's move. Like playing with a candle."
"To learn the feel of your element, under controlled conditions," Iroh nodded. And paused. "You do not have Jinhai working with candles yet."
"No." Zuko flexed the water. Let it gather into a globe in his palm, and tossed it back into a soaring ribbon. "If he works on breathing again tomorrow, I was going to have him try the burning leaf."
"Good," Iroh stated. "If he sees control directly applied, he may more clearly understand why he needs it." He raised a brow. "For a beginner's move, that looks quite useful."
"Lets you work on quantity, direction, and precision," Zuko agreed. Up and around. Can I-? Yeah, just twist that way…. Dragging fingers through the ribbon split one strand into three; he held them rippling for a few moments, then collapsed them back together.
But it'd been a long day, and he could feel the tremors that meant he was pushing too far. Gathering water together, he tipped it back into the pitcher. "I can think of a lot you can do with just this. I've already done a few things; that net I used to catch the spirit? I didn't know what I was doing, when I made it up, but it's just this in a couple different pieces. Toss water, make a globe, bring it back." Which meant he might be able to make it work one-handed after all. With practice.
"Basics," Iroh smiled. "Learn them well, and all else will follow." He raised a curious brow. "What is it like?"
Zuko frowned, reaching out to the quiet tide-pulls of water in their apartment, in the next over, on the roof. "Like walking in the surf just offshore. It pushes and pulls at you, and most of the time, that's fine; you just keep going. But if you don't pay attention, and a rogue wave comes through-" He clapped his hands together, remembering the groan of their ship's twisted metal in the midst of the typhoon.
"Fire, and the ocean," Iroh mused. "It is not safe to turn your back on either of them. But respect them, and they are powerful allies." He laughed softly. "Even beautiful, from how I have seen you bend."
Oh. That was… interesting to know. He hadn't really been trying for pretty, it'd just happened that way, and… right. Think. "It feels weird," Zuko admitted. "Not in chi, Amaya fixed that. Just - being able to do both of them. Fire and water. It shouldn't work." He hesitated. "It shouldn't feel like it fits."
"They are not as separate as one might think," Iroh said thoughtfully. "I have been told that at its core, all bending is one; that even non-benders who learn to move their chi for battle, as you are teaching Suyin, draw from the same source. More specifically… have I told you of jin?"
"All eighty-five kinds?" Zuko said warily. He did pay attention to lectures on battle strategies, even if he couldn't name them all off the top of his head.
"It is wise to know them all, but three are most important to bending," Iroh observed. "Neutral jin is the key to earthbending. The master waits, and listens, to find the exact moment to strike."
"Professor Tingzhe," Zuko realized. "He's always just… calm. Waiting. Until he knows exactly what he wants to say."
"Indeed," Iroh agreed. "I very much hope to have an opportunity to speak of bending with him. We use many similar stances, but the reasons behind them are very different. Which leads us to fire. Positive jin, advancing and attacking, is the heart of our art. As our fire is fueled by our own chi, we often cannot fight as long as other benders. So we attack first, relentlessly, to overwhelm our foes before endurance can tip the battle's scales."
That one, Zuko knew. But he nodded and listened anyway, sure Uncle had a point. Well, mostly sure.
"Water may oppose fire, but in tactics and energy, our true opposite is airbending," Iroh went on. "Negative jin, retreating and evading, are part of the philosophy of air. You have seen this chasing the Avatar. He will not stand his ground, he will not fight if he can flee; and while he is himself, and not possessed by Avatars past, he will not kill."
"The monks fought," Zuko pointed out. "I've seen the temples."
"An adult knows when to set aside ideals for reality," Iroh said practically. "If all life is sacred, so is your own life. And you should not allow it to be taken." He smiled. "So we have come around the cycle, to water. Which balances both positive and negative jin, turning defense into attack as they use their opponents' force against them. This conserves energy, and allows them to fight for great lengths of time. But they rarely strike the first blow, and if they are too slow to turn their enemy's attack, they lose momentum."
Which could be the difference between a battle won, or lost. Zuko glanced away, thinking that through. "So I know positive, and I've fought negative…."
"And you have lived in the tide's grasp for three years," Iroh stated. "You know water, Prince Zuko. Perhaps not as one of the Water Tribes would, but you do know it. Build on that."
I'm going to try. "We haven't talked about…." Zuko swallowed. "I'm not the heir. You said that wrecked a lot of your plans. Did it - what does being a waterbender do to our plan? Just because our people accept Amaya, doesn't mean they'll understand if I am."
"It is likely some will not," Iroh said bluntly. "Yet it is also likely those are the ones we would not have been able to persuade, even if our names were clear."
You can't save them all, Zuko told himself grimly.
…I know I can't. But I wanted to try. "A lot of them aren't going to want to leave," Zuko admitted. "They already started over once."
"And as you yourself know, to begin another life is never easy," Iroh nodded. "We will be asking them to leave behind the lives they have built, and cast their fate with those who have created what seems a desperate plan. And if Jinhai is the only firebender who has been born here, in all these years - they may not consider it a risk for their children." He glanced aside with a grim smile. "Though the risk may be greater than they realize, as the Fire Nation turns more attention here. I think it is not a coincidence that Jinhai was born while my siege still held."
Okay, interesting to think about later, but not exactly crucial right now. "So we're only going to get people who are scared, or fed up with the Dai Li, or just out to take a risk," Zuko concluded.
"Most likely," Iroh nodded. "And such people are unlikely to balk simply because you are a waterbender. I admit it might have been easier to call on our people's loyalty had we not been declared traitors, but that time is past. We have both seen what waterbenders can do. You will be a great help." He sighed. "And given we are alone, and in hiding, it is a great relief to know that one of us will not be without bending during the eclipse."
Zuko winced. He'd been without his bending before, but Ty Lee had never intended to kill him. Eight minutes without it, without armed backup, when anyone with the brains to look out a window could know firebenders were helpless… not a good situation.
I can't tell Jinhai. Not until it happens. Maybe the Earth Kingdom has better astronomers than I know, good enough to keep track of the heavens the way the Fire Sages do. But I doubt it. There's an eclipse every four years, somewhere. If they'd known, they would have used it sometime this last century. So they don't. And if they don't - I'm not going to make Professor Tingzhe choose between his nation and his family.
"As for specifics on how waterbending will help," Iroh smiled, "I have some ideas."
"Trade you for some on the fortifications," Zuko offered.
"Oh?" Iroh looked interested.
"We're going to have to be ready for any element," Zuko pointed out. "I have some plans for what we can do if we've got metal, or if we have to stick with just wood."
Sleep would be a while coming, but Uncle's look of approval was worth it.
---------
"Okay," Suyin said dubiously, holding the dried oak leaf by its stem. Gripping his own, Jinhai looked equally confused. Watching from the corner as she mended a sleeve, Meixiang didn't look confused - but she didn't look about to explain, either. "I'm not exactly sure how a leaf is supposed to teach me to fight…."
"Uncle would say something about tiny acorns and mighty oaks, but I'll spare you the proverbs," Lee said wryly. "This is actually two lessons. But they're related. Suyin, you're getting the moves down, which means it's time to show you what happens when you have to fight distracted. Which is going to be most of the time. Until you've had a lot more practice, any time you fight, thinking is going to go right out the window. So I'm going to show you what that's like now. That way, if you do get in a fight, you're less likely to panic. If you stay in control, even if you can't think, you're going to react correctly. Which means you live."
Swallowing hard, Suyin nodded.
"Jinhai. Your lesson is also about control," Lee went on. "Control your breathing, and you control your fire. This is going to show you exactly how that works." He gripped the center of Jinhai's leaf between two fingers, and a spark blazed. "Focus on the fire. Keep the flame burning as long as you can. Slowly. So it takes as long as you can make it to reach the edges of the leaf." Lee smirked a little. "It's okay if you mess up. I brought plenty of leaves."
As one, the two siblings looked over at Lee's kit. And the paper sack of leaves. Suyin stifled a giggle; not fast enough, though, and Jinhai wrinkled his nose at her.
"Don't worry. She's not getting off that easy." A jab of Lee's fingers, a wash of heat-
Suyin didn't drop the leaf. But she felt sweat prickle all over, her breathing quicker, heart speeding up. Fire, it's on fire, I'm not a bender….
"Suyin." Lee's voice was eerily calm. "I know you're scared. That's the point. Combat is the scariest thing there is. Fire can't even come close. I have the fire, Suyin. I won't let it burn you. Breathe."
In through the nose. Out through the mouth. Take your stance.
It was like forcing her thoughts through stone. Everything was too bright, too loud, too fast. Dimly she saw a flare as Jinhai gasped, saw Lee walk across the cellar to give her brother another leaf and some encouraging words. She couldn't hear what. She wasn't sure she would have understood if she had.
"Suyin." Lee was in front of her, gently turning her to face away from her brother. "He burned you a couple times?"
I'm not going to cry. I'm not. Eyes brimming, she nodded.
"You love him, but you're afraid." Lee held her gaze, understanding. "That's okay. That's what this is for. Partly. You have to respect fire. But if you're afraid, you'll make the wrong decision when it matters. So we're going to get you past that. Still breathing?"
Mute, Suyin nodded again. In and out. In, and out.
"This is hard," Lee said seriously. "I know that. But I also know you can do it." He guided her over to the futon. "So we start over. This is how you fall, when you can't use one of your hands."
---------
Footsteps stomped deliberately down the stairs, and Zuko bit back a curse. We must have gone longer than I thought.
"Min. Jia." Meixiang's voice was warm, but not entirely welcoming. "You're early."
"Why does he have his hands on Suyin?" Min bit out.
Jia smirked behind him. "And why didn't you mention he wasn't bad looking, in a scruffy kind of-"
Letting Suyin up from the pinning hold, Zuko gave Jia a hard look.
"…Ugh."
Yeah. That's what I thought.
"You two-!" Suyin blazed.
"Suyin." Meixiang's tone was hard. "Forgive my children's ill manners, Lee. They should know by know what full-contact training looks like. And that not all of us escaped the war unmarked." She shook her head. "We are going to talk, later. I am very disappointed in both of you."
What am I supposed to say? Zuko wondered. "I forgive you"? I'm a lousy liar. And I'm not the one Min really insulted. Doesn't he respect his sister's ability to protect her own honor?
Then again, the Earth Kingdom didn't teach women to fight. How messed up was that?
Deliberately turning his back on the stairs, Zuko reached out for Jinhai's slow-burning leaf. "I think that's enough for today."
"Aww." But Jinhai handed the leaf over, gaze still sliding toward his older brother.
"If you want to practice this, get your parents' permission first, so someone can spot you," Zuko said plainly. "And do it right over a sand bucket. So if something goes wrong, all you have to do is drop it." He hoped he hadn't let the stab of hurt show. He was used to reactions like Jia's, but Min-
He's Jinhai's brother. You're just his teacher. Let it go.
But that didn't feel like the right thing to do either. He didn't intend to interfere with family loyalties, Meixiang should know that even if Min didn't-
Earthbender. This isn't about loyalty. I don't know what it is… but I can't let him think he can cut in on their lessons.
Right. Stick to the plan. "There was one more thing I wanted to show you," Zuko stated. "If Madam Wen doesn't mind a little experiment? Something the professor said gave me an idea."
Meixiang raised curious brows. "Let's see it, then."
Burning leaf still in hand, Zuko reached into the bag for another handful. Walked to the center of the cleared floor, lit all his leaves from the first, and tossed them into the air.
Move; like water, just a little sharper….
He swept his arms across. Burning leaves followed the arc, swirling in their own hot wind.
Pull, but gently. You don't want to pull the flame free. You want it to carry its own fuel.
Which wasn't classic firebending at all. But he'd thrown Sozin's style against the Avatar a dozen times. It didn't work.
He can snuff out a fire that's just chi. But if something's on fire - he's not so good with that.
And neither is Azula.
Control kept the leaves burning slowly. But he held a loose grip on the fire, not a tight one that would rip it right off the leaves. Careful… gentle… keep everything in motion….
Swirling leaves echoed swirling hands. Zuko turned, and fire twisted around him in a burning whirlwind.
It works!
Flames burned higher as his heart soared; he almost laughed. No one's seen firebending like this. Not since-
Kuzon. He didn't know how he knew. He was just sure, the way he knew the sun would rise tomorrow.
Kuzon knew healing. He knew airbenders. He must have tried this.
Great-grandfather. Thank you.
Wind slowed as he slowed, bringing his hands up in the opening move of streaming water, gathering fiery bits in a globe between his hands. Zuko felt through the cellar for any other fire, marking his own internal flame, and Jinhai's, searching for any stray sparks….
And exhaled softly, letting fire die to cool ashes.
"Wow," Jinhai breathed.
Min, Zuko was grimly amused to note, suddenly didn't look sure of himself at all.
Think, he willed the teenage earthbender. I don't care how good your teachers tell you you are. I've fought earthbenders. If you haven't fought firebenders - believe me, you don't want to start with me.
And I don't want to fight you. I'm here for Jinhai and Suyin. I'm even here for you, you jerk.
You don't want to lose your family. Ever.
Maybe Min would think about it. Maybe Uncle would have a better idea. Right now, he didn't know what else to try. Earth might not have the determination of fire, but they had a stubborn persistence that fixed them to a chosen spot; a fort, a city, a point of view. He wasn't sure how to dislodge Min from his "I hate firebenders" stand without using overwhelming force… and that would not have a beneficial effect on Jinhai's training.
So be like water. Evade and redirect. See what happens.
"I'll have to tell my husband about that move," Meixiang mused. "It reminds me of the sandbenders he's described a few times." She nodded, as if to herself. "I'm sure he looks forward to discussing that with your uncle at the potluck."
"You what?" Min started. And cut himself off at his mother's sharp look.
"I know Uncle's looking forward to that," Zuko said politely, deliberately ignoring the tension in the air. He'd eaten dinners with worse enemies. And Iroh was looking forward to this, cooking and all.
The anniversary's coming up. He should - he should have some time to be happy. Before then.
Min wasn't cruel, after all. Just pigheaded and ignorant. He could survive that.
Exchanging bows with his students, Zuko let Meixiang escort him to the door. And tried to ignore a sudden shiver of foreboding.
Pigheaded, ignorant, and knows I'm a firebender. But he won't do anything to expose me. He wouldn't put Jinhai in that kind of danger.
Spirits, I wish I could believe that.
---------
Jumpy as a rabbiroo on hot coals, Huojin thought ruefully, glancing at Lee out of the corner of his eye as the teen attacked his mochi. Much like a canny but harassed Guard commander would, taking apart a hostage situation.
Poor kid. He's trying, he really is. He just doesn't do normal.
Oh, Lee knew which utensils to use, and why; Amaya had given him that much to build on-
"So, what do you do for fun?" Jia gave him a bright smile, only betrayed by the wariness in her eyes.
"I don't."
-He just absolutely failed at small talk.
"Is he always that serious?" Luli whispered in Huojin's ear, eyes dancing.
"Pretty much," Huojin murmured back.
"Aww. Poor kid…."
Down at the children's end of the table, twelve-year-old Lim and nine-year-old Daiyu were happily chatting away with Suyin… and tolerating Jinhai. Which was about as much as you could expect at their ages, especially after the firebending little scamp had gone after Daiyu's braids with a glue pot a few months back.
Can't really blame Lee for not having a hobby, Huojin admitted to himself. Between the clinic and keeping the kid out of trouble, who'd have time?
Not to mention the waterbending. Oma, Shu, and Agni. If Lee was training that on top of everything else - when did he sleep?
"Always busy, my nephew," Mushi smiled. "I have tried to interest him in Pai Sho, but he usually prefers studying maps. Or fishing, once in a while."
"Too bad you're not out with the fleets," Min said dryly.
"That would make it hard to study with Master Amaya," Lee said levelly.
"Like you'd really miss that," Min said skeptically.
"Yes. I really would."
Oh no, Huojin almost winced, hearing that level, carefully calm tone. Not good.
He couldn't blame Amaya for wanting a nice, quiet evening to herself after a week of Lee and Mushi's havoc. But they really could have used a good calm voice of reason right about now.
Still, Luli hadn't been a Guard's wife this long by accident. She stood, with an easy smile. "Well, it's never too late to learn to have a little fun. Right?" She winked at Meixiang.
"The ruby chard's about done in anyway," Meixiang nodded. "Might as well tear up there, if you want." She waved a shooing hand at Lee, smiling wistfully.
The downright grateful look the young man cast her didn't belong on any teenager being yanked out the door by a gleeful group of kids, Huojin reflected sourly.
Except it did. Because a great name's son apparently had two main responses to any threat: kill, or ignore. Given he probably didn't want to kill Min, and the young earthbender was making it impossible to ignore him… yeah.
And from that Look of Doom Tingzhe's got, they've had this discussion before. And it didn't take. Clearing his throat, Huojin shoved his chair over to put a deliberately heavy hand on Min's shoulder. "Piece of advice? Don't do that."
"Why?" Min said sourly. "Because he's a firebender?"
"No," Huojin said flatly, not letting his gaze off the teenager as Jia gasped and the rest of the adults tensed. "Because he can break you in half with his bare hands. Literally." He's trained, he's lethal, and he's having a really bad year. "What's your problem with him, anyway?"
"He's Fire Nation." Min said it like a curse. "You know what they train firebenders for."
"We do," Mushi said, green eyes weighing Min and finding him wanting. "But I can assure you Lee has never been part of a military action against the Earth Kingdom. He has faced earthbenders of the Army, yes; but that was only to rescue me, when I had done something a bit foolish. Even so, he left them alive. Bruised, and buried underneath their own rocks, but otherwise unharmed." He folded his hands before him. "But do you know what firebenders are trained for? I suspect you do not. Or you would not be making yourself an obstacle to a key strategic objective. That objective being," Mushi went on over Min's noise of protest, "the safety of Jinhai, your family, and all of us. Jinhai must learn, or all of your family is at risk. You are Jinhai's brother, and he looks up to you. Which means my nephew is considering his options for dealing with you very carefully."
Jia paled a little. Proving yet again she's a lot smarter than she lets on to her friends, Huojin thought wryly.
"Are you going to let him sit there and say that?" Min said hotly, glancing at his father.
"Min," Tingzhe said with strained patience, "you are not listening-"
"Oh, I've listened enough. Strategic objective? You say a teacher has to respect his students. And you're letting someone teach Jinhai who doesn't even care about him?" Scraping his chair back, Min glared at Mushi. "Everything was fine before you showed up! You tell him he can consider his options all he wants. I'm going to do what's right."
"Min-" Meixiang started.
"I'll be back by curfew!"
In the wake of her brother storming out, Jia smiled weakly. "I'm… going to go brush up my haiku. Need to be in shape for the competition." Bowing politely, she escaped upstairs.
"Oh, this is going to end well," Huojin said sarcastically. "Professor…."
Tingzhe held up a hand, face sober. "Believe me, we have some idea of exactly how unpleasant this could become."
"What, worse than you've already said?" Luli cocked her head, insatiably curious. "I'm sure it's not going to be pretty, but they're just boys. Let them beat each other up a little, and… Meixiang?"
Moving around the table to Mushi's chair, the professor's wife was shaking her head sadly. "I don't think Lee knows how to be just a boy. Or am I wrong?" Bending, she whispered something into his ear.
Mushi didn't turn a hair, but he did sigh. "Perhaps we might continue this with more privacy?"
"My study," Tingzhe suggested. Frowned at Huojin and Luli. "You may not want to be aware of the details. For your own safety. Meixiang and I already know the most dangerous part…."
"I believe we can speak without mentioning names," Mushi said genteelly. "If, that is, you truly wish to know more than you do." Another sigh. "I will say this. If Min truly believes Lee does not respect Jinhai, and says so… he is likely to learn a very painful lesson."
---------
"The Fire Lord," Huojin said faintly. Luli was gripping his hand, jade eyes wide. "He was up against the Fire Lord?"
"It was the Fire Lord's war room," Meixiang said bitterly. "If he chose to take offense - yes, he could claim Lee showed disrespect." Her gaze flashed at Iroh. "It was cruel."
"It was," Iroh acknowledged sadly, recalling her silent, respectful whisper: Prince Iroh. "I should never have allowed my nephew into that chamber. I should have realized he could not keep silent, when he saw an outrage to our people. I should have known he… trusted too much."
"He said he didn't even try to fight." Tingzhe grimaced at Iroh's sharp look. "Don't blame him. He was very careful not to give specifics. But spirits, I can see why."
"It was the best decision he could have made," Iroh said grimly. "I recently learned of events around his mother's disappearance." He winced. "I knew my brother favored Lee's sister as heir. I did not imagine the lengths he might go to."
Luli and Tingzhe paled; Meixiang swallowed dryly. But Huojin….
Huojin looked at him, anger channeled into a professional's deliberate focus. "You think your brother helped make this happen. To kill Lee."
"I believe he would have found such a death convenient," Iroh said coldly. "But as Lee was on his knees, even the Fire Lord had no excuse for a lethal blow." He shook his head. "I am certain my brother found that very unpleasant. He preferred Lee's sister, that I knew. How much so, I did not realize, until she appeared with orders to take us back in chains… alive or dead." Iroh sought Tingzhe's gaze directly. "She is an excellent firebender. A true prodigy. Had I been a moment slower to block her strike - Lee had no defense against the move she unleashed. Most believe no such defense even exists."
"His sister tried to…?" Luli was trembling; in outrage, not fear.
You have found great fortune in your wife, Huojin, Iroh approved. I only hope my nephew is as lucky. "You begin, I think, to understand why my nephew has no idea what to do about Min."
"Oma and Shu." The professor held his head in his hands, and drew a sharp breath. Straightened his shoulders, and looked up. "You're the tactician, General. What do you suggest?"
"General?" Luli and Huojin said, aghast.
"Retired," Iroh smiled. "And - wait." He closed his eyes, feeling at that sense of banked fire, far more controlled than Jinhai's tiny flicker. "Someone is about to knock."
A few more moments, and his nephew's fist thumped the door. "Uncle? Professor?"
Tingzhe raised a brow. "Come in."
The door opened a few inches. "I didn't mean to interrupt, it's just-" Zuko's gaze swept serious faces, and he winced. "What's hide 'n slide?"
Ah. "Like hide and explode, I believe," Iroh said thoughtfully. "But no explosions."
"Oh." Zuko still looked dubious.
"And no knives," Meixiang put in quickly.
"Okay." Zuko looked a bit less glum. "Thanks." He shut the door, and retreated.
"No knives?" Tingzhe got out, while the other two were still gaping.
"We play rough, dear."
"How'd you know he was coming?" Huojin inquired, still eyeing the door.
"A skilled bender can feel his element nearby," Iroh informed him. "All firebenders carry our own fire within. My nephew can likewise sense me, when he is calm. Which is not often," he admitted. "So. To answer your question of why we are here, Madam Meixiang…. Bear with an old man a bit longer." Spirits. In some ways, this was the hardest part.
Their children, and their lives, are at risk. They have the right to know.
"After the duel, the Fire Lord said that by refusing to fight, my nephew had shown shameful weakness," Iroh went on. "He was banished, and sent- well. That is a tale for another time. Let us only say, the task was one I knew Lee would never survive alone. So I joined him. I hoped to keep him alive; to teach him, and mend the worst of my brother's wounds. And I hoped, away from the Fire Nation, we might find - a chance. Something unexpected, that could be turned to our advantage."
"I believe you had a reputation for that," Tingzhe said dryly. "Which rather makes me wonder why your brother dared to let you run around loose."
"Ah." Iroh smiled, a bit sadly. "But I am only a sad old failure who lost his son, his position, and his will to fight. My brother would tell you so himself."
"Lee said his father dumped him on you." Huojin's brows lowered in unpleasant conclusion. "He meant that, didn't he?"
"I was grieving my son; I did not return home until some months after Lee's mother vanished," Iroh said levelly. "I regret that, as well. His father would not have protected him from his sister, and no one else would have dared. She is… cruel. She enjoys others' pain. And she is very skilled at deceiving people into believing she is innocent as a koala-lamb." He lifted a brow. "Should you see her, I advise that you run. Swiftly."
"But she can't get into Ba Sing Se," Luli objected.
"Madam Luli, we are in Ba Sing Se," Iroh pointed out. "I admit we had aid, but strategy and tactics are in our blood. Lee found his own way into the North Pole, into the very heart of that fortress of ice, before Zhao broke in with all his forces. I doubt she would ever of her own will pass as a mere refugee, but if my brother ordered her to do so, she would. She is loyal to him." His voice dropped, sad. "Which is, in a way, the most heartbreaking fact of all. For all my brother's flaws, his children love him, and gave him their loyalty without reservation. And he… I begin to doubt he has ever been loyal to anyone. Even our father." Iroh gazed into memory, heartbroken. "Especially our father."
"Your father? But that would have been-" Tingzhe cut himself off, obviously juggling names and dates in his head. "Oh my. That - I can't even think of a word…."
"Does Lee know?" Meixiang asked quietly.
Iroh breathed in, and sighed. "Yes." He regarded her soberly. "But I did not. And for years, Lee was too frightened to tell me what he knew. His grandfather was dead. His mother, vanished, and none would say where. And he already knew his sister saw him as an obstacle to be removed. He has been very frightened, for a very long time. Often he buries fear in anger, which can be useful when you are fighting for your life. But he knows he must not do so around Jinhai."
Huojin groaned. "So basically, the kid's scarred up inside as a wharf weevil-rat, clueless about normal nasty but don't want to kill you teenagers as a badger-mole, and mean in a fight as a pygmy puma cornered by scorpion-vipers."
"Very well put," Iroh admitted.
"He's going to tie Min up and leave him dangling under a bridge, isn't he?" Luli grinned wryly.
Delighted, Iroh beamed at her. And raised an inquiring brow at Tingzhe. "Would you be offended if I suggested such to Lee? It would be far safer for Min than most scenarios I had imagined."
"You had better not be asking what I believe you are," Tingzhe warned, fingers tapping restlessly on one knee.
"He's not," Huojin said frankly. "Lee's messed up and hot-tempered, sure. But he's not looking for a fight."
Luli rubbed his shoulder, eyes rueful. "Too bad for him, Min is."
"Right," Huojin nodded. "So what I think the general's asking for is - what do you call it, rules of engagement?"
"Even so," Iroh inclined his head. Regarded the professor again. "My nephew is a just and honorable young man. And he will behave as such. If someone will simply inform us what is appropriate."
Meixiang held her peace, as her husband crossed his arms and eyed Iroh dubiously.
Well. No one said convincing an earthbender of something he did not wish to accept was easy.
At least Zuko is having fun.
---------
Lying prone in the shadow cast by the side wing's roof, hands braced against tiles as he listened to mutters of broken haiku, Zuko grinned. The kids currently hiding and searching in Meixiang's garden knew he had to be somewhere, but they were looking down, not up.
Earth Kingdom. Heh.
Well, that wasn't quite fair, he allowed, as Jinhai peeked behind the garden's water barrels to discover a shrieking Lim. A lot of Fire Nation soldiers never seemed to get the knack of looking up, either.
Stupid. Air Nomads aren't the only ones who can take the high ground.
The Dai Li might have a clue, given the way they'd dropped off the rooftops after the umbrella spirit. And wouldn't that be ironic, having something in common with the people who'd kill him if they knew who he really was?
They fight spirits. I've been after the bridge to the Spirit World. And we've both got our orders.
Orders a lot of the rest of the world hated. Orders sanctioned by their rightful rulers; if the Earth King didn't know exactly what the Dai Li were up to, he damn well ought to.
Yeah. He had a lot more in common with the ominous earthbenders than he liked to think….
Huh. And there they are.
He resisted the temptation to wave to the shadows a few roofs over. They probably wouldn't appreciate it.
And I'm just fine up here. We're playing a game.
And possibly the Dai Li recognized that. They weren't doing anything. Though they seemed to be waiting for something….
Tiles shivered under his hands, and he didn't move fast enough.
Baked clay clamped around him like a vice, and Zuko felt the weight of several people tremble through the wall and up onto the roof. "See how you like that move, Min!" someone sneered. "Man, you think you're going to be Dai Li? You didn't even feel it coming!"
Teenage boys. Hate them. Hate them all, Zuko decided, gripping red-hot fury. "I'm not Min," he growled.
"Hey… he's not," another boy said, surprised. "So what do we-"
"Doesn't matter."
Third voice, Zuko registered, breathing slow and controlled as he flattened pinned hands against the roof and stoked the fire inside. He's in charge. He's smug-
"He's here. Which makes him another refugee friend of the family. So he'll just have to carry the message."
Even as tiles tightened, Zuko smirked. He was pinned down. Couldn't obviously use fire. And there were three of them.
Too bad for them.
---------
"I understand your concern," Iroh said patiently, "but-"
The study lamp flared, flame blazing up and flickering. In a deliberate pattern.
Oh no.
---------
Hot tiles shattered, and Zuko's hands had room to move.
Come!
You didn't need to see your element to bend it. You just had to feel it.
Male voices yelped as water slapped them, and his tile prison loosened. It was all he needed.
"Get inside!"
He heard the children's startled yells, but they were far away. He had three earthbenders to deal with here and now; three young, stupid teenagers, who'd already shown they could bend deadly tiles, and there were innocent civilians down there-
A slash of fingers through water, and he had two streams floating over his hands. Bend and spin and breathe….
Ice locked four feet to the roof. The third bender yelped, feet slipping out from under him, and yelled all the way down.
If it'd been just him, Zuko would have immobilized them completely before he jumped off the roof. But it wasn't, and while Suyin was urging Lim and dragging Jinhai back to the house, Daiyu was approaching the swearing teen with innocent intent to help-
Snarling, the teenager swatted her away with a fist of earth.
Bad move.
Zuko dodged the head-sized earth missiles with barely a thought. Blows flying his way weren't heading for the children… and there was another reason to be on the ground rather than the roof. The water was closer.
One stream whipped out, bound busy arms. Another entangled legs before the teenager could fully rise. A second freezing breath.
Down, and out.
Something whistled through air; he almost ducked.
Throwing tiles, Zuko registered through that first bolt of pain. He felt blood trickling, and dismissed it; scalp wounds always bled, and he wasn't dead yet. It's dark, they can't possibly see well enough to be sure it's me they're hitting-
…Damn, I really make a lousy water wall.
Wavering water slowed the tiles, but didn't stop them. He could dodge, but the kids - damn it, he just wasn't good at defense!
So attack.
Compressing water might be hard, but moving it was easy. Zuko swirled it into a twisting wave between himself and the tiles, using the mini-waterspout's gathering momentum to hurl them back-
And the weight of ice and bodies on a tile-stripped, fire-weakened roof, finally did exactly what he'd been hoping for.
Crack. Crunch.
"My robes!" Jia shrieked.
And all the tiles stopped.
Professor Tingzhe was beside him, standing steady as a mountain, hands shaped in a formal gesture of halt that probably held every inch of earth within a block still as ice. Not that the two now half-through the roof could have mustered much opposition.
"What," the professor said sternly, "is the meaning of this vandalism?"
"Not vandalism," Zuko got out, gathering water back into a swirling tentacle at his side as two little girls hit Luli's arms and started wailing. "They said they had a message for Min."
"Oh, did they." Huojin's voice dripped unpleasant implications, as he glared at the frozen teen. "Which one of you fine, upstanding young gentlemen hurt my daughter?"
Even frostbitten, the boy started to sweat.
"Get. Out. Of. My. Room!" Jia appeared at her window, arms circling in a vicious overhead arc-
And her two intruders, arms pinned in tiles, shot back out of the hole in her roof. And dropped.
They stopped, barely an inch above the ground. It wasn't easy to make out in the light of the lamp Meixiang had brought along, but Zuko was pretty sure Tingzhe smirked.
All of them accounted for, Zuko thought. Uncle's got Jinhai and Suyin. Madam Luli's got her kids. Time to let the Guard handle this.
Relieved, he let borrowed water flow back to the barrel, and stepped out of the line of fire. And accepted his waterskin from Iroh with a murmured, "Thanks."
"Very restrained," Uncle Iroh approved. "Well done."
"I hope so, Uncle," Zuko muttered. "There are Dai Li a few roofs north of here."
-------
A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! I've had great suggestions and a lot of interesting guesses.
Yes, Amaya did meet the Lion-Turtle.
There are descendents of Roku in this story. Just not quite the way it happens in canon. Canon leaves one big plothole... well, one short, somewhat rotund, awesome firebending plothole. If the only reason Zuko can choose good is Roku's heritage (as all Sozin's descendents are supposedly EEEVIL), how on earth do you explain Iroh?
A tactic I find useful for making long-term OCs: borrow a "personality core" from another fictional character. For example, Huojin is based off Commissioner Jim Gordon. Tingzhe? Dr. Henry Jones. (Not Junior.) Amaya, Jedi Healer T'raa Saa. And there are others. If you get a feeling of Buffy... yes, two characters from there were used!
Given some reviews, I'm going to mention the concept of the unreliable narrator. Zuko is paranoid... except you can't call it paranoia when people are out to get you. He grew up with Azula, who always lies. (Except when the truth is more damaging.) Both he and Iroh have to think, act, and make plans based on what they know of historical Avatars (Roku shut down Sozin even talking about what he wanted to do with the empire, period. "There are no possibilities. This is the last I want to hear about this." And later, directly threatened the Fire Lord's life.) And based on what they see Aang do, not what Aang says. Aang may talk a good peaceful line, he may mean every word - but look at what he does. Dumping boatloads of men into arctic waters equals large-scale death. Period. And the Northern Air Temple? Hoo boy.
Aang may not want to shove people back into four-nation boxes - but Zuko has no way to know that. As far as Zuko is concerned, Aang certainly didn't start by telling him the truth.
Finally... Zuko, avoid the main conflict in Ba Sing Se? Not a chance! Remember, the spirits are always gunning for him! Which makes it easy to get a sidelined plot back on track, amusingly enough; the extreme coincidences are canon!