Chapter Twenty-One:
The Dragon of the West

"We're making some progress," General Togo said with some relief. "It took a while, and it took a lot more time and materials than we thought, but the new barracks are finally being built. And they are having positive effects. There are fewer soldiers in the streets, so there's less overcrowding and fewer disturbances. And the colonists see that we're doing something about the problem, so they're happier."

Xhong raised an eyebrow. "Anecdote or fact, General?"

"Fact, General Xhong." Togo smiled. "People from the cities are saying thank you to the workers building the barracks. In fact, there's been more than one instance of merchants bringing food and drink out to the worksites."

"Good." Zuko smiled. "I'm glad we're getting through to them." Even Xhong's expression lightened a little.

There was a stir out in the hall. The guards were letting someone through, unannounced.

Xhong stood and blocked the way. "Who disturbs the Fire Lord's Council?" he challenged loudly. Zuko looked askance at him; he knew Xhong wanted to regain some standing, but still…

"I humbly beg your pardon, General," said a familiar voice. "I did not mean to disturb anyone. May I enter, please?"

Zuko looked around Xhong, and there, not in an ancient cuirass and dumpy, lumpy off-red robes but modern black and gold combat armor, was Iroh.

Zuko felt relief flow through him like warm sunshine.

That mood wasn't shared by the whole council; there were a few grumbles from the officers. "General Iroh." A female army officer stood. "It is... fascinating to see you here, after your antics at Ba Sing Se."

"Really?" Iroh's eyes were serious, more or less. "How so, General Toda?"

Toda's voice was dry and cool. "I was not aware that the guards allowed traitors to access this room. At last report, you were listed among the 'liberators' of Ba Sing Se... and thus a traitor to the Fire Nation." There were a few discreet grumbles of agreement—although Togo flashed her an angry look. Naroz merely watched quietly.

"I believe that is a matter for the Fire Lord to decide." Iroh turned to Zuko. "Am I a traitor, Fire Lord?"

Zuko smiled warmly... and he was tempted to let that be his answer.

"No, Uncle. You are welcome here. The only times you have spoken against me are times when I needed to hear it."

"That's a pleasant surprise," Xhong said under his breath—but he sat down with the others.

An aide fetched a chair for the new arrival. The meeting continued with its regular business on a slightly lighter note… but Naroz did cast a glance at Iroh every so often.

o o o

Zuko and Iroh walked through the gardens after the meeting.

"What took you so long?" Zuko smiled. "I was getting worried!"

"Worried? Why? I think you are doing a fine job."

"No, not about me! About you! I didn't hear anything from you in the longest time."

"That is true. I could have sent you a letter with a hint about my intentions." Iroh turned to Zuko as they walked. "I travelled openly until I reached the Fire Nation border... and then I felt it was wiser to travel incognito."

"Incognito? Why? The war is over, you would have been safe—"

"On the contrary, Prince Zuko—"

Zuko looked at him in surprise. Iroh sheepishly grinned back. "Sorry. Old habit." He sobered. "Once I got to the Fire Nation border, I heard about your father."

Zuko's eyes went wide. "But how?" he asked in a strained voice. "I thought we had kept that quiet."

"You have." Iroh nodded. "I did not hear through ordinary means. And that is a good thing."

Zuko had a feeling as to how Iroh had learned of Ozai's death, and he felt he shouldn't ask further. He kept his voice hushed. "Do you know who did it?"

"No, I don't. And I did not come because of him. But I'm glad I am here."

"Me, too." Zuko smiled. "So why did you come? Especially since I'm doing such a fine job."

Iroh smiled at that, then grew serious. "I came because I felt I would be of use to you."

"Uncle, I could have used you from the beginning. You were always welcome here, you know that!"

"Yes." Iroh smiled. "And as I told you, it was important that you stand on your own, and be seen to do so—that all would know you are no one's puppet. You have done that, and you have done very well."

He brought his hands together in the sleeves of his robes. "These are no ordinary times. The unrest continues in the Colonies, and elsewhere. You have shown to the world you can stand on your own. Now there is no harm in letting the world see those who love you helping you. And that is why I am here."

Zuko's eyes shone.

He hugged Iroh. "I can't tell you how good it is to have you here."

Iroh hugged back. "I feel the same way." They parted, and Iroh raised a finger. "I do come with a little good news. When I passed through the Colony cities, I saw more Earth Kingdom merchants there than I have before. Some of them are living there, too, and have Fire Nation people as their neighbors."

"Really?" Zuko was astounded. "That's incredible! That's wonderful news. So they're living peaceably then, together."

"Yes."

"I never would have imagined it." Then Zuko sobered, and exhaled. "I was right then. News about Father would have eaten them up, if people had known."

"Zuko: there is no good reason why anyone from the Earth Kingdom would want your father dead, except perhaps revenge. It would only stir up the Fire Nation—and the Earth Kingdom does not need that."

"Yes. We thought about that." Zuko grew more somber still. "We thought there might be a traitor here."

"I would suggest that you are dealing with another kind of traitor." Iroh grew more serious still. "One that would benefit from both your father's death and from the trouble they are trying to cause with the Earth Kingdom."

"Someone who wants war…" Zuko's hand came to his chin as he thought. He turned. "As a distraction?"

"Quite possibly."

"That's not good." Zuko walked on. "I've had my hands full trying to keep people from going after the Earth Kingdom—and each other, for that matter. "He turned to Iroh. "I could use some help."

"And that is what I am here to provide—Fire Lord Zuko." Iroh bowed with a smile—which was happily returned. Iroh straightened, then grew serious again. "But you must be careful. It is a logical conclusion that whoever came after your father... would also come after you."

o o o

"I don't get it." Aang shook his head as they flew aboard Appa. "Something's wrong here. So far every last one of these people on this new list is missing. A few of them I could understand, but all of them? That doesn't make sense."

He waited for a response, then looked over his shoulder. "Well?"

Toph shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me. I agree. It's weird."

"Well, why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't think I needed to. I thought you were talking to yourself."

Aang faced around front again and shook his head. "I gotta get Katara and Sokka back."

"I'm all for that."

Aang shook his head and turned around. "I'm sorry, Toph. I shouldn't have said that. What I meant was—"

"Save it, Twinkletoes. I know what you meant. I think we both feel the same way."

They flew on to look for the next name on the list. On landing at the village, they went to see the village headman, a gray-haired bearded man in his sixties.

"Excuse me," said Aang. "We're looking for a man named Chung Hua."

"That'd be me," the man replied. "And it sure is an honor to meet you, Avatar." He brought his hands together and bowed. "A real honor."

Aang smiled and bowed in similar fashion. "It's an honor to meet you, too." He straightened. "I'd like to ask you a few questions."

Chung Hua gestured. "Shoot."

Aang tilted his head. "Do you know why I'm here?"

"Somewhat. Word's going 'round that you're lookin' for people who might be Airbenders, and askin' 'em if they've ever felt like this and that. That… and you've got a new girlfriend."

Aang went from cheerful to boiling in an instant. "She's not my girlfriend!"

Chung chuckled. "I'm sorry, Avatar. Just had to poke atcha a little bit. I didn't think that was true."

"Oh… okay. Good." Aang regained his composure—mostly. "So… do you ever feel like you can move air?"

Chung sighed. "I wish I could help ya. I feel gassy from time to time, depending on what the wife puts on the table, but that's about the only time I feel like making any wind at all."

Toph sighed exasperatedly. "What is it with guys and fart jokes?"

Aang gave her a wry look. "Like you never told any." Toph smirked.

"I'm sorry, Avatar." Chung Hua held his hands out to the side. "But it's been so long since your kind have been around. The Air Nomads weren't the most popular of folks with the Fire Nation, as I think you know. It could be that your people hid themselves so well, they forgot who they were. That or, well… the Fire Nation found 'em first."

"Yeah." Aang looked at the ground. "I know."

After a moment, Aang looked at Chung Hua again. "Well, just have to keep looking, I guess. Thanks for your time."

Chung nodded. "Not a problem, Avatar."

Aang turned to head back, but then he saw a group of people that didn't look right—and then he realized why. "Hey, those aren't Earth Kingdom villagers—they're Fire Nation! Chung Hua—what's going on? Are they giving you trouble?"

"What?" Chung frowned. "Who's giving me trouble?"

Aang pointed. "Those Fire Nation villagers. They're supposed to have pulled back with the armies. They're not supposed to be here!"

"Oh, them. Don't worry; they're not going anywhere. They're right where they're supposed to be."

"But this is Earth Kingdom territory!"

"Yes it is, some of the time. And the rest of the time it's Fire Nation."

"What?" Toph got a quizzical look on her face.

Aang was confused. "I don't understand."

"Thing is, this village was near the front a lot during the war. It changed hands several times. Fire Nation folks moved in to stay, then the Earth Kingdom'd take the village back, and so on. We've had people from both sides living here for a long time."

"Then about sixty years ago, a long time before you were born—"

Aang grinned. "I don't think so."

"You know what? You're right!" Chung chuckled. "Well, anyway, about that time, some of the villagers started to take a liking to some of the Fire Nation folks. Viewed 'em more as neighbors rather than Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom this or that. They started looking out for each other, taking care of each other. Heck, the village belonged to both sides, really, so why not? And the two groups cooperated—the Fire Nation folks helped out with furnaces and forges and such, and we Earth Kingdom folks did the digging and mining and so on. It worked out real well. That's simplifying it quite a bit of course, but you get the idea."

He spread his arms. "Eventually they told both sides that this was one village. We might be two kinds of people, but this is our village. It belongs to all of us. And most of the time, the soldiers left us alone. Didn't want to hurt their own people, whichever one that was. Other times, well… we showed 'em why they should leave us alone."

Chung smiled. "Let me tell you something, Avatar—and begging your pardon for being windy here m'self, but I thought you ought to know—I know what the Fire Nation's put you through personally, and I know there are people out there that'll tell you this kind of thing can't work—that Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom fight like cats and dogs and you can't have their people side by side. Well, I can tell you from experience that this is our land, our village, together, Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation alike. And we wouldn't have it any other way."

Aang thought for a moment. Then he smiled and bowed. "Thank you for your words, Chung Hua. You've given me a lot to think about."

"Any time, Avatar." Chung bowed too. "Any time."

Aang and Toph flew off. "Well, we didn't find another Airbender, but we did find something interesting," said Aang.

"Yeah. What a blowhard!" When Aang snapped around, Toph grinned. "Not. Just kidding."

"Yeah." Aang smiled as he turned to front again. "You do that." They flew off toward their next contact.

Had they stayed a little longer, they might have noticed a group of shadowy figures clinging to the rocks above the village. A moment more, and they might have seen the figures head for the village below.