"Uncle said Druk was some child spirit that haunts prisons." Zuko tightened his grip on the egg he was holding. Even though its mystery wouldn't serve as much of an anchor, everything else that made sense seemed to be slipping away.
Aang scrunched up his face in an almost pained expression. "Umm… sorta. Maybe it would be good to talk to your uncle, too, actually."
"He's probably back at the fight between Toph and—"
"King Bumi—" Iroh's voice caused them both to jump. "—is looking for his oldest friend to celebrate his victory with, Avatar Aang."
Aang gaped at the old man who had just appeared at Zuko's side. "Bumi won? I thought surely Toph would—"
"Just between you and me, I think she let him win," Iroh said with a wink.
Zuko shook his head in disbelief. "No way. Toph would never throw a match."
"Toph is stubborn and proud, but I don't think she feels the need to prove herself as much as she used to. She's growing up. You all are."
By the way his uncle's eyes glistened and chest swelled, Zuko knew what was coming next. He instinctively leaned sideways into the familiar embrace. "But still, King Bumi—"
"—is an old man with not too many fights left in him," Iroh continued. "True victory does not lie in this one brawl or even one battle. It comes from the legacy he can pass down to the next generation to keep fighting—and winning—as long as it's for the right reason."
Suddenly the egg felt very heavy. Like it could be his anchor, but not without the weight of responsibility. "That's the hard part, though," Zuko said softly. "Knowing when it's the right thing to fight for."
"That's why you have each other." Iroh pulled away from Zuko and beamed at both of them. "Avatar Aang, perhaps you should go congratulate Bumi before he gets too drunk on victory? And then come join Zuko and me for tea?"
"Sure thing, sir! See you soon!" With that, Aang zipped away in his usual airbender fashion.
Golden eyes flashed in the darkness. "It's a little late for tea, Uncle."
Copper eyes sparked in response. "Somehow I knew those words would come back to haunt me."
"So, haunt really is a strong word for what Druk does," Aang started his explanation over a spread of chamomile tea sometime later. "It's more like hunt."
Iroh rested his chin on folded hands with his elbows propped up on the small table they shared. "So, you saw Druk in the Spirit World? What does that—he have to do with my nephew?"
Aang leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, for starters, General Iroh, you're his nephew."
Zuko observed that neither of their postures spoke to proper Fire Nation tea etiquette, but he'd made the point himself earlier. You'll notice we're not IN the Fire Nation. He didn't expect his uncle to spew out a little of his beloved beverage, though. The conversation grew even more strange after that.
Once recovered, Iroh replied, "According to some versions of a legend retold over many years, yes, but no one knows for sure."
"I think Druk would know, wouldn't you?" Something intense brewed in the Avatar's eyes. Like storm clouds, Zuko thought.
"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Iroh urged.
The sternness in Aang's gaze gave way to uncertainty. So, not like a storm. More like... fog.
"OK, umm. So… the transition between our world and the Spirit World is kinda hard to explain, but humans and spirits can pass into the other realm under special circumstances. Like I'm a special case, being the Avatar and all… and there's the Painted Lady, for example… and Hei Bai…"
Iroh and Zuko just stared at him. Yep. Dense, damp, debilitating fog.
"Oh, right. I forget that you guys weren't—nevermind." Aang shrugged and offered a small sheepish smile. "So, Druk is special, too, but it's like he's suspended between the two worlds. He wants answers about his death before he can reside peacefully in the Spirit World, so he makes frequent trips to the human world in search of the truth. But he's only a kid, and it's kinda creepy, so I think it's hard to understand—"
"You're right. I don't understand," Zuko deadpanned.
Aang drew in a deep breath. "OK. Druk is probably about three or four years old. He's kinda Fire Nation, but kinda not, but it's hard to tell because he has these… burn scars on his face. He's deathly afraid of—err, sorry—poor choice of words… he knows that the Fire Lord burned him and that Sozin was his father. He doesn't know what happened to his mother, so that's why he comes back. To look for her."
"Ahh, I see. That's why he went to The Phoenix, then," Iroh interjected. "Because that was the Water Tribe prison in the Fire Nation."
"Yes. And that's what he did for years. Visit Fire Nation prisons."
"But why prisons? Why didn't he just go to the South Pole to look for his mom?" Zuko asked.
"I think maybe his interactions with prisoners and guards became interesting to him. He could either scare people or offer comfort to them. It was a pretty powerful position to be in. But the real reason is because he would never encounter a Fire Lord in prison, and as a general rule, he avoided the royal family… until recently."
"Because a Fire Lord happens to be in prison now?" Zuko tried to steady the slight tremble in his hand so he could take a sip of tea.
"No. Because he met your mother in the Spirit World," Aang replied.
"Oh." Somehow Zuko managed to swallow.
"So… Druk is looking for a mother. And your mother is harboring incredible guilt about leaving her children. She blames herself for what happened to you, Zuko, and when she looks at Druk, she—"
"She sees my face. And a chance to redeem herself. I get it."
"But this can't be a healthy way for Ursa to heal," Iroh said. "Druk is dead. And he is not her son. Zuko is alive and still needs her. How long does she plan to stay in the Spirit World?"
The Avatar clinched his jaw and nodded. "I agree. Ursa needs to come back. But Druk also needs to stay there. This is where the dragon egg comes in, I think. Druk is bound to it, but he doesn't know it. Sora, Sozin's dragon, has tried to make contact with Druk in the Spirit World, but he runs away from her. He is afraid because she was his father's dragon, but in reality, Sora is Druk's connection to Makenna."
"So, when the dragon egg hatches, Druk will just automatically know all this?" Zuko saw his frustration start to boil in the tea cup he was holding.
"I don't know… I think it has more to do with the spirit of the dragon, actually."
"But I have no idea what to think about all that stuff, either! Kanna says the spirit is 'in me,' but Malina says I'll get when I need it. I'm not sure which is right." I'm not sure of anything anymore.
"It's both," Iroh answered in a firm voice. "It's in you, but lies dormant until you clear the pathway to set it free. This is what the masters, Ran and Sha, showed me. I am not called 'The Dragon of the West' for the fire that I can breathe out, but for the spark that is lit within."
"OK…" This is starting to sound like… chakras.
Iroh then set his teacup down with a startling clank. "And Druk probably has it, too, and is just waiting for release. But the spirit of the dragon is not power-seeking like his escapades in the prisons. It embodies strength and courage, so he must overcome his fears and let go of his attachments. And it is the spirit of reconciliation, so he must accept his past even if some questions go unanswered."
"OK, fine. Maybe Aang can relay that message to the kid next time he sees him. But what about me, Uncle?"
A warm smile spread across the old man's face. "The spirit of the dragon also rekindles and restores. I think it is time for you to reunite the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe. Let's all get a good night's sleep. We have a very important ceremony tomorrow."
That night Zuko had a very haunting dream about a child with a burnt face running aimlessly in the gray fog and screaming, "I'm looking for the Phoenix!" His voice then faded into ominous echoes of Ozai's maniacal laughter. Zuko hovered above the scene, his red wings flapping and his throat burning with fiery wrath, but he was powerless to do anything. Suddenly the shouting and cackling stopped, and the child was swept into the crest of an ocean wave. Zuko was momentarily blinded by a thick salty mist , but when his vision had cleared, he saw a woman in red kneeling on a white-sand beach, holding and comforting the boy. Zuko tried to call out to his mother, but the fire in his throat had turned his voice to ash. The woman then picked up the shivering child and turned to walk away. Zuko caught a glimpse of mocha skin peeking out from the crimson silk of her robes. Makenna?
No. It was Katara. The Phoenix.
A/N: Shorter chapter, so just a few notes here. First of all, this was originally supposed to be a one-shot. How the hell did I get up to 29 chapters? And how many chapters did it take for Zuko to propose? Yeah, so that was my first goal for this fic. I bet you can't guess what goal #2 is! But after that, this one is done and back to Silver Lining (which will include some of the same events told from Katara's perspective).
Also to recap, part of Druk's story appears Burning Passion, Chapter 8. And the backstory in Sage Advice is somewhat related, so I'm toying with the idea of having Druk (the child spirit) make an appearance in that fic, too.
