Rewrite, Rewind
Chapter 24
Azulon sat in Ursa's bedroom, staring out at the ocean that reflected the night sky like a perfect mirror. Liah was off getting dinner, Azulon never stopped to think about why it was taking so long. He just stared out at sea, lost in thoughts and musings. His grandchildren were all sleep, Xiulan having nearly lost her mind during the circus she refused to separate herself and remained with Azula and Zuko. Thus this made Ursa move into the same room as Ikem, something Azulon was sure they were happy about.
"Master? Are you still awake?" The soft voice startled him at first, he looked about the room but saw no one else in it. "Master?" Azulon looked back the window, there was ice creeping along windowsill.
"Hurry up and enter, Liah will be back with guards any minute." That was all his daughter needed to sweep into the room like a whisper. Not just anyone of his daughters, his eldest. His rightful heiress if he obeyed the laws like he should've; on second thought, the laws stated his need to marry a Fire Nation noblewoman, so maybe not listening to the laws was one of his wiser choices. It terrified him to see Lyra staring back at him, the only difference being Lian's eyes were more orange in comparison to Lyra's near golden.
"Sweet Lian," Azulon greeted his eldest with a fond smile, then spotted the tiny bundle in her arms. "Who did you bring with?"
"Ah, I'm babysitting," Lian blushed, "But I found out some things that were too important to keep hidden." Azulon held his hands out in silent demand, Lian stifled a snicker as she carefully passed the baby over. "She's named Lyrazu," Azulon looked up at Lian and frowned, bewildered by the name. "Lyra for… for mom. Azu… for you," Lian's blush reached from her neck up past her near silver hairline. "I honestly have no idea how they figured out your guys' names, they won't give me a straight answer."
"Trained them well have you?" Azulon asked with a smirk.
"Mom said she hoped I'd have kids as bad as me," Lian sighed, "Her wish came true." Azulon chuckled warmly at the fond memory, one of the few times they were actually able to spend time as a family.
"What news did you bring?" Azulon asked softly, jostling the sleeping baby in his arms. The girl couldn't be more than a few months old, four at most. Her most defining feature was her left golden eye and her right sapphire blue eye.
"The circus crew picked up those thirty corpses wandering around on a ship, south of the earth kingdom." Lian answered, "apparently they were originally pirates looking for goods to trade."
"I see the spirits made short work of them," Azulon hummed. "What word do you have of the south?" a part of him feared the answer, it was always a touchy subject with his daughters. The south pole was the one the fire nation did the most damage in.
"There are no signs of life," Lian sighed. "Those who travel to the known villages either don't come back or report nothing but ruins. Not even the once capital of the Southern Water Tribe is populated. Everything was just left behind. Nothing but burnt wood and torn leather."
"Not everyone in the south was a bender," Azulon frowned. "There were plenty that are bender less…"
"…I wonder if the raids were truly necessary," Lian's orange eyes looked like daggers poised to cut his heart.
"I could not sway the Royal Council out of Grandfather's grand plan." Azulon admitted softly, refusing to lift his eyes from the tiny child in his arms. "All I could do was slow the departure of the ships or reroute them halfway through."
"…I know," Lian sighed heavily. "What will happen to us if Iroh isn't the one to succeed you?"
"Lu Ten will make sure you all are protected," Azulon answered.
"You know what I mean," Lian hissed at him. "There are rumors of Ozai being the true heir."
"Not as long as Lu Ten still lives," Azulon tried to reassure her but a heavyweight settled in his chest and memory of his deranged brother flashed in his mind. Azulon closed his eyes and took a deep steadying breath.
Not even Ozai was that cruel…right?
…
Ursa sat with her husband, fretting and worrying about her children, who have been sleeping for two days now. Doctor Lee was with them, continuously coming and going from their room to restock on ice and take the medicine her mother made. For all appearance's sake, the twins had colds. Simple fevers that made them whimper in their sleep and sweat more than what was healthy for children their age. A few children from school have come to visit, the four who were closest to the twins, and the twin's favorite teachers came by as well. Ursa felt lost and helpless every time she entered her twin's rooms, staring at their red faces and touching wet clammy faces. Ikem tried to distract her with walks on the beach or through their city, Xiulan promised to be with the twins for her.
It was not until the evening of the third day that the twins awoke, together no less.
"Mama?" Azula called, her voice soft and hoarse from lack of use.
"Azu? Mommy?" Zuko's voice sounded even weaker, more of a whimper than the sandpaper-voice of Azula. Ursa couldn't say anything, she just wrapped her twins in her arms and cried. They tolerated her, knowing that something had happened that they weren't fully aware of.
"Zuko, Azula," Ursa only pulled away from her children because she heard her adoptive father's voice. Azulon carefully entered the room with Liah's help. Ursa moved out of the way so Azulon could take a seat beside the twins, instead of fretting nearby, she left the room. outside in the dining room, Ursa found the rest of her family; she kneeled and hugged Xiulan tightly before kissing her husband.
"They're awake," Ursa told the rest of her family, "Fire Lord is with them now."
"Then we'll have to wait for our turn," her mother sighed heavily.
In the children's room, Azulon made himself comfortable on the bed, Liah moving to give water to each twin before standing aside patiently. The children were looking at him, quiet and expectant, looking not like nine-year-olds but grown adults awaiting instruction for their next task.
"I…" Azulon hesitated, how does he begin this conversation? "Do you remember the night of the circus?"
"Wasn't that last night?" Azula asked, "how could we forget already?" Zuko nodded and hummed right beside her.
"Zuko… you made it to the center of the ring," Azuko said slowly, looking sideways at his grandson. "Do you remember what you and that girl talked about?"
"You mean princess Akiko?" Zuko asked, "She's the Bird Clan's Chieftain's daughter! That makes her a princess!" Azulon chuckled at the excited statement, feeling reassured that his grandchildren still had energy in their tiny bodies.
"Do you remember anything she said to you?" Azulon asked
"I remember being in a cold place," Zuko answered thoughtfully. "Everything was white or gray and cold." He shivered in memory, wrapping both arms around himself to keep his warmth.
"Oh! I was there too!" Azula spoke up, "I got lost though. I kept hearing mommy's voice but I couldn't find her. Then it felt like I was being pulled in two different directions! That hurt." She bobbed her head with finality as if that was as serios as it got. "Oh, oh, did you dream of a boy too?"
"A boy?" Zuko asked her, "no. after Akiko left with her parents, I found another girl. She was lost in the snow."
"What did she look like?" Azula asked eagerly. "Blue eyes? Dark skin? Was she dressed in blue furs?"
"Hm," Zuko tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, did your boy have a really big dog with him?"
"no, he had a puppy," Azula replied, her shoulders slumping. "He was lost, looking for his sister. She got lost in the snow."
"Oh! Maybe the girl I found knew the boy you found!" Zuko smiled at Azula.
"Oh! Oh! Maybe! Did you take her back home?!" Azula asked excitedly, bouncing in her seat. "His home was a giant ice-cube! And there were others there that looked just like him!"
"No, she ended up making a safe place for us," it was Zuko's turn to slump, his eyes watering with the urge to cry. "She said we were caught in a blizzard. But there was this really big creature chasing us and we couldn't go really far. So she danced in a circle and made us a dome of ice that protected us against the thing chasing us and it kept us warm from the storm too." Zuko blushed suddenly, remembering something. "She and her big dog were really cold so I hugged her and warmed us both up."
"What? You used fire bending to keep you both warm?!" Azula gapped at him, "Dang it! I didn't think of that! I just held his hand and followed him!" Zuko giggled at Azula, relishing in doing something she hadn't thought of. Azulon listened to the children, smiling as he saw they were back to being perfectly normal nine-year-old children. But what concerned him were the children the twins came across, the boy and the girl, lost in the snow. The girl who danced in a circle, making a safe place for the two of them, must've been a young water bender. As for the boy, he must've been a non-bender. Both of the children had a canine with them, the boy had a pup and the girl had a large dog. Where the canines a symbol of their tribe?
"She said she's the princess of the bird clan!"
No, there is only one tribe in the South Pol but maybe there are multiple 'clans'. Perhaps these 'clans' made up what he knew to be a 'Tribe'. Azulon glanced at the children, who were continuing talking about the two kids they found in that cold white and gray place. He knew there were multiple small villages in the Southern Pol but none of them were the capital of the South, where all the water benders preferred to live. If that once great capital was formed from 'clans' perhaps there was more these 'Bird Clan' and 'Canine Clans' that was revealed. It would take more then just a two people to make a family, but if he considered his own family—his daughters, sons, grandchildren and great grandchildren—then everything made much more sense.
According to the reports he's read over the years, the south pole was all about the connection of family and accepting everyone as family. Family meant everything to them. It was one of the few things the South Pol had to offer that was safe from its cold embrace. If several families as large as his own made up a clan, than it would be reasonable that several dozen clans could make a village. If several of those villages formed together to create a city, perhaps that's where the strength of the South Pol had originally came from.
Then when his grandfather implanted the attack on the Southern Water Tribe and when his father continued said attacks, that capital city simply got scattered. The survivors, benders and non-benders alike, all scattered for survival. After all, his militaria only focused on the capital city. Specifically the royal family of the South Pole, because they were the strongest Water Benders in the entire South Pol. If the militaria only focused on the dwindling population of the Capital city, perhaps there were more water benders in the south than he originally thought. Azulon looked at Liah, seeing her bright copper eyes glance up at him curiously. Azulon nodded to himself, lost in thought, he gestured for his daughter to help him up from his seat.
"Grandpa?" the twins called out at the same time.
"I'm glad the two of you are well," Azulon smiled back at them, feeling his body shake in Liah's firm hold. "I won't see you for your tenth birthday, so happy early birthday."
"What do you mean?" they asked at the same time again.
"I mean I'm going to be very busy," Azulon chuckled, "I won't have the time to see you and your family after today. So promise me to protect each other, okay?" the twins shared bewildered looks before looking at him confusion.
"Why wouldn't we?" the children asked, "Family sticks together, no matter what!"
Azulon felt his heart clench at the declaration, followed by the twin's eruption of giggling.
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