Authors Note: Please Review :)
The Promise
It wasn't long before Team Avatar was traveling once again. This time off to Ba Sing Se to meet with Earth King Kuei. Now that the war was over there was so much work to be done.
'At least the accommodations will be better this time' thought Ari, not exactly eager for anymore camping. Ari had adapted remarkably quickly to her role as future Fire Lady. She was sure her ex-deb of a mother would finally be proud of her if she could see her now. They arrived in Ba Sing Se and got cleaned up at Iroh's place above the Jasmine Dragon before heading over to the Earth Kings palace.
The meeting had mostly been about the colonies so far.
"I never realized the Fire Nation had built so many colonies in the Earth Kingdom." Aang said as he pointed them out on the map.
"Yes. For the earth people, they're a constant reminder of the War, like an old scar. Oh, I... I – Fire Lord Zuko, I meant nothing personal!" Kuei said correcting himself quickly.
"No, Earth King Kuei. You're right. After all the pain my father has caused, it's my duty to bring healing to the world. I'll remove those colonies. I'll do whatever it takes." Zuko promised.
"But removing the colonies won't be easy. A lot of people's lives are gonna be disrupted. We need someone to oversee everything, to make sure it all goes peacefully. Someone like me!" Aang volunteered.
"Wonderful! The Avatar's personal involvement will give the entire process an air of hope!" Said Kuei.
"Really? You'd want to do that?" Zuko ask him.
"Yeah, I'm the Avatar! Making stuff go peacefully is kind of my thing!"
"Sokka and I can help!" Katara volunteered them.
"Aw. I was gonna visit Kyoshi Island. You do remember that Suki and I have our own wedding to plan too, you know." Sokka complained.
"It'll be a movement – a movement towards harmony! We'll call it... We'll call it..." Kuei said ignoring Sokka and thinking out loud.
"The Harmony Restoration Movement!" Sokka yelled.
"Yes! The Harmony Restoration Movement! I like it!" Declared Kuei.
"What's with you and your goofy names for everything?" Toph ask Sokka.
"It's a gift." He replied nonchalantly.
Earth King Kuei planned a celebration where he would announce the Harmony Restoration Movement. Before the festivities began, we decided to visit the Jasmine Dragon. Uncle Iroh had insisted we all change into earth kingdom appropriate attire, upon our arrival.
Ari and Zuko were serving tea together, while Uncle Iroh played the tsungi horn, and Sokka painted.
"Zuko, stop moving! I'm trying to capture the moment. I wanted to do a painting, so we always remember the good times together." Sokka tells him.
"That's very thoughtful of you, Sokka." Katara says looking over his shoulder at the painting. "Wait, why did you give me Momo's ears?" She asks
"Those are your hair loopies!" Sokka explains.
"At least you don't look like a boar-q-pine! My hair is not that spiky!" Complains Zuko.
"I look like a man." Ari says with a frown.
"And why did you paint me firebending?" Suki asks him.
"I thought it looked more exciting that way." Sokka says defending his painting. Momo comes up and starts chittering at him. "Oh, you think you can do a better job, Momo?"
"Hey, my belly's not that big anymore. I've really trimmed down." Iroh tells him.
"Well I think you all look perfect!" Toph says brightly.
They all go back to doing their own thing. Laughing, talking, just enjoying the time they're are able to spend all together before they all have to start going their own way. Knowing that from now on, times they would all in one place would be few and far between. Aang and Katara wander off for some alone time.
"Hey we should take Appa out for a ride tonight before the celebration." Sokka suggested to the remaining members of the group.
"Yeah." Toph agreed.
"Sounds like fun." Said Suki.
"You should probably give them a few more minutes." Ari told him knowingly gesturing in the direction Aang and Katara had gone.
"What?" Sokka said, ignoring her advice and going outside to find Aang and Katara. It isn't long before we can hear Sokka and Katara yelling at each other outside.
Sokka came back in a couple minutes later.
"Alright Team Avatar let's go!" Sokka said loudly.
"What happened out there?" Suki ask him.
"Oogies." He replied.
We all climbed aboard Appa's saddle and off we flew. Aang showed off some trick moves he and Appa knew and it was exhilarating.
After a particularly fun vertical dive leveled out nearly all of them were laughing.
"Let's go again!" Aang yelled happily.
"Wait, guys! The fireworks are starting!" Suki said pointing to where they were just starting to set off the fireworks.
"Wow. The view is amazing!" Katara said.
"It is!" Aang agreed flying us a safe distance from the fireworks. "Thanks, buddy!" He told Appa who roared back at him.
We could hear cheering coming from the crowd down below.
"Sounds like the Earth King just announced the Harmony Restoration Movement!" Aang tells us.
"Hey, wanna know what fireworks are like for me? Close your eyes. BOOOOM!" Toph said crawling closer to Sokka and yelling in his ear.
"Aah!" Sokka screamed
"Oh, Toph! Don't be such a grump! You're out with friends on a beautiful night, celebrating the fact that we saved the world!" Katara tells her.
"True." Toph replies simply.
"Ouch" Sokka said holding his head while Suki laughed at him.
Next to Ari, Zuko was looking pensive.
"You, too, Your new Majesty Fire Lord Zuko sir! Turn that frown upside down! It's happy time! Zuko ...?" Aang told him.
"I visited my father in prison the other day... I've been meaning to ask you for a favor, Aang." Zuko said.
"Sure. Anything." Aang replied.
"If you ever see me turning into my father, I want you to... I want you to end me."
"What?!" Aang yelled.
"Zuko! You can't be serious!" Ari yelled
"Even now, after everything that's happened, my family's legacy is still a part of me. That's why it's my duty to heal the scars that the Fire Nation has left on the world. But the Fire Lord's throne comes with a lot of pressures. And if I'm honest with myself... I need a safety net. The world needs a safety net. That's what I need you to be, Aang. The safety net."
"Zuko, you're not your dad! And you're my friend! How can you expect me –" Aang started to yell before Zuko cut him off.
"As your friend, I'm asking you– if you ever see me go bad, end me. Promise me, Aang." Zuko said with determination.
There was a long pause before Aang answered "Fine. I promise."
"Zuko, no." Ari whispered into Zuko's chest crying. "You can't leave me here alone."
Katara just gave Aang a disapproving look, and they flew back to the Jasmine Dragon in silence.
That evening Iroh walked down stairs to see Ari sitting alone at a table.
"Your looking world weary my dear, would you like a cup of tea?" Iroh ask her.
"Do you have anything stronger?" She huffed only half joking.
"Ah, one of those nights. I do have a nice fire whiskey hidden here." He said pulling out a bottle and two short glasses.
"Perfect." Ari said nodding in approval as he poured her a glass.
"What's on your mind?"
"Zuko's being an idiot." Ari said simply and takes a sip of the strong drink. "Also I can't quite put my finger on it but there is something about the Harmony Restoration Movement that doesn't sit quite right with me. The thought is like sand though and if I try to hold it too firmly it slips away." Ari said with a sigh of frustration.
"Hmm, I'm not sure if I can do anything about Zuko. Believe me he's part of the reason that bottle was hidden there." Iroh said laughing. "Now the Harmony Restoration Movement, I know what you mean, but I'm sure if there is a problem with it you will be able to help solve it. 'The greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising everytime we fall'."
"Thank you Uncle Iroh." Ari told him feeling much more calm and centered.
"Anytime my dear." Iroh told her with a smile. "How are your weekly teas with Ozai going?" He ask her.
"Oh he's still hurling insults. I'll wear him down eventually." She said with a smile.
"If anyone can, I think it's you. You have admirable character; you are kind and compassionate, wise beyond your years, with unflappable composure." Iroh told her.
Ari sighed. "'Wise beyond my years?' I'm not really as young as I look though. Is it really okay, Zuko and I being together when I am so much older than him?" She said voicing her doubts.
"Yes. Of that I have no doubt. You are the perfect complement to my nephew. The light to his darkness. You were given a chance to start over Ari. This is a clean slate." Iroh assured her.
"I always feel so much better after taking to you." Ari told Iroh hugging him.
"Now off to bed with you." He told her shooing her towards bed.
"Goodnight Uncle." She called back.
"Goodnight my dear."
The next year passed in a dizzying blur. The next big event had been Zuko and Ari's wedding and her own coronation as Fire Lady Ariadne. The entire gang had made it as well as friends and world leaders from far reaches of the world. In contrast Suki and Sokka's wedding had been a much more subdued affair when it was held a couple months later on Kyoshi island. The rest of the time had been spent on post war politics, there was always so much that needed to be done. In the quiet moments though Zuko and Ari had still managed to produce a tiny life, a year after the war had ended they have only just found out that Ari is pregnant. It is bitter sweet for them; excited to meet their child but knowing that the clock has just started ticking down to what will become a four year separation for them.
In the darkness of the night Zuko awoke with a start, rousing Ari next to him.
"Whose there!" He yells startled into the blackness around them.
"Zuko, honey whats wrong?" Ari asks sleepily.
"Someone's here I can feel it." Zuko tells her.
Zuko gets out of bed and walks to the door of their bedroom where guards are stationed.
"Someone's here! I can feel it! Someone's trying to assassinate me!" Zuko yells to the guard.
"Fire Lord, please. Go back to sleep. We're in the most secure tower in the entire palace!" One of the guards tell him.
"No one will get to you tonight, I assure you!" The other guard replies.
"Just like no one got to you last night, or the night before that, or the night before that ..." The first guard adds.
"Do not mock me! There have already been five attempts on my life since I took the throne! And now I have a pregnant wife to protect!" Zuko yells grabbing the front of the man's robe.
"And that's why we moved you here! Please, you have to trust–" the guard started to say before he was struck from behind by an assailant hidden in the darkness.
"Show yourself!" Zuko shouts blasting fire down the hall.
"Zuko what's going on." Ari says coming to the doorway. "Look out!" She yells seeing the assassin behind her husband.
"Down with the traitor! Down with the Fire Lord who betrays his own people!" The assassin yelled while trying to strike Zuko with a rock wrapped in spikes on a chain.
Zuko jumps just in time for the brutal weapon to hit the floor instead of himself. A fight ensues as Zuko trys to blast the assassin with fire and the assassin gets a lucky strike in catching the chain around his leg and knocking him off his feet. He kicked flames out with his feet and gave no quarter as he shot again and again with fire. The assassin fell and Zuko wasted no time apprehending them and removed the cloth covering their face revealing a girl not much younger than them.
"Convince me not to take your life!" He told her, his voice seething with anger.
"Go ahead! My family has been loyal to yours for generations! By getting rid of me, you would simply complete your betrayal!" She yelled.
"Your family?" Zuko ask in confusion.
"My father is the mayor of Yu Dao!" She growled at him.
"Yu Dao... the first of the Fire Nation colonies." Zuko ask with a frown.
"Yes, my home! And now you and the Avatar are going to destroy it with your precious Harmony Restoration Movement!" She yelled at him.
Zuko bound her arms, before calling for more guards.
"Go back to sleep." He said, kissing Ari's head. Zuko was just thankful that he had been able to protect his beloved wife and the heir she carried. If anything happened to her he didn't know what he would do.
As Zuko prepared to quietly leave for Yu Dao that's what he told himself he was doing, protecting her. He didn't doubt that if he told her he was leaving she would insist on going with him. Ari always put herself last and he just couldn't allow that now that she was carrying his child.
A week. Zuko had been gone for a week now. Ari was seething mad.
Ari had awoken the next morning after the attack in an empty bed. She had gone about her day wondering why she hadn't seen Zuko, convinced at first that he was just busy meeting with his generals. After the last assassination attempt the night before Ari had sent a messanger hawk to Suki asking if she could send the Kyoshi warriors to guard the royal palace. She had to laugh when she received a messenger hawk no more than an hour later from Suki telling her she had a surprise for her. Their messages must have crossed in the sky. By bedtime that night Ari was positive something was wrong; no matter what she and Zuko never slept separately. After a fitful nights sleep, her maid Taya confirmed her suspicions that Zuko had left for Yu Dao without her. The Kyoshi warriors arrived a few days later. Suki's surprise turned out to be her own pregnancy, they couldn't have planned it better if they tried; Suki was due six weeks before Ari.
"How did Sokka take the news?" Ari ask her bestfriend.
"Honestly he doesn't know yet. We haven't even seen each other since that night and I didn't want to send a messenger hawk that says 'Hey your going to be a dad!'. I'm annoyed he's been gone this long but I figure he'll show back up eventually." Suki finished exasperatedly.
"Are you sure you should be guarding us then, now that your pregnant?" Ari ask her.
"I'm not a porcelain doll Ari, I've been training to be a warrior since I was 8. I'll be fine. After 6 assassination attempts now I would much rather be here to make sure you two are safe." Suki said her voice low as she continued. "We don't have much time left before we have to go to the South Pole."
"Adding your six weeks plus a small buffer, we have just under 7 months." Ari told her, her heart hurting at the thought of how infrequently she would be able to see Zuko over the next few years.
Finally evening fell on the seventh day, and Ari was alerted that Zuko had returned. She finally found him walking through the throne room.
"So the Fire Lord has returned." Ari said unable to hide the anger in her voice.
"Ari!" Zuko said startled as he hadn't noticed her when he walked in. There was no denying that she looked about as mad as a fire viper in that moment.
"You left! You left and didn't even tell me where you went! I had to find out from one of my maids Zuko! Your own wife didn't even know your whereabouts!" Ari yelled at him.
"I'm sorry! I was afraid if I told you where I was going you would try to insist on going with me. I couldn't have that Ari. Just sleeping next to you I put your life in danger! I couldn't take you with me!" He told her, the fear evident in his eyes.
"Of course I would have insisted on going with you! My place is at your side Zuko! I told you when we got married 'Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I stay. Your people shall be my people. When you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. ' I told you to always do what you must and I would always be by your side!" Ari told him.
"The situation was complicated Ari, and dangerous!" Zuko yelled running his hand through his hair.
"I am no stranger to danger Zuko!" Ari yelled back in reply.
"I'm sorry, not telling you might have been a bad choice but I don't regret leaving you behind." Zuko told her.
"Hmmp," was Ari's only reply to that. "I replaced the guards while you were gone." Ari said turning and leading him out into the hall. "I hope you don't mind too much, but I called some friends for help." She said as she gestured to the Kyoshi warriors standing there.
"Suki!" Zuko said in shock "What?"
"Ari told us whats been happening and we're here to help." Suki told him.
"Thank you so much." Said Zuko voice full of emotion.
"Now come fill me in on what's been happening in Yu Dao." Ari told him, the bite still in her voice.
Zuko and Ari went to their rooms and got out of their traditional Fire Nation royal robes and into something more comfortable. Zuko started filling her in on what had happened with the Morishita's, and finding that many of the families living there were mixed nation families.
"Did you know that Yu Dao is the oldest of all the colonies? Many of the Fire Nation families immigrated over a hundred years ago, when Yu Dao was just a tiny village at the bottom of a valley." Zuko told her continuing his explanation of the last few days. "Together with the Earth Kingdom people who were already there, they've built one of the richest cities in the world. Yu Dao makes the finest metalwork ever produced, using both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom expertise working together. All the city's people, including the Earth Kingdom people, are better off now than they were a hundred years ago. I saw what our people have created there. I saw what the Harmony Restoration Movement would destroy. When I left I had planned to personally enforce the removal of Yu Dao from the Earth Kingdom, but after what I found there It'd be disrespectful to take from them a life they spent generations building. I think exceptions should be made for all the remaining colonies. Most of them have been around for well over a century. Aang told me 'Harmony requires four separate nations to balance each other out.' But I'm not sure if he's right."
"I don't think he is either Zuko. You're a firebender and I'm an airbender, are we out of balance?" Ari ask him.
"Not even a little bit." He said reaching out and taking her hand.
"I think I know now though why the Harmony Restoration Movement never sat right with me. How much have I told you about my home, my country?" Ari ask him.
"Not much really." Zuko answered her.
"My country was originally one of the British colonies. More than 200 years before I was born the colonists fought for and won their freedom from the oppressive British rule. What started as 13 small colonies grew to one of the strongest most powerful countries in the world. Americans are a racially and ethnically diverse population that has been shaped through centuries of immigration. We are stronger for it, and that is what is happening in Yu Dao and the other colonies, a blending of cultures and nations."
"That's amazing." Said Zuko, "I've agreed to meet with the Earth King, hopefully some good can come of that."
"I hope he sees reason. I hope they all do." Ari replied sincerely as she allowed the last vestiges of anger to dissapate.
Their mood was much more even now after having yelled and talked, and after having been apart for a week they needed to be touching. They laid out on the couch getting more comfortable with Ari in Zukos arms.
"I went to see my father the other day." Zuko told her quietly.
"What? Why would you do that to yourself, it always makes you feel so bad."
"I don't know, I was looking for something, anything. I don't know what."
"He find your buttons."
"Almost immediately. He told me 'You ought to bring me some tea, Zuko. We'll talk while sipping from steaming little cups, much like I do with your little wife. I'll give you advice on how to be a good Fire Lord. Wouldn't that be nice?'. Ugh!"
"You should just leave him to me." Ari told him.
"How do you do it, how do you handle him they way you do?" Zuko ask.
"I'm an airbender. I make small movements and change direction at a moments notice." Ari told him with a smile.
He laughed at her and nuzzled her closer.
"No, He tries to find my buttons but he's not hitting in the right places. Like trying to chi block and not knowing where to hit. The first time I met him he called me colony trash. Obviously he got no response from me because I'm not really from the Fire Nation colonies. He tried to hurt me by talking about my dead parents, jokes on him; my parents, grandparents, and even my 90 year old great grandmother are alive and well on my home world. He can't trigger me because he can't even figure out where to hit. He can yell and scream, but it provokes no emotion from me. I wear a mask with him, and do not allow his words to penatrate. You're too close to him to do the same, his words wound you. They wrap around your brain and torture you for days afterwards. I hate seeing you like that." Ari explained to him.
"He told me that he was the only one who has the wisdom and experience I need. What if he's right?" Zuko ask her.
"Do you believe that?" Ari ask him with a frown.
"I don't know." Zuko told her honestly.
Later that evening, after Ari had fallen asleep, Zuko decided to go against the advise his wife had given him and go meet with his father.
He stuck his head out of the doorway where two very familiar faces were guarding their door.
"Did you hear anything?" Zuko ask Suki and Ty Lee
"No, Zuko. It's been quiet all night." Suki answered.
"Honest to goodness! There hasn't been a peep!" Ty Lee said with far too much pep for the dead of the night.
"I'm sorry. It's not that I don't trust you. I know the Kyoshi Warriors are the best guardsmen in the world." Zuko told them.
"Guardswomen, you mean!" Ty Lee chirped.
"Go back to sleep. You have to at least try." Suki told him motherly.
"No. I'm going to get a drink of water." Zuko said preparing to make his escape.
"Do you need someone to escort you?" Suki ask him worried.
"I'll be fine. The walk will do me some good." Zuko told her, brushing her off. He wasn't sure how much hope he should have that this wouldn't be reported to Ari first thing in the morning.
Zuko walked down to the kitchen for a tray, teapot, and teacups; and then made his way to the prison holding his father.
"I need your advice father." Zuko said setting down the tray. Ozai simply smirked as Zuko handed him one of the steaming cups.
"Do you remember those family vacations we used to take on Ember Island? Once, at the beach, you couldn't have been older than three at the time, we saw a hawk attacking a turtlecrab by the water. You ran as fast as your little legs could carry you to rescue that turtlecrab. Even then, you possessed an affinity for the weak. But then, when you had the turtlecrab safely in your arms, you hesitated. The hawk looked at you with hungry eyes, and you realized you were condemning it to starve. You didn't know whether to side with the hawk or the turtlecrab. Before you could reach a decision, a giant wave washed over you and carried you out into the ocean. I dove in myself to save you. You spent the rest of the day in your mother's arms, vomiting sea water." Ozai said ending his story.
"I came here looking for advice. I want to know how you were able to sleep peacefully in spite of the pressures of the throne." Zuko told him.
"And I told you." Ozai responded evenly.
"I don't see how an old family memory-" Zuko said in frustration before being cut off.
"I'm tired, Zuko. We're done talking for now. Perhaps we will continue tomorrow. Bring more tea." Ozai said turning and lying down.
Zuko wanted to scream, he wanted to hit something. He stalked his way back to the palace quietly seething. How was an old story going to help him. As he returned to the rooms he shared with Ari he quickly schooled his face so as to not arouse suspicion from his nosey guards. As he cuddled in close to Ari she roused slightly.
"You were gone for a while." She murmured sleepily.
"Shh, I'll tell you about it tomorrow." He said quietly, soaking in the comfort of her presence. Zuko laid there all night, his brain replaying the conversation over and over and searching for the meaning. By the time the sun began staining the sky he realized that sleep had alluded him, and he was still no closer to an answer.
When Ari awoke the next morning Zuko looked terrible; there were dark circles under his eyes and he didn't look like he had slept. She waited for his explanation of the night before, not wanting to push, but simply be there to listen when he was ready.
Zuko sighed and set his teacup down.
"I went to see my father last night."
"Oh." Ari replied, setting her own cup down gently.
"I wanted advice on how to deal with the pressures of ruling. Instead I received a story from my childhood. I just don't understand." Zuko said holding his head in his hands.
Ari's heart hurt seeing him in so much distress.
"Zuko you don't have to hide it from me when you visit him. I don't like how he makes you feel, but I don't judge you in any way for still seeking advise and approval from your father. I understand that dynamic far to well. I also understand the pressure your under, because I am under that same pressure Zuko. You grew up a member of royalty but this is all new for me. But I believe that the pressure will bend and shape us into something even stronger. You will come into your own Zuko, as a ruler, and I will be right there at your side." She told him, believing every word she said.
Zuko sighed, he was comforted by her words but he still couldn't shake the previous nights conversation.
That evening as he watched Ari prepare for bed he decided to take her at her word. He cleared his throat, his body language still unsure. "I'm going back tonight to talk to him. I've been thinking about what he said all day, and I need to know if I am understanding him."
"Alright Zuko, I'll be here when you return." Ari told him sweetly, glad that he had been open with her instead of trying to hide it.
Zuko once again took a tray of tea to his father and walked to the prison.
"I stayed up all night thinking about what you said. At the beach, I was overwhelmed by my circumstances because I couldn't decide which side to take. I should have sided with the hawk. It was strong and noble, much like the Fire Nation. It had earned its meal. But I've already done that, father! I'm no longer neglecting the needs of my own people, as I did when I first took the throne! And I still can't sleep!" Zuko said starting calmly but shouting by the end of it.
"You're only partially correct in your assessment. Your sleeplessness does indeed stem from your inability to choose sides, to distinguish what is right. But you're wrong about the hawk." Ozai explained calmly.
"So you're saying ... I should have defended the turtlecrab? I should have sided with the weaker of the two?" Zuko ask in confusion.
"What I'm trying to say is; There is no right or wrong apart from what you decide. Whom you choose to defend deserves to be defended simply because you chose them. You are the Fire Lord. What you choose, by definition, is right." Ozai explained.
"No! Right and wrong are bigger than me, or you, or even the Avatar! And I believe that the Avatar, the Earth King, and I can come closest to what's right by working together!" Zuko yelled at him.
"I've heard rumors about this little meeting of yours. Do you think the Earth King, after being humiliated time and time again by our mighty nation and his own incompetence will be reasonable? Do you think he'll treat the remaining Fire Nation colonies fairly? In an attempt to restore his own dignity, he'll send out his army to crush them! If you truly are the Fire Lord, you will defend the Fire Nation citizens of Yu Dao ferociously! Not simply because they are your people, but because they are an expression of your will!" Ozai told him.
"I'm going to wait and my patience will be rewarded with a peaceful resolution for everyone! Even as we speak, the Avatar is-" Zuko yelled slamming the tea cup down on his knee.
"The Avatar is an irrelevant relic of a bygone age! He wants to keep the world frozen in time by denying the inevitable victory of the strong over the weak!" Ozai argued.
"Avatar Aang is my friend! More often than not, he's been on the side that's right! I trust him." Zuko yelled unable to keep his emotions in check.
"More than you trust yourself?" Ozai ask him.
Zuko looked away.
"You sicken me, Zuko. Leave my presence." Ozai said in disgust.
"Who are you to talk to me this way?! Have you forgotten your current place in -"
"Leave. My. Presence!" Ozai yelled at him.
Zuko got up and left quickly fuming.
Outside Suki saw him leaving the prison, she would have to talk with Ari about this tomorrow.
Zuko returned to his rooms that night and found Ari waiting up for him reading through official correspondence. She was working even in her spare time, giving every part of herself just like always.
Ari looked up and saw the devastation written on his face.
"Zuko-"
He ran to her and set his head in her lap.
"I don't even know what to do anymore. I can't do this. How can I be a good Fire Lord if I can't trust myself to do the right thing!"
"Zuko." Ari said calmly running her fingers through her hair as she talked. "Having courage is not about not being afraid, but by doing the right thing even when your frightened. Confidence is not about being free of insecurity, but by knowing your own worth despite it. To be good is to make a conscious decision to do the right thing. You know what the right thing is, you must simply stand by that." Ari told him calmly
"Thank you." He whispered. "Thank you for believing in me, even if no one else does. Even when I dont believe in myself"
Ari was sitting in her own little office the next day reading through some reports before she was needed in the throne room. She heard a knock at the door before Suki stuck her head in.
"Is this a bad time?" Suki ask her.
"No I have a couple more minutes before I'm needed. What's up?" Ari ask while putting the scrolls away.
"I followed Zuko when he left last night. I way worried about him, the Kyoshi warriors were worried about him. Did you know he's been visiting his father?"
"Yes." Ari said making a face. "I dont know exactly what that asshole has been filling his head with, but I end up dealing with the aftermath of his visits everytime. I can't tell him to stop talking to him, but I'm doing everything I can to undo the psychologically damage each of these visits cause."
"I'm glad he has you." Suki told her.
Ari simply smiled sadly.