We brought Kori back home where her father saw her being escorted down the street by elite fire benders, making his palanquin carriers stop so that he could get out and run to her. "Kori! Where have you been?! Your mother and I were worried sick!" Lori was pushed towards her father who caught her, only to find that her wrists were shacked with iron. "What? Wait…who are these men? What are these chains?!"
"I went to go see someone about our problem, father." She explained, and when her father asked who, Kori turned her head to glare at Zuko as he strode forwards in full armour and formal attire whilst I walked behind him, also wearing a formal robe though my arm was still in its sling. "Him." The mayor gawked in shock as Zuko strode forwards, looking as menacing and imposing as any Fire Lord should.
"Fire Lord Zuko!"
"You must be Mayor Morishita. Your daughter snuck into my home and tried to kill me." The mayor was shocked, looking at his daughter with a gasp who just scowled at Zuko.
"Someone had to do something!" I cocked an eyebrow at her.
"And you think murder was the answer?" With my cold but simple reasoning, Kori at least had the decency to look a little guilty at her hastiness as the mayor dropped down to the floor and prostrated himself before Zuko in order to apologise for his daughter and beg for her life.
"My sincerest apologies for my daughter's rash behaviour, Fire Lord, please have mercy!"
"I should have this whole place burned down!" Flinging out his arm in his anger, I knew that Zuko May actually be seriously considering it.
"Why bother? The Harmony Restoration Movement will accomplish the same thing without you having to lift a finger!" Kori turned on Zuko, still shouting at him and I couldn't help but drag a hand down my face with a groan. The girl seriously had no sense of self preservation, pushing at Zuko's buttons was only going to get her killed at this rate he was so unstable.
"Why can't you colonials get it through your thick skulls?! The Harmony Restoration Movement is a means to peace." Zuko answered back, both stoically remaining firm in their own beliefs, however to my surprise the mayor then lifted his head to look up at Zuko from where he'd still been bowing on the ground.
"Peace?" Getting up, the mayor then joined his daughter in the argument, taking her side in the matter. "Peace for whom? With all due respect, your majesty, my family has lived on this land for generations! This city was built on our blood and sweat, we have as much right to be here as anyone!" I cocked my head to the side, considering this man's point. I'd brought this up before, but everyone had ignored it when I warned them that some families were too deeply integrated into the Earth Kingdom to be separated. Now, this was the result, and it was a mess.
"You are Fire Nation citizens, you belong in the Fire Nation."
"You're right, Fire Lord, we are Fire Nation citizens, and I'll tell you this. Your father would never have let the Avatar and Earth King bully him into something so obviously bad for his own nation's citizens!" My eyes widened in alarm as Zuko Suddenly went rigid. This was bad, everyone knew not to mention Ozai around Zuko, especially recently, it was a trigger for him and set off his temper, which right now was the last thing we needed.
"My father?" His voice was dark and dangerous, causing me to recognise the signs of immediate peril. As Zuko twitched, I saw his hands moving to strike with fire at the mayor but I was already moving, swinging my good arm up so that my wrist pushed against Zuko's striking hand to send the flames upwards, missing the mayor by inches as he cried out in alarm and stumbled backwards. I tried to hold Zuko back but he forced me aside, knocking against my broken arm and I felt the pain tear through the entire limb as it crippled me, bringing fresh tears to my eyes and I shuddered on one knee as the elite guards rushed forwards to try and tend to me, Zuko thrusting the mayor against the wall with a yell. "I am not my father!"
"No young man, you're not." Much to his credit, the mayor was unafraid, holding his own against Zuko's clear threat as I struggled back to my feet, Kori calling out for her father but the other guards held her back as one helped me up, supporting me by my uninjured arm. "Fire Lord Ozai had many faults, but he was never a coward. He was never a traitor." My heart dropped.
"You'll regret saying that, old man. Guards, seize him!"
"Zuko no!" I lunged forwards to stop him but then, the most incredible thing happened. An earth wall burst upwards, blocking the guards from taking the mayor and when we all looked around, a plump looking woman stood in an earth bending stance, facing Zuko calmly.
"Fire Lord, please! Forgive my husband's foolishness. I've told him time and time again to control his tongue but he never does." She requested confidently as Zuko just gaped at her.
"You're Mayor Morishita's wife? An earth bender?" That was unexpected, but at least things were calming down a little now. I signalled for the guards to back off away from the mayor and they listened, one of them anchoring himself to my side as I flinched from the pain in my arm. I need to heal it some more, but right now I needed to focus on Zuko and make sure he didn't end up throwing everyone in jail and burning the city down.
"Yes, I'm an earth bender. As is our daughter." Looking quickly at Kori, her mother bent a spike rock out of the ground to break her out of the shackles. That explains how the guards at the palace hadn't been able to figure out how Kori got in and over the walls without being detected. Amazing. Kori bent the earth around her spiked ball and chain that one of the guards held in order to return it back to her hand as she stood up proudly.
"I may be an earth bender, but through my father's bloodline I am a Fire Nation citizen. My father taught me to be loyal to the Fire Nation, to my people. Something you clearly never learned from your father." She said to Zuko proudly. Seeing that this was getting us nowhere, I stretched out my arm in a bar to signal for everyone to stop.
"Enough, this is getting us nowhere." I spoke up, taking control of the situation in order to mediate. "Mayor Morishita, please understand that the Harmony Restoration Movement is not attack on our people. We truly are trying to do what is best for both nations." I turned around to explain to him, giving a bow with a one handed gesture. "But I must protest at you calling Fire Lord Zuko a coward and a traitor. It takes a person of true courage to continue down a path that is right, whilst everyone else demands he alters his course. For this, I must insist that you apologise, as we apologise for causing you upset and near harm." I bowed again, taking the mayor by surprise who coughed to clear his throat before looking at his wife.
She must have given him a glare, because he too apologised, both for his words and his daughter's actions. "Ah, about that. Although your daughter is young, it is true that she did attempt to murder the Fire Lord, and for that she must be punished. Guards, bring her here." Kori was dragged towards me though she fought, demanding to be let go and her parents both gasped with worry as I turned to face her, giving her a sharp stare. She scowled at me, refusing to show fear. I liked her guts. She kind of reminded me of Toph. Lifting my hand, everyone held their breath, but when I merely flicked her hard on the forehead, Kori grunted as I then wagged my finger in her face. "Bad. Bad girl."
"Huh?" I laughed, grinning broadly as I found the whole situation simply too ridiculous. Ah, I crack myself up sometimes. "That's it?"
"Well, if I'm honest I want to kill that idiot myself a number of times a day, so I get where you're coming from. Just try and use your words next time instead of drastic actions. You will be placed under watch, though. You're grounded to the city for the foreseeable future and placed under your father's watch. Mayor Morishita, I trust this won't be too difficult for you?"
"N-No! Thank you madam, thank you for showing mercy."
"It's no big deal." I waved off, smiling as the family of three gathered together. "Now, how about you give us a tour of the city." Looking back over my shoulder at Zuko, I gave him a pointed look. "I'm sure it'll be educational." Following my suggestion, Zuko allowed himself to be shown around the city in order to see just how well the two nations worked together. Particularly at the blacksmith, the fine art was shared between both fire benders and earth benders, working in harmony together.
Zuko began to understand just how much the Harmony Restoration Movement would disrupt the peaceful balance that had been made here and by the end of the day, he gave the order for all colonial evacuations to seize. "Zuko, that's a little too pre-emptive. We need to talk with Aang and the Earth King about this, we can't just…"
"I am the Fire Lord of the Fire Nation, and these are my people. I refuse to ignore their best interests and force them to abandon their homes!" He snapped at me, making me flinch and touch my injured arm. This made Zuko soften, looking at my arm and reaching out towards me. "I'm sorry, does it hurt?"
"It's fine." Growing cold I pulled away from him, knowing that this was just going to become a messy situation. "Since you're not going to bother listening to my advice or suggestions, I may as well leave now. Goodbye Zuko, good luck."
"Wait!" Panicking, Zuko lunged after me but I artfully dodged him, sidestepping so that his hand groped at thin air. "I didn't give you permission to leave."
"I'm a free person, I can do what I want." Continuing on my way, I literally heard Zuko grinding his teeth in anger before he suddenly yelled.
"Seal the city! No one is allowed to enter or leave without my permission. Bring more soldiers to guard the perimeter, and prepare for a confrontation from the Earth Kingdom." Whirling around I stared at Zuko, jaw dropping flatly.
"You can't do that!"
"I can do what I like."
"Let me leave Zuko, you can't trap me in here like some kind of pet. You're going crazy!" He strode up to me and I backed away until there was nowhere else to go, a wall blocking my escape as Zuko loomed over me and reached out, his hand curling around my neck to hold me in place as I began to shiver with fear. I'd never been afraid of Zuko before, not even when we first met, but now was an entirely different story. I was terrified, and I began to wonder if Zuko was going to kill me just so that I didn't have the option to leave.
"You will follow my orders. If you don't, then you're a traitor to your nation and I'll treat you like one. Now, seal off the city and bring more troops." Unable to do anything but mutely nod, Zuko pulled back his hand. "Never show such disrespect to me in front of others again, Kayo. You're important to me, but not above it all." When Zuko turned and walked away I sank to my knees, dropping down before gripping my face in my hand until Kori's mother came to my side and tenderly placed her hands on my shoulder, hushing me gently.
"There now, I'm sure Fire Lord didn't mean what he said, he's clearly overwhelmed and under a great deal of pressure…" Her softness only made me feel worse, because it made me want my real mother beside me. My dad too. He'd kick Zuko's butt for just a fraction of what he said and did, let alone all that. I really wanted to go home, but now I was trapped her. "Kori, help me." Between the two of them, they managed to get me back up onto my weak feet where the mayor invited me to his private home to rest and recover.
"That looks like a serious injury, I'll have my physician come to give you a check up."
"No need, but thank you for your kindness. I've been healing it on my own, I just need water." Feeling a little more stable now that some time had passed for me to wrap my head around things, I pulled water from a jug and healed my arm some more, accelerating the process of mending the break.
"You're a water bender!" Kori gasped, instantly becoming fascinated so I smiled weakly at her.
"Yeah, I'm of a similar situation to you. My mother is a fire bender, but my father comes from the Southern Water Tribe. They met during the war." I explained as I then returned the water. "So I understand how you all feel, I truly do, but unless there is another way to compromise which satisfies both the Earth King and the Fire Lord, I don't see how we can allow the colonies to remain unless we go to war again."
"Then that's what we'll do. This is our home, of course we'll defend it!" Kori announced boldly but I shook my head, reaching out to pat her shoulder.
"Kori, try and think for a second. We have just ended a hundred year long war, and now you want to go back? This territory never rightfully belonged to the Fire Nation, we invaded and conquered. By rights, we should not be here in the first place. Now, try to think of it from the Earth Kingdom's point of view. We are outsiders, people living on their land which we first drove them from. They're still hurting, still scarred by the war and they just want to feel safe and secure in their own land, but the continued presence of the Fire Nation won't allow that. Although the people here may feel differently, to others on the outside, this is just us continuing to oppress the people we've hurt." Kori stopped, listening to my words and genuinely thinking about them. "You can't reach an understanding before first trying to understand your opponents. Those who are against Fire Nation occupation."
"But I was born here, this is where I grew up. I consider myself a Fire Nation citizen, but I'm an earth bender, so where do I belong?" She asked me in confusion and I completely understood where she was coming from.
"Someone asked me a long time ago that if I had to choose, would I defend the people in a tribe I had never seen before, and a people I had never met but had hereditary blood ties to, or would I honour the nation I was born and raised in. My answer was that I would choose to be neutral, I would not choose either, because they are a both a part of me, and I do not want to fight a war between them. You do not have to choose one or the other, Kori, because both are a part of you, just as water bending is a part of me."
"You are very well learned for such a young lady." Mayor Morishita commented as I let my arm out of the sling in order to rotate it slightly, gently working the muscle around the bone to gauge how far along healing it was. "You are one of Fire Lord Zuko's advisors, correct? I noticed your belt token."
"Yes, I indeed have that honour." The last part was sarcastic, as it didn't exactly feel like an honour right now. "Please know that this isn't what he's usually like. He's just confused and trying to please everyone around him all at once, even when they want entirely different things. Sometimes he gets too wrapped up in his own head, thinking he has to save our people all on his own and take responsibility for the war and everything that happened. It's…it's just twisted him a little. He's a good person. A wonderful person, deep down. I wish you could have met him when he was at peace with himself."
"We understand, dear. He is lucky to have someone so devoted as you serving beside him. You will be our honoured guest here until you are able to leave as you wish. Perhaps things will all be better in the morning." Kori's mother suggested and I prayed that they were, otherwise, we were looking at the Fire Nation going to war with the Earth Kingdom again.
