Rumi was a young fire nation woman. Only 18 years old.
And she found herself in the exact same situation as nearly everybody else her own age… She had been drafted into the military. Gone through training. Had barely even been out of the field and then boom. Her unit had been pulled back and all of the new recruits had been relieved off duty.
So there Rumi had been. With no job. No plans for the future. No idea what to do next…. Go out there. Make your own future. Do what ever you want…. Thanks?
Finally Rumis auntie, Masumi, had come up with an idea. Why didn't Rumi come try work for the palace for a bit? Masumi had been working there since she was a young girl herself and the pay was really good.
Ever since young Zuko had become firelord the palace had bee ruefully understaffed!
When Ozai had been fire lord there barely had been any visitors at all, except some war generals who were mostly there for war meetings, so there didn't need to be that much staff.
Now how-ever there were guests all the time whom came from all over the world! Making it necessary to reopen parts of the palace which hadn't been used for apparently almost a hundred years. The huge guest wings, the banquet halls and so much else.
Not to mention that the young Fire Lord had un-banned all of the old ancient spiritual holidays and festivals. Which meant they were actually going to be celebrated again. Which meant more works for the servants who had to help put up decorations, cook the food, serve the food, take down decorations again and clean up.
Auntie Masumi had explained all of this. In her words it was wonderful to see the palace come to life again and let it shine like it was supposed to! To be a symbol of hope and greatness.
But being understaffed was a constant pain! Not only were they understaffed, but the vetting for new hires was insane because well… Apparently the numbers of assassins trying to get in to murder the new fire lord was also insane.
It had taken several months. But finally Rumi was here, in the palace. Ready for her first day at the job.
Auntie Masumi looked ecstatic. "You couldn't have come at a better time!" she informed. "The fire lord has gone on some sort of trip with the Avatar. Which means we can finally clean up his rooms good and proper! Wash the floors, clean the bath room, hang all blankets out to air." she counted fingers.
It was a good thing Masumi looked so happy about it because Rumi didn't really feel that ecstatic about cleaning someone elses room. Being allowed to put up decorations for festivals had sounded like fun. Cleaning someones bathroom did not. Even if that person was the fire lord.
But it was a job! Rumi had been forced to move back to her parents and was absolutely ready to make her own way.
The pay was really good. And well… Who would say no to the ability to get a look inside of the actual fire nation palace? And perhaps a look at one of the great fine parties here. Maybe she could even catch the eye of a fine nobleman or something.
So Rumi was now carrying a heavy bucket of water and a mob as she followed Masumi towards the so called royal chambers of the fire lord. They seemed to be almost there as suddenly an older guy of lean strong stature and gray hair stopped them. "Ah Masumi. So that's the niece." the man said as he looked directly at Rumi, as if trying to scan her with his eyes. He looked very stern, and his frown looked very deep as he kept glaring at her.
"Yes and I assure you. She doesn't have any dagger hidden up her sleeve." Masumi sighed deeply. "You can relax."
"Just doing my job." The man shrugged.
Masumi shook her head. "Rumi. This is Jee. The new Captain of the Guards." she informed. "Fire Lord Zuko brought him in personally and promoted him to Captain so he can keep an eye on all of these guards. Don't worry about him though, as long as you don't carry poison, knifes or any other deadly things. You'll be fine."
"Does that really happen that much?" Rumi asked.
"Oh that's the one thing that hasn't changed." Masumi sighed. "It happened all the time with Ozai. And it's still happening now!"
"So Fire Lord Zuko made you captain of the guards." Rumi looked at the older man. "He must really trust you."
Jee smirked. "I was with him on his three year banishment." he admitted. "He's a good kid. I'll be dammed if anything ever happens to him for as long as I am in charge."
Rumi blinked…. Okay kind of weird to have someone refer to the fire lord as a kid. Then again… He was supposedly about a year younger than Rumi herself so… Geesh.
"Nice meeting you." Jee finally saluted them and walked away.
Masumi shook her head. "He just wanted to know what you look like. It's sort of his job to know exactly who has access to the fire lords chambers and who don't."
"So if anything happens I am under suspicion. Great." Rumi muttered but followed Masumi down the hallway and finally was let into what honestly were lovely chambers.
Rumi had to halt for a bit as she had to look around at the nice open space made of white marble. Big open windows that went directly to the royal gardens allowing a free view of the flowers, trees and even the turtle duck pond below them.
There was a soft looking bed with red silk sheets draped over it. A shelf with books and scrolls neatly stacked in place.
A pair of swords hanging on the wall and a big wooden closet for clothes.
"This is the main room." Masumi informed. "Where the fire lord sleeps and get dressed. In there he has a private study." she pointed. "That leads to his private tea kitchen. And that leads to his private wash and bathroom…. It's very small in comparison to Ozai olds chambers."
Rumi frowned. Really? Did seemed about the seize of her parents entire house! Then she turned and she halted. "Erh."
"Rumi?" Masumi asked.
"Auntie… There's a turtleduck on the table." Rumi pointed and Masumi turned around to true enough. Seeing a turtleduck sitting on a red silk pillow looking way to happy and pleased with itself.
"Oh right." Masumi shook his head. "That's just his majesties royal pet."
"What?" Rumi blinked. "Fire Lord Zuko has a turtleduck… As a private pet?"
"That took some getting used to!" Masumi informed. "Ozai never allowed animals inside of the palace. But ever since Lord Zuko took the throne." she sighed. "King Kuie brought his bear and insisted it should attend the banquet! The avatar never goes anywhere without his flying bison and he keeps taking his flying lemur into the palace too! And the fire lord allows it."
"The…. Avatar?" Rumi asked. "Is he here often?"
"He has barely even left since Lord Zuko took the throne." Masumi sighed. "We'll clean those chambers afterwards they are right next to these ones." she said. "Those chambers not only belong to the Avatar though. They are private chambers given to Avatar Aang, Master Katara, Master Toph, Ambassador Sokka, Lady Ty Lee and Lady Mai. Those chambers are now their shared private property and they can come and go as they like and is to be treated as true residence of the palace."
"So… They just share those chambers?" Rumi asked. "All those people? Wouldn't they rather want each their own?"
Masumi shrugged. "It's what Fire Lord Zuko demanded and gave them." she informed. "And Lady Mai never sleeps in there regardless. She's sleeps in here. They are not even hiding that she's Fire Lord Zukos lover."
At that Rumi splurted. "Wha-What?!" she asked.
Masumi shrugged. "The boy is a seventeen year old noble. It's practically expected he would have a lover or two at this point. What's weird is that they are not even hiding it or punishing anyone for talking about it."
Rumi blinked as she tried to take all of this new information in…. This sounded… Weird.
Really, really weird. All of this was pretty weird honestly. It really wasn't how she had been expecting to be casually talking about the fire lord.
Also there was a turtleduck on the table…. Right. Apparently this was Rumis life now and she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that.
The rest of the day went with cleaning and it wasn't much trouble. Honestly, considering that Rumi had been asked to clean the rooms belonging to a teenage boy
Everything was actually very orderly and neat. They way things were arranging in the study outright militaristic. It kind of reminded Rumi if her superiors office in the military and how they would do things there.
They were just about to finish for the day as some guy just randomly walked into the room giving Rumi a shock as she jumped up.
"Ah! Sorry!" The young man held up his hands. "I'm just here to feed Lin-Lin." he informed holding up a loaf of bread.
The turtleduck… There was a guy here to feed the turtleduck.
Rumi looked at the man and then noticed… He was a young and very good looking man. With warm amber eyes. Dark hair in a traditional bun. He was wearing a servants uniform in fine black and red silk signaling high status among the servants that he was allowed to wait upon the nobles.
One thing that really stood out about him though was a big burn scar starting at the young mans right cheek and traveled down his neck until it vanished under his tunic.
"Oh you're the new girl aren't you?" The young man asked kindly. "Hello I'm Zhau-Li. I'm Fire Lords Zukos personal manservant and bodyguard." he very kindly offered Rumi a hand.
"Oh… Hi." Rumi blushed deeply as she accepted the hand. "I'm Rumi. The new maid." she admitted. Then she blinked. "Wait if you're his manservant and Lord Zuko is away. Shouldn't you be with him?"
"Oh I am with him when he goes in the capacity of fire lord." Zhau-Li said. "But right now he's on some sort of private travel with Aang. They wont even tell me where they were going. Some sort of secret to a secret place." he shrugged. "He's fine. He doesn't actually need a manservant nor a bodyguard to be honest."
Rumi blinked.
"Oh Aang is the Avatar!" Zhau-Li explained as if that was the cause of Rumis confusion.
"You know… The Avatar?" Rumi asked. And well enough to be on a casual first name basis?
Masumi shook her head as she walked in. "Zhau-Li is one of the people Fire Lord Zuko brought in himself. He was part of the revolution on the ground. They say he was practically Zukos captain on the field while they were working to overtake the fire lord."
"That's not true." Zhau-Li shook his head. "I just followed orders."
"And saved the earth kings life apparently." Masumi commented.
"What?" Rumi asked. "Really?" She asked.
"Well… maybe." Zhau-Li said. "I'm not sure what would have happened if I hadn't acted. But potentially."
Rumi was just looking wide-eyed at him then blushed.
Only for Masumi to elbow her as Zhau-Li turned to the turtleduck who was quacking impatiently for food.
"Don't give him those eyes. All the young girls around here has been giving him eyes. And I don't think he's into any of them." Masumi informed in whisper.
"What?" Rumi asked. "You're saying he's not into…" he voice lowered even more. "Girls?"
"Guess not." Masumi finally stated and then groaned annoyed. "We just cleaned the floor Zhau-Li! You are spilling bread crumbs on it!"
"Ah sorry." Zhau-Li smiled embarrassed. "I'll clean it up I promise. You can go."
"Fine then." Masumi sighed. "But mark my words. I will be checking tomorrow! And if I see one single bread crumb on the floor! I swear to Agni!"
Zhau-Li smiled a little apologetic. "Noted." he said.
Finally Rumi could pick up the dirty bucket of water before she finally could give Zhau-Li a final nod. "It was nice meeting you!" she finally said as she left.
"You too!" Zhau-Li waved at her and then returned his full attention to a turtleduck that Rumi was no pretty convinced lived a life of luxury that most humans in the world could only dream about.
It wasn't the last surprise of the day though as an older man of short stature just casually calm walking down the royal halls even humming to himself as he was holding a scroll and Rumi blinked.
"Hey isn't that the guy who runs the tea shop in the city?" Rumi asked. "I was there yesterday. I'm pretty sure he was the guy who served me. Great tea too."
"Oh yes. That's former General Iroh. Fire Lords Zukos uncle. Obviously he's allowed to come here like his pleases too." Masumi said.
"I'm sorry what?" Rumi asked.
"You heard me." Masumi said.
"No… Sorry." Rumi leaned over as she whispered. "You mean like. General, The dragon of the West Iroh?!" she asked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure Rumi." Masumi sighed.
"Does his twin live in the city? I could swear he served me tea yesterday." Rumi hissed.
"That was probably him yes. He owns a tea shop. The Jasmin Dragon." Masumi sighed. "And he runs it by himself too."
"What…" Rumi began. "Why?" she asked.
"I really have no idea." Masumi sighed. "Rich people have weird hobbies because they can afford it. What can I say?"
Rumi looked out into the air. It looked like her brain was breaking.
"Rumi?" Masumi asked.
"General Iroh…" Rumi hesitated. "Slayer of the last dragon. Laid Siege to Ba Sing Se. The master of tactics. Heir to the dragon throne…. Asked me yesterday if I would like a tea cake on the house." she looked at Masumi.
Masumi shrugged. "The Fire Lord has a turtleduck. You'll learn to just not ask questions." she said and just walked on leaving Rumi behind. Until Rumi shook her head to get herself out of her stupor and then rushed forward to catch up.
The next couple of days just went with Rumi cleaning and trying to understand these odd dynamics of the fire nation palace. Some of it was very strict and very keen on ranks and how to behave… Those were often the people who had been at the palace for a very long time.
And some were pretty laid back and easy going… That seemed to be everybody that Fire Lord Zuko had brought in himself… Okay.
Rumi had decided to just follow Masumis advice and just no ask questions while doing her job. It was at least pretty nice to realize she could just relax.
Nothing they could have prepared her for the shock she had to go through four days into her employment.
That day… The most amazing scent came from the kitchen as the head chef were baking matcha tea cakes with various toppings of fruits baked with the cake and topped with sirup.
It smelled so good… And the servants weren't allowed to touch as much as a single tea cake! They were for some sort of important gathering in another day or two among the nobles.
It was torture to walk past the stairs that went to the kitchen and smell that wafting air of sweet cakes and their sugary fruit toppings.
Then in the after noon. With a heavy heart did Rumi head down to the kitchen to pick up her own lunch… Lunch made for the servants. And while all the food she had gotten here was good! It really was.
It wasn't freshly baked matcha tea cakes with moon peaches on top and golden delicious sirup marinating the whole thing.
Rumi headed for the place where bread for the servants was always available, and to be fair it was always freshly bake. That's when she halted. There was a guy standing at the small pile of tea cakes, his back to Rumi and his hands on the tea cakes.
"HEY!" Rumi shouted. "You can't touch those!"
Shocked the guy twirled around, revealing a shocked face, a tea cake stuffed into his mouth and half hanging out… Also there was a scar covering the left side of his face which was the one immediately giving away this guys identity.
Rumis eyes widened as she felt all the blood leaving her face as she tried to take this in… Trying to comprehend what was going on.
The Fire Lord was standing right in front of Rumi. Wide-eyed looking at her with shocked eyes… And there was a tea cake hanging out of his mouth.
Rumi covered her mouth. "I…" she scrambled backwards. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean."
Immediately Fire Lord Zuko reached up and pulled out the half eaten tea cake. "No it's okay! I'm sorry." he said. His voice surprisingly husk and raspy. "I just… I just got home and… Was kind of hungry and erhm. It smelled really good."
Rumi swallowed. "Well… Yes." she said. "They do."
Then there was silence… Really really awkward silence.
"I erhh… I'm just going to go." Lord Zuko finally said pointing towards the door. "It was nice meeting you." he said nervously.
Rumi blinked as it suddenly occurred to her… The Fire Lord was really awkward. Now he was nervously fumbling with his fingers as he looked down. A blush running across his face… And suddenly it really hit Rumi that she herself was considered basically a kid just being 18, and this guy was a year younger than her… And he had just turned seventeen like a month or two ago. He had been sixteen when leading a revolution and overthrowing the former fire lord.
Also his uncle, formerly known as being the most fearsome General in the fire nation, was running a very lovely tea shop a few streets away.
"It erh… It's nice meeting you to." Rumi finally said. "I hope you had a really nice trip. I heard you were with the Avatar."
"Oh it was fantastic." Lord Zuko replied his smile suddenly softening and looking very genuine. "I really wish I could tell more about it. But it kind of needs to be a secret."
"That's all right." Rumi said finally relaxing a bit herself. "The Fire Lord and the Avatar is bound to have some deep secrets shared among them which could threaten national security if it came out."
"It's not that serious." Lord Zuko said a little amused. "It's just… They are not quite ready to show themselves to humans just yet. I think they want to wait until their babies has grown up at least."
"Huh." Rumi blinked and Zuko grinned then he winked.
"You'll see." Zuko said. "Trust me. It's going to be amazing." he said. "Could you tell the kitchen that Aang and I are back and we would love some dinner this evening." he said. "It doesn't need to be anything big or special. Oh and we will be eating together." he said. "Oh and Mai might be joining us too!" he said.
"Yes my Lord of course." Rumi said and Lord Zuko smiled and waved at her then walked out.
Rumi was to stunned for words, but then finally quietly sat down with her own lunch as she tried to go over what had just happened.
Just in time for the Chef to return and suddenly yell. "What the?!" furiously he turned to the only other person in the room who was Rumi. "There are four tea cakes missing!" he exclaimed. "Did you see who took them! I told everyone not to touch them."
"Erhm." Rumi halted.
"Do you know something?" The Chef asked.
"Yeah… Fire Lord Zuko took them." Rumi admitted and the Chef halted. "He was here a few minutes ago…. I didn't really think I was in any position to stop him because… You know. He's… The Fire Lord."
The Chef stood still for a second and then sighed deeply. "Couldn't just have asked could he?" he asked.
Rumi swallowed. "He said that he and the Avatar would like to eat dinner tonight but it didn't need to be anything special. And that Lady Mai might be there too."
The Chef waved at her. "Thank you. I'll figure something out."
Rumi smiled nervously and the Chef turned to her. "So you talked to him huh." he concluded.
"Yeah…" Rumi replied. "I thought I was going to die! That really scared me!" she gaped. "But well.. he seemed nice." she finally said in a light smile. "I actually think I'm starting to really like it here."
The Chef shook his head then finally picked up a tea cake and threw it at Rumi who surprised managed to catch.
"Clearly I need to bake some extras anyway." The Chef commented as he rolled his eyes. "Enjoy."
And Rumi smiled warmly. "Thank you so much." she said. "You know… When I was a kid and Auntie Masumi talked about the palace she kept talking about how awful it was. I really don't get that at all."
The Chef looked at Rumi and then he smiled. "Things has really turned around since Lord Zuko took the throne." he then said. "It's like a completely different place." he admitted.
"Really?" Rumi asked surprised.
"Absolutely." The Chef said and Rumi smiled warmly.
Yeah… This Fire Lord Zuko and his way may seem kind of weird and strange. But he was all right if you asked her!