A/N: Many thanks to Guest, Sharpe, Momu, Lightbrightfury, Black Dragon Master, AlexandriaNymphadora, noorzuhair620, Doctor Mau, Raider, Chiss, devilfiredog18, and Aquamirra for taking the time to leave a few words.
I feel like this is a good time to say something regarding the characterisation of everyone in this story. While there are canon personalities for major characters like Mako, Korra, Asami, and Bolin, keep in mind that in this fic there has also been loads of character development for Mako in particular, and some for Korra, Asami, and Bolin. At this point in the story, the characters have been through more than just canon - they have also experienced things unique to this story, so their characterisation is also based on that. Moreover, there is also creative interpretation even in terms of what was established in canon. That is my liberty as a writer to take, while understanding that it has no effect on what's actually canon. This story is POST-canon, which leaves room for development AFTER the events of the series finale; and canon-compliant, which means that anything that was not EXPLICITLY confirmed/denied is free for me to interpret accordingly.
On the matter of Zoya...yes, it's been a while since we saw her. Yes, I still have plans for her later on. You'll just have to wait and see.
On my update schedule...my apologies once again for only being able to offer weekly updates. I would love to update more frequently, but this is a pace I can keep up with while still maintaining enthusiasm and writing quality. I have a lot of things going on in my life right now - good, exciting, happy things - but still things that I am busy with. So, weekly it is, and thank you for being patient and understanding :)
Time check: I haven't been putting time checks for the recent chapters, because they're all happening within a very narrow time period. At this point, it's only been about a week since Mako and co. arrived in the Fire Nation.
45. I'll follow every little clue for I've got to find you
Mai Lee wasn't kidding; the Royal Archives are massive.
The building itself is a tall stone-and-mortar affair that blends in with the surrounding architecture of the capital; inside, there are at least four discrete levels — interconnected with staircases and ramps — filled with rows upon rows of solid wooden shelves. Judging from the types of documents housed in each level — scrolls and large handwritten books in the lower levels, files and printed papers in the upper levels — the ground floor was built first, with additional floors being added above as the need for more space arose.
All official records are stowed here; the level of organisation of said records, however, depends on who was in charge at the time. Azulon, for example, hadn't been overly concerned with meticulous record-keeping, so any documents kept during his 75-year reign ended up in a haphazard assortment of files somewhere in a back corner on the third floor. On the other hand — and fortunately for him — the more recent records from Zuko's and Izumi's reigns are much more structured and streamlined.
"Here we are," says Iroh, as he leads their impromptu study group down a particularly long aisle on the top floor. He stops in front of a wide, tall bookcase labelled CENSUS, with each level tagged with a different year.
"We take a census every ten years, ever since Grandfather revamped the format in 105 AG," Iroh explains. He points at three shelves labelled 125 AG, 135 AG, and 145 AG. "These are the census years which would most likely have your mother's name somewhere."
He stares with dismay at the thick sheaves of paper tied with twine, each stamped with the name of a Fire Nation city or town. There must be hundreds. How am I ever going to find Mom?
"Told you," Mai Lee states with sympathy. "Needle in a haystack."
"I guess we'd better get to work then." Korra cracks her knuckles and slides the 135 AG Caldera file off the shelf, depositing it in Iroh's unsuspecting hands. 135 AG Hira'a goes to Mai Lee, while Bolin gets Shu Jing and he gets Fire Fountain City. After taking Xianfei for herself, Korra leads the group out of the narrow aisle to the table in the reading area, whereupon they all arrange themselves to sift through their documents.
It's an arduous process. The records are very well-organised — alphabetically, by residential zone, and then by family or clan (if any), and written beside each individual name is their age and occupation as of the time the census was taken — but there are hundreds and hundreds of names, and unfortunately the way the information is organised makes it impossible for him to simply flip to a simple alphabetical listing and look for Naoki. With no knowledge of his mother's family (did she even have one?), he has no choice but to scan through every name, line by line.
Moreover, it soon becomes clear that Naoki is not a rare name.
Bolin is the first one to spot a Naoki in his Shu Jing file (and he gets very excited about it), but closer examination of her age and occupation — a 60-year-old fisherwoman — makes it obvious that she can't possibly be their mother.
"How old was Mom in 135?" Bolin queries after Korra points that out.
"10 or 11, I think," he replies, taking a moment to blink away the cross-eyedness.
Other Naokis surface as they delve further into the census: another, younger woman in Shu Jing (likely the older Naoki's descendant), a 21-year-old seamstress in Xianfei, a 9-year-old in Caldera (that one has him seriously reconsidering whether he got his mother's age right).
By the end of the hour, the final count is seven Naokis discovered so far, only two of whom — an 11-year-old member of Clan Keohso in Fire Fountain City, and the aforementioned 9-year-old from Caldera — could conceivably be the one they're looking for. However, while the scouring of Hira'a, Shu Jing, and Xianfei is completed, he and Iroh are nowhere near done with Fire Fountain City or Caldera — both much bigger cities than the towns the other three were searching — and there are still potentially dozens of Naokis in the other files from 135 AG.
He's facing the disheartening prospect of shortlisting maybe ten or twenty different Naokis of the appropriate age, with no way to determine which one of them actually grew up to become his mother.
"I can't do this," he exclaims after he comes across yet another possible Naoki in Fire Fountain City (the 10-year-old daughter of a merchant). He pushes the file away and stands up abruptly, drawing consternation from Korra, who has just started work on 135 AG Jang Hui.
"Mako!" she calls after him, but he needs a break.
He finds his way to a nearby set of doors and pushes through to the balcony beyond, nearly forcing his way out in his haste to escape the musty atmosphere and too many Naokis. Under the five o'clock sun, he heaves in a breath and tries to steady himself.
He doesn't understand why this is affecting him so much. Hadn't he already made his peace with possibly never knowing his mother's family? Iroh had said from the start that identifying her from the census was a long shot. Why is he so upset now, when that's turned out to be exactly the case?
It's the hope. After years of not knowing, devoid of his mother's presence and detached from his Fire Nation heritage, finally having something concrete to explore — regardless how cumbersome it is — has, against his best efforts to temper his expectations, given him hope that he might actually be able to connect to this part of him. Knowing that Mom probably is one of the Naokis they've found (or will find), but being unable to go further, to determine which one…it's so close, yet so far, and it's never been more frustrating.
It really is worse to have something dangling just out of reach than completely out of sight.
"Mako?" Iroh has joined him on the balcony.
Without looking at his friend, he asks, "How many settlements are there in the Fire Nation?"
Iroh's response is measured. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
He hangs his head. "I don't know if this is worth it."
"Mako…"
"I don't have anything to go on, Iroh. I don't know where she was from, what family she had, or even when she left! Her name could be staring me right in the face and I wouldn't know if it was her. What's the point of trawling through all that if I'm just gonna be stuck with a bunch of names on a page?"
Iroh rests a hand on his shoulder. "She's your mother, Mako; of course it's worth it. And we will find her."
"How?"
"You're a first class detective and I know this country like the back of my hand. We'll piece it together somehow," Iroh says with conviction.
He stares. "We?"
Iroh smiles. "Did you really think I'd let you do this alone? After you came all this way for me?"
"Iroh…" He doesn't know what to say. He's still not used to such unconditional support and affection.
"I've thought about your suggestion from this morning," Iroh says. "I still need to consider some details, but I think you may have just given me the exact solution I need, my friend." The prince's lips pull into a wide, hopeful smile.
He's slightly thrown by the sudden topic change, but he smiles back in response, genuinely glad. "That's great!"
"You were right," Iroh continues. "So was Mom, for that matter. I do need to build up my influence with the citizens." His expression morphs into glee. "And I can think of no better way to do that than to pay a personal visit to several cities across the country."
It slowly begins to dawn on him what Iroh is proposing.
"And if those cities happen to have a Naoki of interest recorded in the census, there is nothing stopping my friends from tagging along."
"Iroh," he says incredulously, "are you suggesting we go on a tour of the Fire Nation and stop to ask at every residence with a possible Naoki?"
"Absolutely."
"That's…" Crazy, he wants to say, but it really isn't. It makes perfect sense, and though he would never have been able to do it on his own, Iroh is providing him with the very opportunity he needs.
Iroh reads the solidifying decision in his eyes and grins. "I think 135 AG is your best bet. Your mother might not have been born yet at the time of the 125 census, and she might have left the country before 145. If you can get through the rest of the 135 census and compile a list of possible Naokis, I'll speak to my mother and arrange a ship. We should be ready to leave in a few days."
He stares for a moment, then wordlessly pulls Iroh into a hug.
Korra is his girlfriend, Bolin is his brother, and Asami at this point is like his sister (minus their dating history). He is past the stage where he considered Team Avatar to be his only friends; he has other friends now — good friends, and he values all of them — but in this moment, it truly hits home that Iroh is his best friend.
Unlike Team Avatar — which honestly happened thanks to a combination of fate and accident that dragged him kicking and screaming into a world of social connections — his friendship with Iroh is one he has actively cultivated, and is arguably the first in which he feels like he is contributing as much as he is receiving. He was inadvertently nudged into Team Avatar (and he's forever grateful for it) but he chose to befriend Iroh.
"Thank you," he says earnestly. He releases Iroh and meets the his friend's eyes with renewed conviction. "Okay. Let's do it."
He managed to find a gem of a friend in Iroh; he should be able to find his Naoki in a haystack.
A/N: Lyric from 'A Needle in a Haystack' by Ruth Etting - another oldie song, but with lyrics that are SO fitting.
Finding Naoki's family is not going to be as easy as conveniently stumbling into a fruit stall that happens to be run by one's long-lost cousin. Nothing wrong with that - plenty of insane coincidences happen in real life - but it's really odd if it happens twice. Also, let's be honest - how many eight-year-old kids would remember exactly how old their parents are? We'd remember their birthdays and their general age, but chances are we'd be hard-pressed to pinpoint a specific year. Doubly so for a setting like TLOK, where records probably aren't as refined as they are in our modern digital world. All Mako — and y'all — know is that Naoki died in 160 AG, somewhere in her mid-thirties.
Also, I'm going for a 'heterosexual life partners' vibe between Mako and Iroh (fellow TV Tropers, where y'all at?). Let me know if I succeeded.