Chapter 39

His daily visit wit Azula had gone, for once, exceedingly well. As she poked at her breakfast, she told Yun Sui that she wanted to speak to her mother. She was ready to confront her and hoped that doing so would stop what she now agreed were the hallucinations of her mother. They had become unbearable the past week and for most of it she had hardly left the safety of her bed. If seeing the real Ursa would help, she needed to try before what was left of her sanity was completely destroyed.

Yun Sui had barely left Azula's room when one of the younger nurses nearly ran him down. She looked harried and when she looked up and realized who she had toppled into she let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank Agni, Yun Sui, I have been looking for you. There is a soldier, a Fire Nation sailor here. He is asking for you. He gave me this."

In her hand was a small pai sho tile, the white lotus. Yun Sui gasped and took the tile from the nurse and shuffled as quickly as he could for the reception room. The soldier spun on his heel when he heard the door open behind him.

"Are you Yun Sui?"

The older man hung back and regarded the stranger. He knew his name and had brought a key to their secret organization with him. His first instinct was to trust him simply because of the tile but there was too much at stake.

"Yes…" Handing the tile back to the man that he now saw from his uniform was a Lieutenant. "Who sent you?"

Clearing his throat, he answered. He spoke slowly and as though unsure if he could trust the fire sage.

"That would be King Bumi. I am Lieutenant Jee." At Yun Sui's look of recognition and nod he continued. "A little more than a month ago I was with the rest of the Fire Nation navy attempting to infiltrate the North Pole. It was futile and we suffered many casualties before I was visited by someone I believed to be dead. He shared information that led to the end of the campaign and our ultimate retreat. On the way back to the Fire Nation, I went off on my own to Omashu at his behest and it was the mad Earth King that sent me here. He said I should share my information with you and that you could be trusted." He narrowed his eyes and Yun Sui realized at once that the lieutenant must have extremely sensitive information. "Can I? Trust you that is?"

"If this ghost you spoke with sent you to KIng Bumi, he must trust him, and King Bumi sent you to me. I can not tell you what your original source would say about me without knowing who they are but I can tell you that my goals are in line with the rest of the order of the white lotus and therefore King Bumi."

Lieutenant nodded and looked around nervously before he spoke again. "While I was camped with my men on the ice shelf miles beyond the Northern Water Tribe gate I was visited in the night. At first I thought it was one of the water tribe warriors, his face was painted and he wore their colors. It wasn't some water tribe man. It was Prince Zuko… he lives."

Yun Sui schooled his features so as not to betray the immense shock he was feeling. It had been lies after all! Relief was the next emotion to flood his system. This was wonderful, unless…

"Is the Fire Lord aware?" Lieutenant Jee shook his head.

"No, nothing I have heard would suggest that. There's more though. He, Prince Zuko that is, asked if I would be his man when he eventually comes to challenge his father and charged me to sow dissent among the military. Also, the most important thing. He told me… He told me he has a wife and that he is going to be a father. He only told me so I would know of his heir in the event of his death." Here the military man's face softened and a smile turned the corner of his mouth. "I have known Prince Zuko for many years. I was captain on the small ship he was given when he was banished and served in that capacity until he was betrayed by Admiral Zhao more than a year ago. I was shocked to learn of his marriage but, well I watched him grow into a man on that ship. I suppose I am quite proud of him."

Yun Sui was quiet for several minutes as he digested all of the information. Prince Zuko was alive. That alone was tremendous news and he belatedly realized he should find Ursa. More than that he was still planning to return and challenge his father. He hoped it would be soon. The talk he had heard on his recent journey south of the rumblings from the royal palace were anything but good.

"Do you know where he is now? Is he still at the Pole?"

"No. In fact one of the reasons he sought me out was in the hopes that I would be able to convince the General in charge to withdraw. Besides the many unnecessary casualties, Prince Zuko was desperate to get back to his pregnant wife. As long as we continued our assault, he was trapped there. He would not tell me where he was going but instructed me to send any information through Omashu. I have my suspicions but I will not voice them. It is better I not have any idea in the event my duplicity is discovered."

He nodded and began pacing. If he was in fact hold up in Ba Sing Se with Iroh as he suspected, it was likely they were biding their time. If Prince Zuko was going to be a father too, it made even more sense. When could he have fathered a child though and with whom? He was so injured after the Agni Kai it was unlikely it happened after. That meant he must have done so at least on the way to the Capital before the comet.

"Master Katara then." Not realizing he had spoken aloud, he was startled when Lieutenant Jee asked what he meant. "Ah, forgive me. I was pondering who he may have married. He came to the capital with Master Katara, a waterbender. They were quite clearly romantically involved and if he is married, I can only imagine it is to her. He was too gravely injured after his fight with his sister to have sired any children he would know of already."

Lieutenant Jee nodded and appeared to think over this information for several minutes, tugging absentmindedly on his short whiskers.

"That could be a problem. Ozai may be an ever increasing tyrant but his new bride was an officer. The military is exceptionally proud of Fire Lady Lei and will be loyal to her. Zuko, when he returns will have been labeled a traitor for many years and add to that a foreign bride? Even if the people are desperate for change, that may make it seem like a conquering invader rather than a prodigal son returning to free them." He was thoughtful a moment longer before shaking his head and looking up again. "Best not worry about that now. It's done with and it will be more than a year I expect before it matters. If I know General Iroh like I think I do, he will undoubtedly come up with something."

Yun Sui agreed on all counts. The younger man smiled and nodded at him once.

"I need to be going then. I'll be missed if my personal excursions take much longer." He turned to leave but stopped when he remembered something. "I almost forgot. When I spoke to King Bumi, he recommended I send any information through you. He agreed that it would be suspicious for me to take so many solo trips into the Earth kingdom and seemed to think that you would be able to get word to him easier. Would that be agreeable to you?"

Wonderful, more traveling. He sighed and supposed it was the best option for the time being.

"Of course Lieutenant. Agni protect you."

After the Lieutenant had gone, Yun Sui sat for several minutes contemplating what to do about this news. This changed everything. Now they would be able to end the war. When he had first learned of Prince Zuko's death, he had lost nearly all hope of that happening. If Ozai still believed him dead, it would be all the easier to plan their next moves without imminent threat.

"Ursa, I must tell Ursa." He stood then and went to find her at once. When he approached her room, there were two nurses and one of the mind healers standing quietly in the hall.

"Is Noriko still with her daughter?"

The mind healer nodded and went back to listening. Yun Sui could hear sobbing and hushed voices beyond the door. Looking around at the staff loitering in the hall he frowned. This was a deeply personal moment, now that it seemed unlikely for any violence they should be left alone. He said so and followed them back down the hall and away from the princess and her mother. As important as his news would be to Ursa, it could wait.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

It turned out that Ursa spent the rest of the day with Princess Azula. After the tears stopped, Ursa asked for lunch to be sent in. From what Yun Sui could gather, they spent the afternoon talking. He suspected they had years to catch up on. They talked right through dinner, not parting company even for sleep. Yun Sui checked in on them sometime near midnight to find them huddled together on the princess's bed. They clung together as if Azula were still a small babe, sleeping with her mother for fear of monsters.

When she finally left her daughter's company the next morning, it took a great deal of self restraint not to pounce on the poor women. He was dreadfully anxious to speak with her by then but she was clearly emotionally drained. As she was headed for the kitchen, he settled for a conversation over breakfast.

She smiled at him when he sat down across from her. Her eyes were puffy but they held a tentative light that he hadn't seen there before.

"Good morning Ursa. I assume your reunion went well? I was surprised at how long you were with her."

"Yes, far better than I'd hoped. She was justifiably furious with me, I explained myself as well as I could and tried to convey my feelings to her. We still have a long way to go, but I believe you were right in thinking this would help her." She sighed and pushed her porridge around in her bowl. "It's helping me too. I… I couldn't bring myself to tell her about… about Zuko. I expect I will have to soon."

Before she could dwell on that unhappiness too long Yun Sui spoke.

"There was a soldier here yesterday morning." She wiped her eyes and nodded at him to continue. "He has apparently been unofficially inducted into the Order of the White Lotus and had just come from Omashu. He told me… your son, Prince Zuko, is alive.