Chapter 10: Up in Smoke
The first scream was what alerted Moro that something was wrong. The Lower Ring had trouble like that every day, but the Upper Ring was the last place she'd expect people to be screaming and running for their lives.
She was dutifully taking care of the Jasmine Dragon by herself when people outside started getting rowdy; they started running or ducking quickly into their homes and locking their doors, and it wasn't until the sound of horrified screams and the sight of men in red armor started flooding the streets that Moro knew things were about to get really bad.
The Fire Nation had made it to Ba Sing Se, and Zuko and Iroh still weren't back yet.
Feeling dread building in her gut, Moro quickly jumped over the counter and ran out of the shop, only to be met with legions of fleeing people and Fire Nation soldiers, their scarlet red armor standing out against the jade greens of the Upper Ring like blood staining a blade of grass. She didn't let it stop her though, she had to find Zuko and Iroh, because something told her the fugitive prince of the Fire Nation would take issue with their army invading his hiding spot.
"You there! Stop!" someone shouted, a soldier poised in a firebending stance Zuko had shown her many times. Moro stopped but only to spot a narrow alley he wouldn't be able to firebend in, the soldier seemed to foretell her escape plan because the next thing she knew he was throwing a fireball at her head!
She managed to duck just in time, the tips of her dark hair singed only slightly as she kicked the man in the back of his knee making him tumble to the ground as she made a break down the alley leaving the soldier in the dust.
She knew she had to get higher, the streets were becoming rampant with chaos as more and more of Ba Sing Se was being set ablaze. Moro grit her teeth and climbed onto the nearest roof, spotting the smoldering Earth King's palace less than a mile away.
She had to get to Zuko and Iroh, now.
The rooftops of the Upper Ring were nowhere near as high up as they were in the Lower Ring, so Moro did not have to travel far before she reached the ornate gates to the palace grounds, the Earth King's guards nowhere in sight as Fire Nation soldiers spilled in through the broken golden doors. It was a miracle that she'd managed to stay out of sight so far, but what was one Earth Kingdom girl amidst the anarchy that was spreading like wildfire throughout the city?
Bicolored eyes intensely scanned the crowd, sorting through shades of green and scarlet for the boy with spikey hair.
She managed to sneak past the soldiers into the once lavish garden before she spotted him in all his sour glory, the edges of his sleeves were singed probably from defensive firebending but he otherwise appeared unharmed, his smile gone and replaced by the angry furrow of his brow that Moro hadn't seen since that night beneath Lake Laogai.
"Zuko!" she was so happy to see her friend alive and uninjured that she didn't notice Iroh's missing presence before she tackled him, planting her feet over his stomach as she stood over him.
A sound between a grunt and a squeak left Zuko's lungs as he hit the ground, "Moro?" he said, seemingly surprised she was there. A look Moro could not quite place fell over his features, a mix of confusion and slight fear that she had never seen before and did not know him capable of. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, the look quickly disappearing.
She scoffed, "Uh, watch the shop for us Moro! We'll be back before you even know we're gone!" he scowled at her imitation of him but she continued. "Seriously, and you say I get into trouble too easily!"
Her sentence was marked by an explosion ringing out from somewhere in the palace, making both of them jump like startled cats.
"So yeah… we need to go," she winced, taking his hand while he was distracted by the destruction around them. "Where's Iroh? Is he right behind you?"
Many things flashed in his golden eyes that confused Moro and worried her greatly, guilt, disgust, fear, and nausea as he paled before her. He clenched his fist around her hand, squeezing it until his fingers as well as her own became red from pressure, but Moro hardly felt it as an icy sense of dread brushed the back of her neck.
"Zuko?" she tried softly, squeezing his hand in return to pull him out of his own head. His eyes were shut tight as he grit his teeth, as if he was struggling to force the words out of his mouth.
When he opened them, they were cold and defeated, and so very tired. "I…"
"Zuzu? Who is this supposed to be?" a new voice chimed before Zuko could speak, his conflicted face quickly changing to an angry one as he let go of her hand, the kind of anger that Moro knew was meant to disguise any other emotional ticks on his face. The person who spoke was a girl Moro had never seen before, and judging by her Fire Nation armor it wasn't hard to figure out why.
She was incredibly young, so it unnerved her to see an intensely cunning look in her golden eyes identical to Zuko's, but her smile was kind as she came up behind the former prince, sweeping her gaze over the older girl from her bicolored eyes to the worn silk shoes on her feet.
Moro knew that look when she saw it, this girl was trying to figure out if she was a threat or not, but she doubted this mysterious girl would run away if she was.
Zuko took a step in front of her, almost shielding her from the young girl's gaze. This seemed to amuse her, "Come now Zuzu, I'm not going to bite her head off, did you finally make a friend?"
Zuzu?
An irritated growl ground past his teeth before he grabbed her hand again and pulled them away from the girl. "Just give us a minute!" he barked, the girl crossing her arms and smirking like she'd won something.
Zuko placed his hands on her shoulders and trapped her in his gaze, as angry and as serious as the first day Moro had met him, which felt like so long ago despite it only being a few months.
"I… I can't explain everything right now, but the short version is that the Fire Nation has taken over Ba Sing Se… and I need to go back." He explained, pausing to let her absorb what he just told her.
She blinked, "Back? Like, back to the Fire Nation?"
He nodded once, "Yes."
Moro felt something drop in her stomach, not knowing what to say. He was… leaving. Leaving Ba Sing Se. Leaving her. She had never been left speechless before, and really didn't like it.
He just looked at her through narrowed eyes, that familiar furrow in his brow being the only thing she recognized about him, his anger.
She supposed once he was gone things would go back to the way they were, more or less, only this time she'd be completely alone. Esra was gone, Zuko had helped bury her, so he would go back to being the prince of his homeland and Moro would go back to scavenging off of scraps.
She liked to deny that she felt tears burn behind her bicolored eyes, but the thought of being all alone again without Zuko or Iroh felt like a knife in her heart.
His hands suddenly dropped from her shoulders and grasped her hands tightly, the callouses of their palms pressed hard against each other's.
"Come with me."
"W-what?" she must have misheard him, but the determined look in his eye said otherwise.
"Come to the Fire Nation, there are firebenders everywhere there, you wouldn't have to hide, or steal, or be afraid ever again."
All her life she'd hoped to one day find herself walking away from the city of walls and secrets, constantly telling herself she had to stay for her mother's sake, but even on her deathbed Esra had begged her to run far from this place and all it had taken from her. Now Zuko was presenting her with what she always wanted, a way out, and she felt unsure… no, she was afraid.
Despite living in fear, life in Ba Sing Se was all she'd ever known. To actually walk away would be the most terrifying thing she had ever done.
Zuko must've seen the fear on her face, able to see it because he knew his friend so well, because his words changed her life.
"You don't have to be alone anymore."
Moro looked down at their joined hands and squeezed, smiling through her tears as she looked back up at him.
She nodded.
Almost every building in the Upper Ring was on fire in some way, and while Moro thought about looking for ways to help put out the flames, Zuko assured her that guards and nobility were the only ones being arrested while civilians were to be left alone. It brought a huge weight off her shoulders to know that her neighbors and friends like Jin and Mrs. Linh would be alright once the chaos died down.
A group of Fire Nation soldiers, and Dai Li agents, much to Moro's dismay, lead them out of the city to the naval shores just outside the walls. The mysterious girl from before, who she'd learned was Zuko's infamous younger sister Azula, disregarded the Dai Li's presence among the guards, so they must be on the same side in some form or another, but it didn't stop Moro from hiding behind Zuko and keeping her eyes locked on the agents of the secret police.
It was odd, being afraid of being taken away by these officers for being a firebender all her life and now suddenly being escorted by them along with two members of firebender royalty. They did not even seem to notice she was there, and if they had, they certainly didn't care.
Azula also didn't seem too interested in having an extra passenger, despite her earlier teasing toward her brother, and only gave the older girl a kind smile that didn't match her intense analytical gaze. Moro tried not to hold it against her, Zuko didn't really explain himself as he brought her along, only giving his sister a harsh glare as he made sure Moro stuck close to him. Judging by the countless questions lingering behind Azula's features, he must not have wanted her to overwhelm Moro in any way before they reached their destination.
Despite his efforts, she felt overwhelmed anyway.
Everything was changing so fast… and she still hadn't seen any sign of Iroh anywhere.
Maybe he was already on his way to the Fire Nation, he was the Fire Lord's brother after all, maybe they had important political stuff to talk about before Zuko could join him.
The navy ship they'd be traveling on was like nothing Moro had ever seen, and she didn't deny the awed look on her face as she gaped up at the iron giant. It was rather intimidating, made entirely of dark, almost black metal with smoke from the burning coals billowing up and out from the top in a black pillar.
"Come on, the sooner we're out of this place, the better." Zuko growled lowly so only she could hear.
She didn't quite understand his rush, but nodded anyway as they boarded the ship and the metal doors closed behind them.
Moro looked back once more at the place she once called home, her final sight of Ba Sing Se being the smoke from the carnage in the distance.
The inside of the ship was incredibly dark and dim, lit only by torches mounted on the metal walls. Zuko had shown her to her room before promptly disappearing into the ship; it was honestly the fanciest room she'd ever been in. It had a bathroom connected to the bedroom, with actual running water too! There was also a real bed instead of a futon full of hay, with a mattress!
While she was fully prepared to dive into the bed like it was a crimson pool of silk and downy feathers, she was starting to get fidgety, so she decided to explore the ship a bit and try to sniff out the top deck and see the ocean for the first time.
When she finally found it she was immediately barraged with the smell of salt. Like a little kid Moro ran to the railing, letting the wind tussle her already messy hair as waves broke against the front of the ship spraying mist into the air.
She briefly wondered if she could touch the edge of the wave if she reached out for it.
"Never seen the ocean I take it?" someone beside her asked.
Moro nearly jumped out of her skin but forced herself to calm her heartbeat when she saw it was only Azula, standing close by with her hands crossed behind her back as she looked out over the sea. The younger girl was smiling, the corners of her golden eyes slightly upturned, giving the impression that even if she wasn't smiling, it would look like she was.
She shook her head, "No, I didn't get out of the city very often." The smell of salt burned her nose, but she didn't care, it meant she was going further and further away from Ba Sing Se with each passing second, and that made up for the burn in full. "Firebenders weren't very popular there."
That seemed to grab the fire princess's attention. "You're a firebender? How interesting, I assure you Moro you won't have to worry about persecution from Earth Kingdom savages in the Fire Nation."
Moro blinked, surprised. "How did you…"
"Despite my brother's best efforts to keep you away from me I do overhear things." She explained, a triumphant smirk on her lips. "Although I am sorry you had to deal with his temper, it can get rather annoying after a while."
She couldn't help the snicker that slipped past her teeth, Moro tried to cover it up but Azula was quick to spot it. "So he's always been that way huh?"
Azula shrugged defeatedly, "Oh yes, unfortunately, Zuzu has always been a drama queen."
The two girls laughed, but Moro failed to see Azula's cunning smirk, as though she was realizing the older girl could be more useful than she originally thought.
"You know what Moro? I like you, and since I know Zuko has no plan for you once we reach the Fire Nation, allow me to offer you a place in the royal palace." She said, holding out her hand. "How does a position as a royal guard sound? Every officer is required to go through firebending training, you'll be able to hone your firebending for the good of the crown and still remain by my dear brother's side."
Blue and yellow eyes widened, losing her grip on the railing and slipping forward slightly, just barely able to catch herself just in time before she took a swan dive into the ocean. "S-seriously?! You'd do that for me?"
"Of course! The training is rather rigorous… but I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle." She reassured, brushing aside her concerns with a wave of her hand. Moro knew as a princess she had the authority to quite literally do so with nothing more than the flick of her wrist.
She nodded vigorously, "Yeah! I mean, the most training I've ever done is practicing running from Earth Kingdom guards… but I'll do my best!"
"And I'm sure Zuko will appreciate having you nearby, I'm quite surprised by how attached to you he is you know?" the princess mused, rubbing her chin teasingly as she took in the sudden rush of pink coloring Moro's cheeks.
It was just as she suspected then…
"That's amazing! I won't let you down!" Moro took Azula's hand, shaking it once and sealing the deal she did not entirely know she had made.
The princess smiled again, "Consider it mutually beneficial… welcome to the Fire Nation Moro."
Moro was entranced by the fire princess's kindness like an animal was enchanted by the sweet perfume of a flower, having no idea of the venomous snake hiding just beneath it.
And that concludes the first arc of Moro's journey! While most OC stories have the character end up with the Gaang by this point, I wanted to experiment and see what would happen if that character went with Zuko to the Fire Nation. Moro may be a firebender but she knows nothing about the other half of her culture, so I wanted her to have to be challenged by that just as Zuko is challenged by his return. Moro and Zuko will both experience growing pains in the Fire Nation but they will have each other, more or less. I'll see you next time! Ciao!