Sat at her small, humble desk, Katara hummed quietly to herself as she sorted through her mail for the day. It was a boring task, but one that needed to be done. After all, if she didn't check her mail she could miss an urgent request for healing or an update on what was happening in the world outside of the South Pole. She would not, could not ignore someone in need. After all, Aang had either ignored or missed letters, requests, and outright begging from the Fire Nation for decades. Katara loved her husband, but she could never follow him down that road, despite his reasons. She never could ignore someone in need, but so many were in need at the South Pole already. She may be a master waterbender, but even Katara couldn't be everywhere at once.
Picking up another letter, Katara smiled as she saw who had sent it. Tenzin didn't write nearly as much as she would have liked him to but she didn't fault her son. It amazed Katara that Tenzin always found time for her family, no matter how busy he was. He was a fantastic father and husband, while also being a wonderful son. It panged Katara's heart slightly to know that Tenzin had succeeded his father in that remark. Aang had tried to show their children love and affection equally, but his favoritism for Tenzin had always been clear. The only other airbender in the world aside from himself, the dozens of trips to the air temples with just Aang and Tenzin, and more. It did not surprise Katara that Bumi and Kya resented their brother for it somewhat, but hoped they would one day reconcile. She also hoped that her children were aware of how their mother loved them all equally. Favoritism splits families apart, after all.
Cutting open the letter with ease, Katara turned her eyes down to the parchment and began to read, hopeful to hear about little Rohan and if he had begun to show any signs of airbending as she had predicted. Tenzin had blown Aang over at nearly five months when he had sneezed while Aang was changing his diaper. It had always been one of Aang's favorite memories of his son.
Scanning the letter, Katara smiled widely at the knowledge that Rohan was beginning to crawl, though without much success, furthering her belief that the boy was another airbender. Tenzin had bounced around his room even as an infant. Airbenders never liked to stay still for long. They were the wind, and the wind traveled as it pleased, as Aang had said oh so many times. Though it seemed to Katara that 'the wind' mostly traveled to the air temples.
As she got further into the letter, Katara let out a sigh as Tenzin dutifully informed her of the situation evolving within Republic City. The spirit vines were continuing to grow, and unless something could be done soon, entire city blocks of residency could be lost to the growing jungle within the city. Tenzin and Korra were hard at work, but every solution they came up with seemed to make the problem even worse. It had gotten to the point where they were afraid to even try anything new, for fear that further tampering may cause an explosion of growth that simply couldn't be stopped.
The world seemed to love throwing its problems onto the shoulders of those too young to be dealing with problems, Katara mused. Korra shouldn't be worrying about stopping a spiritual jungle from overtaking the city. The girl should be worrying about mastering her bending, chasing boys, and enjoying life while she was still young. To have the world's problems on her shoulders at eighteen hardly seemed fair. However, life was never fair to anyone it seemed. It was especially cruel to a select few, Katara pondered as a flash of Zuko's scowling face passed through her mind.
As she reached the end of the letter, Tenzin surprised Katara with a request. Zuko, it seemed, had taken the news of his homeland rather poorly, which didn't surprise Katara at all. She knew he would be furious. What did surprise her was who Zuko had found out from. The council of nations in Republic City had been the one to break the news to Zuko? Korra had never taken the fifteen minutes to sit Zuko down and explain the tragedy that had befallen his homeland after Iroh passed on?
A pang of disappointment spiked in Katara's chest as she kept reading. Zuko had been completely blindsided by the news and had stormed out of the council chamber in a rage. That was hardly surprising to Katara. The Zuko she knew did always have a bit of a temper on him. After the meeting, Zuko had seemingly vanished for a few days before one of the warlords of the Fire Nation, Sunjin, had declared to the world that Zuko was now a friend of his court and was calling for a peace council to unify the Fire Nation under one banner once more.
Katara stifled a giggle as she read that last part. Yes, that sounded exactly like Zuko to her. She recalled the time that Sokka had gotten his boomerang stuck in a nest of hornet-wasps, causing most of their group to cautiously ponder how they were going to get it back, or if Sokka needed a new boomerang. Then, without so much as a word, Zuko had strutted to the edge of the Western Air Temple, hurled one of his Dao swords at the nest, cutting it down from the ceiling, and snatched both his blade and Sokka's boomerang from the nest as it plummeted past them, down into the abyss below.
Aang hadn't been thrilled, but Sokka had later declared it the coolest thing he had ever seen. Zuko had just raised an eyebrow and told everyone that they were overthinking the problem so he had solved it. If that didn't describe the Fire Prince, then Katara didn't know what did. Everyone else in the world had treaded cautiously around the Fire Nation ever since the outbreak of the civil war, either unsure of what they were supposed to do or taking sides with who they thought would win. Zuko had just dove headfirst into the problem determined to solve it in the quickest, and most effective manner.
Oh, Katara was well aware that Tenzin was likely playing on her feelings to try to get her to drag Zuko out of the Fire Nation by the scruff of his neck and tell him that it was too dangerous, but this was Zuko that they were talking about. Seemingly suicidal feats like this were nothing to him, and he almost always came out unscratched. Even Azula had only killed him because she had gone insane and targeted a bystander during a sacred one-on-one fire duel. Hotheaded as Zuko was, he learned from his mistakes and took great care never to repeat them.
Katara would worry for him, yes, but she also knew that Zuko was exactly where he needed to be. Zuko didn't need her to mother him in his current undertakings, he needed her to support him because he was going to be hard-pressed to find support from anyone else. Aang, Iroh, and Suki were gone, Sokka and Toph hadn't been seen in years and the current avatar clearly wasn't on Zuko's good side if she had hidden the truth of the Fire Nation from him for so long.
Besides, Katara remembered what so many others had forgotten. Zuko was supposed to become Firelord before everything had gone so horribly wrong in the Agni Kai. Katara remembered how unsure Zuko had been of himself, but also just how sure every one of them had been that he was the right choice for Firelord. Zuko wanted nothing more than to repent for the mistakes his country had made. He fiercely loved his people and wanted to protect them from any harm, internal or external. Zuko had given up everything to follow what he had believed was right, and never whined or moaned when he had to prove his loyalty to everyone.
Even when Katara herself had never given him a chance, Zuko had simply tried harder and harder to earn her forgiveness. He didn't try to cheat or beg his way to approval and forgiveness, Zuko would never have tried either of those. Zuko had tucked his head down and worked to fix what he had done wrong. He had tracked down her mother's killer and lead Katara directly to him, never telling her what action she should take and never judged her for not ending Yon Rha's life. He had stood in silence and simply asked if she was going to be okay after everything had happened and if there was anything she needed.
That was the leader that the Fire Nation so desperately needed and Katara would be damned before she kept Zuko from filling that role. She had turned a blind eye to their suffering for far too long. No longer.
Sliding open a drawer on her desk, Katara tucked Tenzin's letter in alongside all the other letters that he had sent over the years. She had kept them all and read every single message he had sent her over the years because Katara could never ignore a letter from her son, much less if he was in need.
However, Tenzin was a fully grown man with decades of experience, many colleagues who could help him with what Katara was half certain would be named the 'Zuko Issue', and a powerful bender on top of it all. He didn't need his mother's support, and Katara was not about to give it to aid in stopping her old friend from doing what both Zuko and Katara knew was right.
She knew it wouldn't be pretty, and had little doubt that blood would be spilled before Zuko had finished his work, but Katara was a healer. Sometimes, in order to fix a bone that hadn't healed properly, it needed to be broken again and then set correctly. Perhaps the Fire Nation was no different.
For the first time in decades, Katara ignored a letter.
The mid-morning sun beat down relentlessly on Zuko as he slowly rode Ten'no down the dirt path that lead to the plantation's main house, with Ujio just behind him. This was something that Zuko needed to see with his own eyes. Recent events had taught him that he couldn't trust many people around him and that seeing things with his own two eyes was the best way to see the severity of a problem. The plantations of Sunjin's lands were no different. Time and time again, Zuko had heard disturbing rumors of these plantations. Forced servitude, cruel conditions, and caring for nothing beyond swelling the plantation owners and Sunjin's pockets. If that was all true, Zuko was going to have words with the man when he got back.
How Sunjin would respond, Zuko would have to be careful to navigate, of course. The man was already less than thrilled by Zuko's desire for a council that would solve this civil war without further bloodshed, even if it hadn't worked out in the end. So at the bare minimum, Sunjin didn't trust Zuko. The man had even given him a babysitter for the trip, though Ujio seemed to have little interest in actually watching what Zuko was doing. More so seemingly concerned about Zuko not getting himself stabbed. Idly, Zuko wondered what Sunjin would think of that if he just wandered out into town and got stabbed by someone for whatever reason. The look on the man's face would be hilarious.
Sunjin had clearly hoped that Zuko was more like his father and sister. Fire and Agni-blessed blood were supposed to flow through the veins of Sozin's line after all. Being able to temper anger and impulsiveness had never been his family's strong suit, as the rest of the world had quickly learned. Well, unless you were Azula. She was the prodigy, after all.
Looking around him, Zuko stifled a frown at what he saw. The plantation was likely for dye if Zuko had to guess. The endless rows of bloodroot and madder root made sure of that, sure to produce a healthy supply of red dye for his nation, but Zuko could also see indigo, saffron, sagebrush, and cutch all growing around him, causing the prince to grit his teeth. In the middle of a civil war, yet Sunjin was concerned with exporting dyes to every nation in the world.
In the distance, Zuko could see a few small huts where the plants were likely taken to be pressed and transformed into dye itself, each one somehow looking ricketier than the last, but all still standing, for now. One strong monsoon and at least one of them would blow over, Zuko reckoned. At the end of the road he was currently riding upon, the main house sat. To be honest, Zuko expected it to be bigger. The house itself seemed rather modest for a plantation, it was maybe three or four rooms, single-storied and while it looked sturdier than any of the refineries Zuko had noticed earlier, it still could use some sort of work. Odd for a plantation owner to care so little about his home, but Zuko digressed.
Then he turned his attention to the workers, and for a brief moment wished that he hadn't. Clad in garments that almost looked to be on loan from a nearby prison, the workers seemed to have little to no protection from Agni beating down on them. Only a small number had sunhats, while many were missing shirts entirely, having chosen to forgo them in the heat as they labored. No water pouches were in sight, their skin was dangerously darkened by the sun, far more so than anyone of Fire Nation descent should be, and half of them looked about ready to keel over on the spot.
The workers themselves kept their heads down as Zuko passed them by, silently continuing their tasks and not acknowledging Zuko's existence at all. Why Zuko had no idea. Ten'no wasn't exactly a small Komodo-Rhino and Zuko himself was sitting on top of him, which Zuko would have expected to draw at least some looks. No, instead he was greeted with utter silence as everyone continued to silently labor under the hot, mid-morning sun.
"Are all the plantations like this?" Zuko asked quietly, turning to face Ujio. The Sun Guard's captain frowned slightly as he took in the scene around him, before exhaling slowly and turning to face Zuko.
"Not exactly," Ujio began, before crushing any hope Zuko had that this was just a one-off. "Some take better care of their workers and offer them easier lives, but many are just as bad, if not worse. Sunjin does not compromise on the quotas that must be met."
"So our people suffer and languish in the fields, with little to no pay, so Sunjin and the owners of these plantations can have more coin in their pocket?" Zuko all but snarled, which elicited another sigh from Ujio.
"Not exactly," the Captain said again, before gesturing to the house at the end of the road. "The plantation manager will be able to explain better than I can."
"I hope so," Zuko shot back, urging Ten'no forward at a quicker pace. It seemed he had a plantation owner to meet. Well, he had been dealing with stuck-up nobles his entire life. What was one more on an already long list?
As they neared the head building on the plantation, Zuko could see the door open and a man step outside. However, he wasn't quite what Zuko had been expecting from a plantation owner. The man wasn't clad in lavish garments, he wore a simple red shirt, brown pants, and boots. He didn't have the egotistical air around him that so many nobles Zuko had met did, he watched Zuko and Ujio silently as they approached. The man didn't even look noble, judging from the dirt stains on his clothing and the ink smudges that Zuko could see on his hands. He looked more like a factory worker.
Slowing Ten'no to a halt, Zuko dismounted the Komodo-Rhino with ease, passing the reins to a stable hand who had quickly come running up to them. Ten'no let out a huff at the young man taking his reins, but a flat look from Zuko calmed the mount. He didn't need Ten'no testing someone else today.
"Prince Zuko, I must admit we were not expecting you," The man from the main house said, bowing slightly but still raising an eyebrow in slight confusion. "I am Nobu, I bid you welcome to the Suo dye plantations. May I ask for the reason behind your visit today?"
It was polite, but not welcoming, Zuko noted. Much like the welcomes he had received from dozens of harbormasters and military officials during his banishment. The man either cared very little that Zuko was here, or he didn't want him here. Which one it was, Zuko wasn't quite sure. However, he was relatively sure he was about to find out.
"I believe it would be best if we spoke inside," Zuko remarked flatly, glancing around at the tall rows of numerous dyes, and the dozens if not hundreds of suffering hands collecting it. If he spoke to the overseer out here, he was going to lose his temper. Fast.
To Zuko's mild surprise, the man only shrugged. "Very well, follow me," was all the man said before gesturing for Ujio and Zuko both to follow the man inside. Exchanging a glance with the Captain of the Sun Guard, they soon followed suit, tailing the man into the house that seemed far too modest for a plantation owner. Something wasn't right here.
The inside of the house wasn't much more extravagant than the outside. From what Zuko could see, the house consisted of three rooms. The main room with a table and kitchen of sorts, what Zuko guessed was the man's bedroom and the office that they were being led into. None of which were lavishly decorated, they were almost spartan in their design. There were only two chairs at the table, no rich frivolities coated the inside of the building, and even the only window in the main room was cracked. Was this man even a noble?
The office they stepped into was as sparsely decorated as the main room. A desk, two chairs in front of the said desk and one behind, a bookshelf that looked to be stocked with ledgers on harvest and maintenance, and another window, this time without a crack in it. Without a word, Nobu slid into the chair behind the desk and gestured for Zuko and Ujio to sit.
"I have a few questions about your plantation," Zuko stated flatly as he sat down, Ujio mirroring the action next to him.
"I will answer them to the best of my ability, my Prince," Nobu responded, just as flat as Zuko's own tone. Yeah, the man definitely didn't want him here, that much was becoming clear.
Narrowing his eyes, Zuko stared down the plantation owner, who, to his credit didn't break a sweat. "Why do you treat the workers so poorly here? What crimes have they committed to deserve such awful conditions? No protection from the sun, barely any clothing. I didn't even see a water pump out there."
The man didn't even flinch, though he did draw his lips into a thin line before responding. "These are the conditions that Firelord Sunjin has deemed appropriate for the workers of this plantation. Almost all of the laborers here are on convict leases from nearby prisons. The Firelord has deemed that those who have violated his laws should make themselves useful instead of simply sitting in a cell for the duration of their sentence."
"I did not ask what the Firelord has deemed appropriate, Nobu. I asked what you deem appropriate. Are those not your people out there, suffering under Agni's merciless rays? How many of them even committed serious crimes? Or did most of them simply not pay the required taxes by Firelord Sunjin?" Zuko growled, fully aware of Ujio's subtle flinch next to him. He'd deal with the Sun Guard's practices later.
"I do not claim to know better than Firelord Sunjin, Prince Zuko. I am simply tasked with overseeing this plantation." Was the stone-cold reply Zuko received.
"Then as your prince, I demand to know your opinion, Overseer Nobu," Zuko snarled, the word overseer dripping with venom.
Just like that, Zuko could see something snap inside the man and briefly wondered if he had pushed too hard. Uncle always said he had little care for tact, and Zuko was wondering if Uncle had once again been right, as he usually was. He supposed he would find out soon enough.
"My opinion, Prince Zuko," Nobu all but snarled, "Is that these conditions are barbarous, little better than the coal mines that murderers, arsonists, and traitors are sent to. Many of those suffering outside have committed the crime of simply being too poor to pay the required taxes, and so they must work off their debts because the Firelord has decreed so. I do not wish to see them suffer, I am not a sadist, but I have little power to change their lives for the better."
"Little power?" Zuko scoffed, "Are you not the owner of this plantation? Your home may be modest but surely you make enough money to afford your poor workers decent clothing to protect them from the sun!"
"I do not own this plantation, Prince Zuko. These lands have always been the property of Firelord Sunjin, I am merely the appointed overseer," Nobu growled, stopping Zuko in his tracks. That… explained a lot actually. The sparse house, modest dress, and lack of a lavish lifestyle came quickly to mind.
"You… are not the owner? Are all plantations like that?" Zuko asked carefully. Agni dammit, he was going to have to apologize to the man, wasn't he?
Nobu let out a heavy sigh before rolling his eyes and leaning forward on the desk. "Most of the plantations, yes. They are directly owned by Firelord Sunjin, who will then appoint an overseer to make sure that production quotas are met, no matter what. That is the only reason I am here, to ensure that the demanded quotas are met."
Zuko did not ask what would happen if the quotas weren't met. Given what he knew of Sunjin, he was relatively sure he could piece the answer together himself. It wouldn't be pretty for anyone on the plantation. So Zuko opted to change tracks.
"If Firelord Sunjin appointed you overseer, why haven't you at least tried to improve the conditions here? He appointed you himself, surely your word must mean something to him then?"
Nobu gave Zuko another flat look in response, one that this time made Zuko slightly uncomfortable before the man stood up and turned to the bookshelf behind him. Under his breath, Zuko could hear the man muttering plenty of unsavory comments about nobles, never understand and don't want to listen' and 'what do they know about breaking your back in the sun for twelve hours a day?'.
Zuko decided to let those comments slide.
After a few moments of searching, the man slid a thick file of papers out from the bookshelf and all but slammed it onto the desk in front of Zuko. Raising an eyebrow at the man, Zuko received a look that he knew all too well.
Go ahead, see for yourself.
Dozens, if not hundreds of requests and equipment orders fell out of the folder the second Zuko opened it. Raising an eyebrow, Zuko picked one up and began to scan it over. It wasn't anything special, just a request for sun hats to offer the workers some level of protection from the sun beating down on them all day. A fairly standard request, Zuko couldn't see why he was being shown this…
Denied by the order of Firelord Sunjin.
Placing the request down, Zuko frowned slightly and picked up another. A request for a new water pump to be drilled closer to the fields so the workers could stay hydrated.
Denied by the order of Firelord Sunjin.
Zuko could feel his frown deepening as he flicked through more and more requests. Repairs for the living quarters, better equipment in the refinery that was less likely to injure workers, an appeal for midday breaks for the workers, earlier ends of shifts, and even compensation for those who were injured whilst working in the plantations.
Every single one. Denied by the order of Firelord Sunjin.
Letting out a shaky breath, Zuko inhaled slowly to calm the fire that he knew was starting to build in his chi. No one here was guilty, not even Ujio or Nobu. Especially not the poor souls who were laboring in the fields all day. The only one who seemed to be responsible for the suffering of these people was Firelord Sunjin.
Slowly letting his breath out, Zuko slid the requests back into the folder and handed them back to Nobu, who was staring at him with an unreadable look in his eyes. The man would have made a hell of a politician in Caldera, that much was for sure. Ujio didn't look much better than Zuko knew he looked. The man's skin had dropped a few shades as he stared at the dozens of rejected requests for improved working conditions. A small, vindictive part of Zuko reveled in Ujio's discomfort. It seemed they were learning how low Ujio's employer would go to make a profit together.
No, Sunjin could never become Firelord, that much was now very apparent. His people were not people to him, they were just constructs of flesh and bone that were to do his bidding, no matter how much they suffered for it. He was little better than Ozai in that regard, but at least Ozai had pretended to care for his people. Sunjin left it all out in the open for anyone to find. The man didn't care about the Fire Nation and her people, Sunjin only cared about profits. He could never be allowed to sit on the Dragon's Throne.
Sunjin would have to be convinced or forced to surrender his claim to the Dragon's Throne. Zuko didn't know how he would do it, but he knew it would have to be. Who could take the man's place though? Khublai? He claimed to have served under Iroh, but Zuko knew that words were just wind. It was still possible that he was just as bad as Sunjin.
One problem at a time, Zuko supposed.
"Overseer Nobu," Zuko finally began, breaking the silence that had reigned in the man's office for the past few minutes. "It appears I owe you an apology. You have not slacked from your duties as caretaker of these people, you've done better than I thought possible given the circumstances."
"We all must learn how the world works one day, Prince Zuko," Nobu replied after a beat, but it somehow didn't sound like a taunt to Zuko. The man's words were too sad for that. Like a man who had everything he had taken away from him, then left with only the scraps.
"Then the world should change, even if I must force it to do so" Zuko stated evenly, rising from his chair, prompting Ujio to do the same. "I thank you for your time today, this experience has been eye-opening."
"I'm happy to have served, Prince Zuko," Nobu responded, bowing his head slightly in a way that felt more genuine than the first bow.
"Come on, Ujio. We have more plantations to observe," Zuko growled, turning on his heel and all but storming out of the office. There was still work to be done.
It was the same everywhere. Not exactly the same, some plantations were marginally better, and many were worse, as Ujio had warned him. However, everywhere Zuko went, he seemed to find those same seven words staring right back at him whenever someone had tried to change things for the better.
Denied by the order of Firelord Sunjin.
It seemed that even Ten'no could sense Zuko's dark mood as they began to make their way back to Shu Jing in silence before Ujio finally broke it as they traveled along an empty dirt road.
"You promised Nobu that change was coming, but we both know that Sunjin can't be forced into making the changes you want to happen. How do you plan to fulfill that promise, Prince Zuko?"
The growl that escaped from Zuko's throat was almost primal. "Sunjin is going to listen to what I have to say, Ujio. Either that, I will make him listen."
Beneath the setting sun on a dirt road, Zuko once again couldn't decipher the look that was in Ujio's eyes as he spoke, but it almost looked like respect.
Well, that took forever. Not my favorite chapter to write, to be honest, but a necessary one. Sunjin's a dirtbag, I think we all know that, but Zuko needed to see it for himself for things to move forward. Our favorite Fire Prince isn't exactly the type of guy who would turn on someone who has fed, sheltered, and hosted him without any reason… well ok now he isn't. Before his change of heart in Book 3, Song might disagree…
Anyways, that's Chapter 15. Katara decides to stay out of this as much as she can because she believes Zuko's really the only one who can actually fix the Fire Nation, Zuko and Ujio go on a lovely plantation tour and see human rights violations, and a storm is coming to Shu Jing. Now we're really gonna start getting into the fun stuff.
The poll for the pairing is still open, so leave a vote if you want to.
As per usual, feel free to let me know what you thought of the chapter. Til next time.