Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Burning Fire. Enjoy the 1500-word chapter. I don't own Avatar, Nick, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko do.
"And that is purely why I do not want to risk further soldiers being let into the archipelago." Izumi heard as she turned to Kei who was quite curious as to how she'd respond.
"General, need I remind you we're open to doing business." Izumi heard from Zuko as she started to think about what she'd say. "I need not remind you that would cause friction with the Earth Kingdom. We've been trying to refute their claims of wanting war, not allowing their ships into port could spark another fight." Zuko added to which Izumi started to think of her options.
If she hadn't thought about how this would affect the world once more. This bond between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation was fragile, to risk open war with them? It meant destroying all the growth between their nations.
"Do we not share a city with the Earth Kingdom?" Izumi questioned, turning all eyes to her a moment later. "Father, do we not have a city that we share with the Earth Kingdom? One with citizens with both our home and theirs?" Izumi asked, raising an eyebrow in response.
"Well, we do, but…" The general said as Zuko turned to Izumi and Kei who shared a nod in response.
"And that city does have enough cultural history to be considered neutral ground." Kei added, casting a smile toward said princess. "Even if it's official Earth Kingdom land? It's neutral enough for our people to use it as a meeting ground." Kei said, earning a glare from the general.
"Yes, I think it would be a better idea then it might seem." Zuko said as Izumi smiled while looking at Kei. "We're have to discuss the details at the moment. Izumi? That's a good idea at the moment." Zuko added to which the princess and her guard looked at each other.
Both looked at each other, curious as to what happened next. Izumi and Kei knew there would be more work to which both would have their hands full as they noticed the others had to talk about.
"We're going to have a lot of work to do, aren't we?" Kei questioned as to which Izumi would smile.
Kei knew Izumi was going to be busy thinking at this moment. Kei was quite skilled at reading Izumi to know she enjoyed her work; this wouldn't busy work for her at all. Just more things to plan out on the way to the throne for her.
'This woman is going to be a gem for the Fire Nation.' Kei thought to himself, crossing his arms over his chest.
Still? He knew that Izumi was going to be busy for a while. There was plenty of work to do before the sun set on their home today, and Kei knew Izumi wouldn't rest until it was done and dusted.
"Ugh… I'll try and get the paperwork done and sorted, your highness." The general said before Zuko nodded and allowed the others to leave.
"Really, Kei?" Izumi questioned as she brushed off her royal dress.
"What? You're going to be Fire Lady soon; might as well help you look your best on the way there." Kei said and turned to Zuko. "By the way, my lord? Why are we deploying soldiers all over the islands if we aren't at war with someone?" Kei asked, humbly bowing as he said so as not to be rude to the leader of their home.
Zuko was silent, he was well aware of what happened at the moment. Both were quite used to doing missions like that, both knew what was going to happen. Zuko looked at Izumi who was busy trying to decide what best to do, there was far too much work for her to rest idly knowing this wasn't done.
"I'm going to guess you've gotten a plan already at the time?" Izumi heard as Zuko smiled a second later.
"Sometimes I wonder if I made a good decision, simply casting you as a guard, captain." Zuko said as Kei hummed, shrugging.
"My place is where the royal family needs me and on the frontlines of the Fire Nation, my lord." Kei said, pausing to look around the less festive war room. "I do worry about some people, however. There will always be those eager to rekindle the flames of war, people who want to destroy the peace your reign has brought or those who simply cannot let go of the past." Kei said, brushing off his crimson armor and looking upon the low hanging lanterns surrounding the room.
"You sound like my uncle, Kei." Zuko said to which Kei was silent, a frown crossing his face as he did so.
A small hush of silent fell across the room, Kei paused to slowly look up at the Fire Lord. The lights upon the room seemed dimmer.
"My father served as an aide to him." Kei responded, crossing his arms over his back as he did so. "And one of my extended family spoke highly of him. I highly respect Prince Iroh's additions to the Fire Nation. I wished he given us guidance." Kei stated while he shook his head.
Zuko said nothing. He was aware Kei was respectful, the man had served the family for a few years. He cared enough about Izumi to befriend her; Kei was one of the few people that Izumi trusted enough to talk about her insecurities besides him.
'It's like having a therapist and a bodyguard in one body, I really should ask his family if they require anything. Their service has been invaluable to mine.' Zuko thought as he crossed his arms, eager to best put this issue behind him.
Zuko watched Izumi and Kei slowly moved to leave the room. Izumi was eager to discuss her own issues. The duo knew what was going to occur, this discussion was far from over… And both were not willing to speak on these problems.
"I hope I'm wrong, war would just hurt our home. It would unbalance all we've built." Kei said as he shook his head, unsure what to say. "You know the Earth Kingdom is the biggest enemy we have to this deal. We've hurt them, they've got plenty of reasons to want to hurt us, they're always going to want to paint us as enemies." Kei added, placing a hand on the wall as one of the torches faintly glowed.
"We can't go back and change what happens with our predecessors." Izumi responded as Kei hummed. "But I made sure that we might have some help. I will plan to speak to the avatar, gaining his help on the issue at hand when it comes down to it." Izumi said before Kei blinked.
He said nothing, fully aware of how best this could play out. There was be curious factors in this plan. Still? It wasn't Kei's place to question the princess. He looked upon the well-lit walls of the hallway. Kei often question why the place had embraced the flames so fully. He ran a hand upon the paint, seeming to lean on it more and more.
"Aang might not solve the issue as well as you think." Kei said, drumming his hands upon his armor. "I should inform you there's going to be a majority of soldiers, all of whom might pose a threat if they deem you to be an enemy. I will be making sure they don't even attempt it, but I do wish to point out that there's going to be a LOT of people assuming you're out of your league." Kei said, letting out a breath of fresh air.
"I can acquaint myself well when it comes to political issues." Izumi said before she turned to look at her bodyguard. "But you do have a point, they have a majority of issues with the Fire Nation. If we do not treat them as an equal? They will not hesitate to think the worst and lay their problems upon us." Izumi added, pausing to think about how best to appeal to her kingdom's ancient enemies when they appeared.
This vexed her so much, but it wasn't like they didn't have time to think about the moment.
He left those finer details to Izumi at the moment. until then? They had much bigger fish to fry at this moment, much bigger.
"I have a feeling there's going to be some work to do currently." Kei said, brushing off his armor a moment later.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter done! I want to point out this chapter was going to be longer, but I wanted to focus on other work at the moment. Next chapter will be a bit shorter, but not by much. Next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will show both Izumi and Kei discussing their plan and will be 1200 words at the moment. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!