XVI.
The Prince of the Fire Nation, banished from his homeland for 941 days, including two birthdays, approached the steps to the palace. He tried not to let it bother him, but he was under the element of fire and too much fire resulted in a short temper and overwhelming pride. His scar sent a shockwave of bitter heat through his face, making his left eye close entirely. He resisted the urge to reach up and touch it.
This was not the homecoming he had envisioned. At the start of his journey, (hell, why kid himself?) even right up to the end, he had anticipated crowds of Fire Nation citizens lining the Great City's streets, even if it was to just catch a glimpse of the return of the exiled Prince. Zuko hated being a spectacle, but even worse, he hated being ignored completely.
Iroh squinted, leveling his hand to his brow.
"Only a handful of soldiers. My brother doesn't think that much of us."
"You were expecting an army?"
"Well," Iroh winked, "I was at least expecting a challenge." A soldier trotted down the steps, brushing past the two sentries at the bottom and meeting the army as they gathered in the dust of the bare courtyard. It pained Iroh to see the once magnificent gardens of the Royal courts reduced to so much sand and stone.
"Fire Lord Ozai requests your presence in his hall regarding your return, Prince Zuko. The great General Iroh and your friends are, of course, welcome." The soldier slid his eyes over Katara, Sokka and Lenara. Prince Zuko turned to the group behind him.
"Keep an eye out for my father's royal guards. He's probably planning to attack you while I'm inside," he muttered to Bumi and Jet. They nodded, then Bumi fixed a grin on his face.
"Well, you'd better get going, young man!" Zuko raised his lone eyebrow at the mad genius, then turned and marched up the steps. Katara met Haru's eyes and she smiled, though her face was tight with anxiety. They entered the dark palace.
Sokka and Katara lingered by the cold, gritty columns to let their eyes adjust. They were stopped by a pair of guards, noticing Sokka's boomerang.
"No weapons are allowed in the throne room, Prince Zuko."
"My brother doesn't expect us to surrender our Fire Souls to him, does he?" Iroh asked, a hint of anger in his tone. Sokka reluctantly handed over his father's boomerang, Katara her water flask, Iroh and Zuko their swords.
"Any weapons, girl?" Lenara narrowed her eyes, then sent up a tower of flames from her turned up palm.
"Just one, sir." The soldier glared at her. He led them into the main hall, the faded banners of a thousand generations wavered in the breath of an invisible monster. Sokka tried to find where the ceilings ended and discovered the darkness went on forever. Katara scanned the mosaic patterns and pictograms on the walls, blackened almost to obscurity by smoke from the lamps. The vast space made Lenara wish for the close, cramped circle of her tent. She watched Zuko out of the corner of her eye. The corners of his slender mouth were turned slightly down, but his eyes shone. He was home.
The soldiers halted on either side of an enormous archway. Zuko drew in a breath and stood with his shoulders back. He had thought of this moment since he first set foot on his battered ship. All his preparation, all his meditation did nothing to settle the storm in his gut or the rhythm in his heart. He would now face his father and complete the circle.
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Aang's skycrawling slowed to a stop and he was able to bend the air currents to keep himself afloat beside the plummeting rock. He reached out for the flames and found them almost unbearable. This was the hateful Fire symbol, rivaled by the Fire Nation's proud but peaceful volcanoes. Aang remembered the spirits in the cave of the volcano, how they smiled his smile. They were strength. This thing just wanted to tear him apart.
"I don't understand you…why are you angry?" The comet continued its dive and Aang bent around the front and held out both arms, trying to Earth bend the rock inside. The comet flexed and a hot fan of fire swept over Aang, burning his hands as he tried to deflect the flames. He yelped, sucking on his blistered digits, and watched the comet fall away from him to the earth below.
"How do I stop it? What should I do?" Aang really didn't want to waste a lot of time meditating on this, but something inside whispered the Air bender mantra: 'Balance is Key'…
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Lenara watched the flames lining either side of the throne room waiver and snap. They responded to royal blood and right now, three of the royal family stood flooding the magnanimous room. She glanced at Iroh, who glared ahead at the figure occupying the overshadowed throne. Zuko looked petrified, a piece of bone frozen in amber. Lenara slid her faded green eyes over to the man ahead of them and ignored the sensible voice in her head…
"LORD OZAI!" Her loud greeting echoed in the room, dropped two octaves for effect. Zuko jumped, completely caught off his guard and Sokka clutched his chest in haggard surprise.
"You wanna warn us when you're gonna do that?"
"Sorry. Silence bothers me."
"What do you think of the acoustics, young lady?" The Fire Lord sounded amused.
"Pretty impressive. Were we interrupting something?"
"Not at all. You're welcome to approach, of course." Lenara moved, but Iroh threw out his arm, holding her back.
"Do not be so eager to enter the Dragon's lair," he whispered, then raised his voice: "We can hear you just fine from here, brother."
"Ah, Iroh, my better half," he sneered, "It's good to here your voice again. It's been what-three years now?"
"Three years, four months and twelve days, brother."
"Has it been that long? How quickly time passes." Iroh rested a solid warning look on Zuko, flames already burning in his eyes. Zuko cooled, but his jaw remained tight.
"And I see the Avatar's companions have joined us. Welcome to the Fire Nation, although I'm sure this isn't the first time you've journeyed across our borders." Katara and Sokka both leveled the Fire Lord with a sibling glare. He stifled a laugh.
"You, young lady," he motioned to Lenara, "has my son acquired a body guard to protect him?" Zuko was about ready to explode. His father spoke as if he were not present, as if he never existed.
"Hardly, sir. Zuko's quite capable of defending himself. I'm here because of this," she held up her marked wrist, "I trust you recognize the mark." Ozai's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, the orange firelight reflected in his black orbs.
"A Hün-dai. Interesting. I thought you were all but lost to the Fire Nation."
"Well, your Admiral Zhao tried his best."
"I understand your father accepted the charges without denial and died peaceably in a public demonstration," a white flash like the wolf's grin floated in the dark, "the legacy of Taro Hün-dai's non-violent protest stands before me."
"You assume too much, Fir e Lord. I'm not my father. I won't die without a fight." He seemed satisfied with her answer, nodding his head.
"I would expect nothing less."
"Speaking of expectations," Iroh's voice was crisp," I would have thought you had the decency to address your son first, brother."
"I was saving the best for last, dear Iroh," Ozai explained, walking an unhurried pace towards them. A shadow behind the throne moved and followed, head bent down, feet shuffling heavily. Ozai stopped a few feet from the group. The firelight grew bright where they stood and Katara noticed how manicured this guy was. There wasn't a bare thread or bread crumb to speak of, not a fold out of place, not a muscle undeveloped. He wasn't bred-he was landscaped!
"Prince Zuko." Zuko couldn't bring himself to meet his father's eyes.
"My Lord."
"You've grown taller."
"I guess."
"No worse for the wear, it seems. I'm sure you've encountered the hostile peoples of this world. They…were not receptive to your being a Prince of the Fire Nation?" Zuko glanced at Lenara, then smiled in spite of himself.
"Still asking the wrong questions, father."
"Oh," the Fire Lord's tone bordered on the arctic, "well, then I shall have to be more careful about that." He pushed a mocking smile onto his face as the flames of the lamps rose a fraction.
"I don't see the Avatar with you."
"He's gone."
"And with him your hopes for the throne. What a shame."
"I've come to reclaim it anyway." Iroh looked at his nephew, shocked, almost excited expression in his raised eyebrows. Lord Ozai was less amused.
"You dare defy me again?"
"My intention has never been to defy you, father, but to watch the Fire Nation flourish. The Avatar brings balance. This war-it's chaos! Half of our Nation's people are dead!"
"A regrettable loss, to be sure, but they died for a worthy cause." Iroh raised a hand up to his sibling.
"Against their will, yes, if you consider the 41st division, the village of Sun-Yi, the massacre in…"
"Are you suggesting these people were murdered, brother?"
"I am not suggesting it…I am plainly stating they were murdered by your command." The Fire Lord held his brother's gaze, losing his control over his anger. His older, self-righteous other always had this effect on him, to coddle and urge him to his ideals, always Iroh's way. He then remembered he had a card to play. The fire in the hall diminished.
"You wound me, Iroh. You make it sound as though I do nothing but destroy life, when on the contrary," he motioned for the slow moving figure and was handed a bulging, moving cloth, "I have helped create it."
XVII.
Bumi tossed aside his crown of feathers and the purple robe.
"Too hot for that garbage," he muttered. The crowd was restless, clutching weapons like security blankets. They sensed the attack. A few of the Yuu-Yan archers knocked arrows into their bows, comforted by the feel of the wood between their slender fingers. Haru bent a rock level to his eyes and snatched it up. He tossed it in the air to calm his nerves. Jet spit out his mangled piece of grass and clamped a fresh strand between his teeth.
"Gettin' nervous?"
"No." Haru tossed the rock higher. Jet snagged it in the air.
"You obviously hide it well. "
"Cut it out, you little mooks," Bumi wheezed, "we're being ambushed." Jet rolled his eyes.
"Oh we are, are we?" A swarm of fire arrows screamed from the outer wall, pelting the dry ground around them. Bumi swept out a patch of rock to block the next wave as Jet stamped out the burnt grass.
"It's a wonder you ain't dead yet," he grumbled.
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Fire Lord Ozai peeled back the corners of the blanket and apricot colored flesh glowed in the light of the torches. A sharp cry echoed the creature's surprise as it glimpsed the strangers with wide brown eyes.
"A baby," Katara breathed.
"A son," Lord Ozai stroked the child's head. Lenara's mouth opened, speechless. Iroh frowned.
"How could this be so? My sister-in-law has been gone, the Avatar rest her, for five years!"
"She was not the only woman in the Fire Nation, brother." Zuko's fists were tight balls of white skin at the aloof mention of his mother.
"This…is why you sent me away? To produce another heir?" Ozai simply smiled.
"Do I mean so little to you?" Zuko seethed, his emotions overwhelming him.
"What's wrong with a little competition?"
"You're sick," Lenara murmured.
"Sticks and stones, my dear. My son, my infant son, will bring the Fire Nation a long and victorious future."
"And what if this son disagrees with you?" Lenara stepped past Zuko to face Ozai, "will you banish him as well and every other after until you people this nation with bitter heirs? They're not soldiers you can command. They-are-your-sons!"
"I can see why you're attracted to her, Zuko," Ozai laughed quietly, "she's got the fire you never possessed. Tell me, young Hün-dai, since your father is no longer among the living, that means your mother is available, isn't she?"
"Okay, that's it," Lenara shook off her robe and stalked towards Ozai, rolling up her sleeves. Sokka grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away as she shouted: "Let me at him! I'll give you available!"
"Rope it in, Lenara. Now's not the time," Sokka muttered. Katara watched Ozai hand the infant back to the bent figure behind him. She caught the glimpse of blue on his brow. The figure, only a boy, bent down to expose the arrow on his head.
"Oh, my god," she whispered. Sokka and Lenara looked up. Katara had moved past them until she stood beside Iroh and Zuko.
"He's an Air bender."
"One of the very few from the Southern Air Temple." Ozai placed a hand on the boy's head, staying him as a master does a faithful dog. The boy's eyes were empty and unfocused. He let a small string of saliva ooze from the corner of his lips. A raised railroad track of a scar wound across his skull and curled behind his ear.
"What's wrong with him?" Zuko asked, slightly repulsed.
"He's just a little exhausted from the work that has been done on him. He's one of our successes, you know. So many of his fellow monks didn't survive the procedure."
"What procedure?" Katara almost wished she hadn't asked.
"We've found a way to harness a bender's abilities without the hassle of…interference from the bender himself."
"You violated his mind, Ozai. Why don't you just say it?" Iroh asked, disgusted beyond all reason. The boy let out an alien sound , a cry of confusion and helplessness that summoned a tear from Katara. It could have been Aang standing before her, raped of his soul and his thoughts.
"How could you?" she found herself trembling and Iroh placed a hand on her shoulder, "he's just a boy."
"He was an Air bender," Sokka glared.
"He was a monk."
"He's just a possession to you," Zuko said in a ragged breath, "just as Mother was. Just as I am."
"And as the child will be," Ozai finished. He waved a lazy hand at the boy. The Air bender turned with the baby clutched in his arms and walked back to the cradle. No one saw his arrow glow a very faint blue.
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Aang closed his eyes…balance is key. What could balance the comet? Water? A positive fire symbol? A frozen frog? Aang's thoughts slowed as he forced himself to concentrate. Not just the comet required balance-the whole world depended on it. Fire needs water to control its rage; the light needs the dark to make it less harsh, to give it a soft edge. Old and young, rich and poor, man and woman-they all depend on one another to exist.
And what about the Avatar? Who or what is his partner, his balance, his equal? Aang tried to come up with an answer and only succeeded in giving himself a mild migraine. Who was Roku's other half? Who was Kyoshi's? Aang turned the question on himself. No mystery there…
"Katara," he said, trying the word on for size. It was a perfect fit. They were a fine pair: water and wind, boy and girl, both under the symbol of the moon, two souls who bent together.
He opened his eyes. The comet raced for the blue rock below. His spirit flowed through him. It was time…