Lu Ten knew exactly what he had heard. But hearing something was different from knowing that a bunch of words were said. That was a lesson his father had instilled in him early on. A proper man of the fire nation took the words of his father and forefathers to heart, the people of fire were bound by honor and forged in fire, and it was only through the upholding of this honor that their nation had even come to be.
Honor was what separated the fires of the hearth, warm and vibrant from the savage wildfires that consumed with insatiable hunger. The War was the Fire Nation's chaos given purpose. Purpose that was to enlighten those who still lived among the shadows.
At least, that was the official story in the propaganda.
His father taught him early on that the War, at least to him, was his way to honor his father—and it was also Lu Ten's plan to honor his. It was his destiny as someone born to the Fire Nation's greatest general.
But it was difficult not to doubt the horror of what he'd read in the report Raizu shared with him—reports that his cousin wrote up himself supposedly for the Fire Lord's eyes only, was what he called them.
It was a small thing of just ink on paper, just thirteen sheets fed by countless scrolls worth years of records. His cousin went through all of those to produce those thirteen sheets. Thirteen sheets that horrified their grandfather and were burned on sight. Of which a copy was provided there and then after the ashes settled on the ground. A report he had a copy of stashed in a tucked away corner of the garden, wrapped in mongoose lizard leather and buried a good foot in the earth.
It was a night that forever changed the man he'd feared most to one his heart broke for.
Raizu never lied, but he wielded a sharp and unyielding truth. A truth that commanded attention and demanded be heard.
Azula was right to warn him of her younger brother. Had Lu Ten not known to keep his toes in line there was no telling what the boy might have done—or worse, revealed to him. It was an open secret within the court that the youngest royal was not to be trifled with. But all for different reasons.
Young daughters spoke about a boy who knew too much and spared no interest in the things little boys usually did. Young sons challenged him time and again in little spars and spats and never quite understood just how easily and thoroughly they lost. Ministers and sages ran away from the grueling thankless added work, demanding beyond reason but not always with purpose. But it was the servants that had the most chilling tales: they spoke of a shadow that crawled along the walls, of chilling whispers and unknown tongues in inhuman voices, of presences unseen but there and not there.
He was a storm on his own, chaos made real, like an amoral spirit playing the tightrope amongst the mortals.
And all of that was held in check by the continued sacrifice of the only royal daughter.
Lu Ten loosed a breath he'd been keeping. He couldn't fathom just how far Raizu's grasp could reach, and he had a sinking feeling he should never try finding out.
"It doesn't have to be right away," his grandpa said. "Agni knows I still need to beat Ozai with a stick. If I told him now, there's no telling what that ambitious twit would do."
His father finally had some color back in his face. It was also concerning what his grandfather said so openly and surely about his own uncle, but he didn't deny the Fire Lord's word, especially from someone who admitted to being a bad father. He had heard the way his uncle has spoken to Zuko before, and some part of him was glad the boy was never truly alone.
"I understand," his father said, "but, where do I even start?"
Grandpa handed him the same thirteen sheets of paper. "Start here."
His father took the sheets in hand. "Raizu's Secret Reports?"
His cousin was not blessed with the best naming sense.
His father put the papers down on a nearby desk. "Father, what exactly is Ozai's boy?"
Grandfather shrugged. "Our penance, maybe?"
His father sighed. "Does anyone else know?"
"Only my sages and ministers, anyone else who does is either smart enough to figure it out or someone who stands to gain from this. I already have a list of people who would likely speak against my early retirement, and I also have a list of people who would likely try a power grab. Your brother, chief among them."
His father's heart broke at the confirmation. "What do we do about Ozai?"
Lu Ten heard about the prophecy that led to lady Ursa's entry into the royal family. A prophecy his grandfather personally attended to to make sure it happened. It explained a lot on why his uncle was so obsessed with the throne—but that he heard it from Azula said a lot about the poor girl and the royal family as a whole.
He agreed that Zuko must never know about that.
"As much as I'd like to send him on some aimless lemur chase like, I don't know, looking for the Avatar, I know for a fact Ozai would just make more enemies than it would do our people any good." His grandpa sighed. "I can't imprison him either on false charges since that would reflect badly on you."
His father shook his head. "What a mess."
"What a mess indeed," grandfather added. "Which reminds me I should probably try and apologize to Ursa while I'm at it."
His father grimaced.
"Not my brightest moment, but it's what you do after that get's written down in the history scrolls."
"How much time do I have to prepare?"
"We'll need to ease the generals into the idea. Your experience in the front lines will be important to convince the more militaristic viewpoints of the court, but at least our domestic affairs are already accounted for. Other than that, we can only bide our time, and make sure you get some proper practice in for the coming months. Ozai or someone else ambitious enough might, and likely will, try to challenge you for the throne."
"I understand."
"We know we'll have to cross these bridges eventually, but at least one thing's already decided."
"I need more guards?"
Really said a lot about the royal family, Lu Ten decided.
"That too, but I need you out of the front lines and staying here as soon as you can."
His father braced himself for the decision he'd just made. "I will need time to tell my men, and we'll also need to rethink our current plans."
"I also want to stop creating any new theaters of war and any further expansion of our existing territories."
The War was coming to an end?
"Father, please, your son isn't as young as he used to be." But there was a small smile on his father's lips.
And for the first time in a long time, Lu Ten heard his grandfather laugh.
"And how do you think I feel?"
There was a short pause, and then father and son in front of him started laughing together. It was a breathy, dry and tired laughter from too many years far apart, but it was laughter nonetheless.
Then his grandfather turned to him.
"Don't you for one second think this means you've got it easy, Lu Ten." The old man was smirking now. "I'll need you to keep a close eye on your cousins and aunt. And as much as this should pain me to say, you'll need to keep them safe from my idiot son."
Lu Ten was expecting something worse.
"Oh, and you'll need to also keep a closer watch for anything useful Raizu might come up with, that boy has the attention span of a dragonfly hummingbird and he's just as likely to focus on something stupid as he is on something horrible. Keep that idiot focused on improving the Fire Nation."
Agni damn it.
"Our family is a mess," his father said.
Grandfather stood up and stretched his legs. "Look at the bright side, at least you get to end the war."