Lu Ten still couldn't believe what had happened to his family in the short span of a week. He loved hearing those fantastic stories as a child: of great battles of good righteous benders and evil doers brought to justice, but he never stopped to think for a moment before what it would feel like to be living one. What a lot of those legends left out was how the people around the heroes had to deal with their lives going upside down and sideways.

And it was doubly more unpleasant to be on the side of evil.

But of course, some things still survived despite world shattering events.

"Wait, so we're not going to Hira'a anymore?" Raizu was as healthy as can be for someone who'd just died and come back. Very noisy for one too.

"Son, Raizu," Aunt Ursa must have been nursing a headache while trying to get the boy to stay in bed. "You died back there. And then we learn that spirit did things to your body after. We are not taking any chances with you, young man. You are to stay in bed and will be under observation until the healers say you're alright."

Azula and Zuko were right beside her, ready to hold their younger brother down if it came to it. His little cousin groaned and flopped back down to his bed. His papers and writing tools already confiscated two days ago when he was found sneaking towards the archives with the offending articles.

If Lu Ten hadn't known any better, he would have said the youngest royal was back to normal. That was, if one ignored how Raizu apparently had as much Chi as an adult royal and likely even more once he grew up. That gave everyone a shock. The healers couldn't even begin to make sense of what their divination saw.

It explained a lot about how his cousin was so full of energy all the time, but it wasn't clear if that was the spirit being reasonable or if he had always had it. It was an oversight that no one ever bothered properly checking the Chi of the royal children, himself included. And it was sobering to hear that Zuko and Azula's own Chi pools were only slightly behind his. Which practically confirmed the prophecy for him.

It also meant he might have been taking it a bit too easy on his training, but that wasn't that important.

What was important was how Raizu might have been able to go toe-to-toe with his own father at such a young age. It was unthinkable. Grandfather even called for any imprisoned water bender healers from the Hanging Cages and exchanged pardons for them to look at his cousin to be sure.

Yet they all said the same thing.

It was likely sheer dumb luck that his cousin escaped the spirit matter unscathed. His uncle took a week to get back into proper working order and finally walking on his own. A man who couldn't see his own son without any help making the short walk from his room. Whatever that spirit did to him left his Chi so thin that had his aunt not helped him recover, he might have been crippled for the rest of his life. Raizu didn't need to know the how of that worked, not yet at least.

Not that Lu Ten would tell him that it happened at all.

What changed, however, was how his uncle had softened to a point. He wasn't scathing as much, and it had been two days since the last time he'd said something mean to Zuko. Perhaps a few days stuck in bed with only a few visits out of courtesy let him see things more clearly. He became a stranger in his own home, and just maybe he had a change of heart somewhere in his unexpected journey through the Spirit World.

Lu Ten did not have to like what happened, but he had to acknowledge how it brought results.

And still there were a lot more changes after that.

More prisoners of war were pardoned left and right, water and earth benders released after years and years of imprisonment—decades, even. And Lu Ten couldn't believe his eyes reading the same reports and orders his grandfather gave and received, of just how many people were kept by the Fire Nation against their will.

Worse still were the records of prison labor—all but slaves in name and how much they kept the mainland afloat. Azula was the one who pointed out how the colonies' populations didn't add up against how much they were giving in tribute. After that it was all a matter of rooting out where the inconsistency came from, and it was Sage Shyu who eventually found the answer—that the colonies and territories with the most prisoners had the most contributions.

There was much dissent among the generals and nobles following those drastic measures, some going so far as to call the Fire Lord weak within and during his court. His grandfather even received two challenges his rule: a disgruntled Admiral Chan who was in charge of the Eastern fleet. Not that any ships from Earth Kingdom ever used that route. Because the Earth Kingdom couldn't care any less outside the reach of their land.

Really, that guy got a little too ambitious on his own.

The other one, however, was a lot more concerning: Admiral Jeong Jeong challenged the Fire Lord as well and lost. He was the loudest voice on the war council highly in favor of stopping the conflicts when grandfather first announced them, but the sudden turn felt like a betrayal. After the fight however, within the Fire Lord's private war council, the man requested to leave the army and to serve under whatever power was behind the sudden changes.

He was disgraced and forced to become a lowly aide, was the official story.

But grandfather had another tile up his sleeve when he dropped the proverbial hammer on anyone else wanting their lionturtle's share of the hotcake, about how the great spirit Sephiroth brought the Fire Lord to his knees with the chill of death. How the great Azulon, master of Fire's own inner fire was imprisoned in the face of that eerie cold. Most of the remaining murmurs were silenced with that. Most, but not all. But it was enough.

The trip to Hira'a was put on hold until things went back to normal, not that it was still necessary given the state his uncle was in. If Aunt Ursa was disappointed with that, it was buried deep beneath her worry for her youngest son. And even if his cousins didn't show it on their faces, he knew they were glad their father was alright even with the way he was.

"Okay, fine, I'll stay in bed," his cousin said. It was strange that only now did Raizu seem like a proper boy his age. "But can you please at least give me some proper food? I don't think I can take much more tasteless porridge for longer."

"Raizu, your idea of flavor is a pool of hot oil and peppers," Aunt Ursa said. "If the healers decide it's alright for you, then you will get your spices back. Gradually."

"And no bending, dum-dum." Azula poked her twin on the forehead, pushing him back into bed.

"Please Raizu, you know everyone's just worried about you." Zuko finished.

Raizu splayed himself on the bed and made sheet wolfbats. "This is torture."

"No, Raizu, it's necessary." Aunt Ursa then passed him a scroll. "Here, treat this as a bribe if you need to."

The pouting boy unfurled the paper and read through it. He closed the scroll. He opened it again. "Grandpa is assigning me as the Royal Inquisitor?"

"Actually, it will be you, Azula, Zuko, and Lu Ten." Aunt Ursa shook her head. "I would normally be against having children doing state functions, but you all have proven yourselves too useful to keep holed up in the palace."

Zuko was practically bouncing on his heels while Azula had the smuggest look a little girl could manage.

"Father says it sounds like a proper and sincere effort to fix the Fire Nation, and you all have the freedom to decide where and when you want to go."

Did his aunt just call the Fire Lord her father?

"You're free to call it a working vacation," his aunt added.

His cousin whimpered and deflated deep into his bed.

"Huh, I thought you'd be happier," Lu Ten wondered out loud.

"I'm being shipped out to work. This is child labor!"

Azula poked his forehead back into bed. "The abundant mountain draws many beasts, dum-dum."

"Look at the bright side, Raizu," Zuko said, "at least Zula will finally get to meet some other kids her age."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said the fiery princess.

"And aren't you excited to finally see your mother's hometown?" Aunt Ursa ruffled Raizu's hair.

"Fine. I guess we're an audit firm now."

His cousin still said a lot of words that didn't sound like words though, must be the spirits talking.