Iroh was already on edge before he entered the Throne Room.

The first blissful cup of tea was interrupted by an urgent message, delivered by a visibly nervous servant. An early morning summons was unlikely to mean anything other than the return of his younger brother. Sighing, he finished his tea before leaving a message with the servant for Katara. The girl had yet to emerge from her bed. Without the same connection to the sun's pathway in the sky, Iroh wondered whether waterbenders had not adapted to early mornings as well as firebenders. Much to the small girl's displeasure, her resultant grumpiness was a frequent source of amusement at her expense. No chance of that entertainment this morning.

Apprehensive glances from the palace servants tracked him as he passed through the hallways. It was to be expected. Even those unaware of the circumstances surrounding Prince Ozai's return had sensed the tension surrounding the Royal Family in the preceding weeks. Rumours festered behind closed doors, crafted theories escalating in scope as to the nature of the younger Prince's impending arrival.

Iroh shared their apprehension. This meeting would bring an answer to the question that had plagued his thoughts since the war council's meeting. Had his brother lost control of his soldiers? Had the Rough Rhinos carried out their own form of justice, ignoring their commanding officer and showing that he did not hold their respect? The alternative was that this had been Ozai's own plan to punish the village, Taijian, for feeding the rebellion. No option was preferable, none that could dissuade the sickening dread that Iroh felt.

Despite Azulon's original dismissiveness, Iroh suspected his father's preference. Cruelty was unlikely to affect the Fire Lord. This war had brought untold casualties and devastation. No, this came down to recklessness or weakness. An ordered rampage on a village would be a reckless move, but not one that would affect the Fire Lord's perceived strength. Lost respect in the Fire Lord's son would have more of a detrimental effect on his father.

Whatever the reason, there was no difference for the village and the surrounding area of the Earth Kingdom. They had suffered a blazing inferno, the decimation of a population, and the loss of its resources. The full consequences of the brutal massacre would become clear only with time, but anybody could have foreseen that such an act had the potential to galvanise the rebellion further.

Pushing these thoughts from his clouded mind, Iroh strode through the curtain to enter the Throne Room. He was not the first to arrive. Despite being ten years Iroh's junior, his younger brother stood taller than him. Dark hair in contrast to Iroh's lighter brown was set in a refined style, appropriate for a meeting with the Fire Lord. Distinguished robes hung from his shoulders, reaching the floor, layers of maroon swaying as Ozai turned to investigate the new arrival.

A sneer broke out across the familiar face. "Brother, what a wonderful surprise."

"Ozai."

"How very formal of you," Ozai replied, dryly. "Now, why would the Crown Prince be here?"

"I have not been told why I've been summoned."

"Summoned?" Ozai asked, a thin eyebrow rising. "I'm hurt, Iroh. Would you not have come to support your younger brother without orders from Father?"

"Maybe you should be focused more on what you are going to say to Father when he gets here."

"Well you haven't changed, have you? Still as stuffy as always, eh Iroh?"

Iroh scowled at his brother. "Do you really think that is helping?"

Ozai chuckled, bringing up a slim hand to peer at it as he twisted his fingers around. "I take it father has requested your presence," he said, dryly. "I'm sure he will look to your excellent judgment when handing down any punishment for my supposed transgressions."

"We both know I have no say in this."

"You are wrong there. Father has always turned to you for advice when he wants it."

"The key word being *when*, it isn't a common occurrence."

"He clearly listened to you about a new addition to the Palace," Ozai said, fingers curling down on themselves as his eyes narrowed at them.

Iroh barely had time to glare in response before the arrival of the Fire Lord interrupted their conversation. Azulon swept into the Throne Room from the side entrance, taking his place on the raised platform without a glance towards his two sons. He raised his head towards them, thin lips pursed as they stepped in front of the throne. The tension in the room was palpable as both Iroh and Ozai bowed to their father, not looking at one another as they awaited his acknowledgement of the reason for the meeting.

"You've returned."

"Yes, Father," Ozai said, bowing again respectively.

"I believe you know why you are here, Ozai," his father responded, cold eyes assessing his youngest son.

"Yes, Father."

"You have some explaining to do."

Out of the corner of his eye, Iroh noticed an imperceptible twitch in his brother's jaw. Despite this, any nervousness Ozai felt wasn't betrayed within his voice as he responded clearly to their father.

"I will answer any questions you have for me, Father."

"You better," Azulon snapped. "I have no tolerance for your failure."

Ozai remained silent, not flinching as the fire wall surged upwards. There was no visible change in Ozai's expression, but the brothers stood close. Iroh could feel the frustration coming from him in indiscernible waves.

"Shall we see what pathetic excuses you can offer then?" Azulon continued. "Let's start with the rebellions. You were in charge of a key area in the Eastern block of the Earth Kingdom. A block that had increased levels of renegade actions against Fire Nation soldiers in the last six months. Did you have no control over the population at all?"

The sneering question brought a new swell of heat towards Iroh. He gritted his teeth, hoping Ozai didn't rise to the bait. When his brother responded, his tone bore a composure that Iroh knew was not indicative of the man's true thoughts on the question.

"Fire Nation intelligence did not suggest that the levels had increased to an extent that responsive action was necessary. That the conflicts were centralised around only a few locations, ones that could be contained," Ozai replied. "We had moved to contain them."

"Too late to make any difference, the wound was already festering," their father said, scorn lacing the last word. "You lost control of the situation."

"At that stage, there was no reason to think there was a situation to lose control over."

"That is a pitiful excuse."

"I am sorry, Father."

"When did you receive word regarding the rallying of troops from Taijian?"

"As I am sure you have been briefed by the Intelligence Minister, a little over a month ago," Ozai responded.

The wall of fire before them crackled as its master rage spilled forth. Ozai flinched, a tiny movement but a first reaction to his father's anger nonetheless.

"Don't get smart with me, boy," Azulon angrily barked. "How do I know that you were even listening to the information, you clearly weren't acting on it?"

"I apologise. A little over a month ago."

"And you did what?"

"I consulted with my advisors and moved to cut supplies to the village," Ozai said.

"With what intention?"

"To reaffirm who held the power in the region and show them how pitiful their rebellion was."

"It clearly didn't work."

"No, it didn't."

Azulon's eyes narrowed at his youngest son's words. Iroh held his breath, awaiting the one remaining question.

"Did you instigate the Rough Rhinos' raid on that village?"

"Yes, Father."

"Why?"

"They disrespected the Fire Nation's authority. Your authority. There is only one way to bring down a rebellion. Crush their people."

The cold simplicity of his brother's word sent a shudder down Iroh's back. He shut his eyes momentarily. As he opened them, he stole a look at Ozai's face. The slight smirk appearing there chilled Iroh to his core, not helped by the silence from his father. Iroh could sense the change in the room, the settling of the heat between father and son. There would be no real condemnation of Ozai's actions.

Azulon hummed. "So, you didn't lose control of your soldiers? They razed that village on your orders."

"Yes, Father. They needed to be reminded who held the real power."

"So, you acted out of bruised ego?"

Ozai tensed, before responding, "I do not see it that way."

"You are wrong. Your recklessness has brought embarrassment on this family," Azulon said, but his tone had lost the threat it had previously held. "You still have much to learn to even be close to your brother in the realms of leadership."

"I understand."

Azulon sat back in his throne, a wizened hand raised to stroke the long beard. "We don't know what the reaction to this will be. Further retaliation from the Earth Kingdom, escalation of attacks on our soldiers or even questioning of my ability to pass on leadership to one of my sons."

"I understand, Father. I will do whatever I can to make this up to you."

"Just know you are walking on thin ice. We are not done with this."

"Yes, sir."

The Fire Lord turned his eyes to Iroh's, eyebrow creeping upwards. "You have been very quiet, Iroh. Do you have anything to add?"

"No, sir. We have heard what Ozai has had to say and I think we simply need to let the events unfold now," Iroh replied. He was cautious with his choice of words and focussed on his father, determined to not view his brother's opinion.

Azulon pursed his lips, before nodding and dismissing them. Both brothers left the Throne Room in silence. When it was clear that they were alone in the corridor, Ozai turned to face Iroh, the smirk now apparent on his face.

"You seem disappointed by his judgment." There was no question in his words.

Iroh didn't rise to the provocation. "Not at all. He responded how I thought he would."

"Then are you angry at my actions?"

"I was surprised that you had made that call. But you were in command. It wasn't anyone else's order to make," Iroh responded simply.

"How predictably honourable of you. You can try and deny it, but I suspect you'd have given the same orders based on the available information."

"What information?"

Something passed across Ozai's face, before his grin broadened. "The same information you heard from the Minister of Intelligence, of course."

Iroh sighed. He wanted this conversation to end. His brother was trying to bait him and likely suspected his true thoughts on what he had condemned the village to suffer through. Remaining composed in the presence of Ozai was draining. He also wanted to avoid returning to the conversation alluded to before his father's arrival. He turned to leave.

As if he could read Iroh's thoughts, Ozai shattered the chance for a swift departure. "So, I hear you adopted your very own waterbender?"

Iroh's eyes closed for a second, before turning back to face his grinning brother. "She is my ward while she remains here."

"She's a prisoner. She doesn't deserve to walk through the same halls as the Royal Family."

"She's a child, and she is no longer a prisoner. She hasn't been one for half a year," Iroh responded.

Ozai scoffed. "You're soft, I shouldn't be surprised that you've chosen to try and tame her."

"She doesn't need to be tamed," Iroh said, tersely.

"Debatable." The dry response was accompanied with a raised eyebrow, before Ozai pursed his lips in an expression not unlike the one their father had fixed him with a few minutes ago. "What I don't understand is how you convinced Father to allow you to keep her."

"He had his reasons. For one, she has proven to be very useful as a healer already."

Ozai's laugh was cruel. "Of course, why not get a waterbender to heal the people of her enemy. That seems like a warped sense of heroism, saving her just to subject her to that."

"You sound concerned for her welfare, Ozai," Iroh commented, raising an eyebrow.

"This is going to backfire on you, Iroh. I wonder how Father will appreciate your judgement when it does."

"Right, we're done here."

"Of course," Ozai said. "I'll see you at lunch, Iroh. I do believe I'll get to meet your waterbender then."

As Iroh turned to finally leave, he considered returning to his wing. To speak to Katara. But he had the sense that his brother had withheld information about the nature of his attacks on Taijian. He needed to find out if there was anything that the Minister of Intelligence could enlighten him about. Sighing, as he rounded the corner, he headed towards the ministerial wings. If he hurried, maybe he would have enough time to return to his wing before lunch.

"My father is back. He returned late last night." Zuko's words broke the silence as they ate breakfast on the balcony.

Katara looked up at the prince. He had been in a strange mood since he arrived earlier unannounced. This wasn't abnormal, he often turned up without warning when his lessons had been cancelled. "Oh, that's good. Did you speak to him?"

Zuko shook his head. "He had left before I woke up. Mum said he had to see grandfather."

"Iroh had to leave early this morning too," Katara said. "What should we do? We could grab some new scrolls and just stay here until he gets back?"

"Mum said to maybe just stay in Uncle's wing until we are all supposed to meet for lunch."

"All of us?"

"You included. I asked, she was certain. Maybe Father wants to meet you?" Zuko looked a little tentative at his suggestion, causing a small knot to start growing in Katara's stomach.

"Maybe," she said hesitantly.

They spent the rest of the morning trawling through Iroh's study, trying to find something interesting to entertain them while waiting to head to lunch. The concept of meeting Zuko's father was making Katara increasingly anxious and Zuko wasn't helping at all. It started subtly, exasperated words interspersing tense silences as the prince realised he couldn't find something to distract him. But as an hour passed, his frustration continued to build.

Eventually, Zuko dropped a book on his foot, cursed and kicked it. Katara promptly grabbed a scroll and sat down on the other side of the room to give her friend some space. She stared at the scroll in her lap blankly, unable to concentrate. After their conversation the other week, she could understand why Zuko may be worried about not having improved in his training enough. But, the boy was clearly apprehensive over simply seeing his father again.

Her nerves only grew as her stomach starting growling, indicating that lunch was approaching. When a servant entered the study, Katara tensed, but Zuko almost jumped out of his skin. With a tentative smile, the woman let them know that Iroh had apologised for not returning and had requested their presence in the dining hall. They left Iroh's wing, Katara nudging the prince's shoulder and offering an encouraging smile. Zuko looked drained, but returned a slight quirk of his lips back. Katara sighed. That was just going to have to be good enough for now.

They walked down the hallway in silence. As they approached a junction between paths, Katara noticed a man walking from the other direction. He appeared to be lost in thought, not noticing them until they almost collided. The man was tall, dressed in a soldier's uniform with thick sideburns framing the lower half of his face.

Breaking from whatever daze he had been in, he blinked down at them. There was a moment as he looked at the children where Katara could sense an uncomfortable stillness in his demeanour. However, it soon passed. The man's teeth sparkled as his face broke out into a broad grin. The sincerity didn't reach his eyes, but he bowed in front of her friend without hesitation.

"Prince Zuko, what a pleasure to see you again."

"Captain Zhao," the prince acknowledged the man. When Zhao didn't offer any further comment, Zuko continued. "Why are you here?"

"I returned with your father last night. Have you seen him yet?"

"No," Zuko responded quietly.

Zhao's eyebrow rose. "Oh. I ran into your mother and your talented sister this morning and was surprised that you weren't with them," Zhao said, nodding at the prince before his amber eyes slowly moved to hers. "But perhaps you were otherwise occupied. Who might this be?"

The man's eyes were cold as they observed her, something that Katara was used to from interactions around the Palace. But there was an element of curiosity lurking in them that was more unsettling. Katara felt immobile, unable to answer the intimidating man.

Luckily, she didn't need to. Zuko responded for her, his tone blunt as he glared at the captain. "This is Katara."

"Interesting," Zhao replied, his gaze seeing straight through her. "I've heard about our latest addition. Those eyes are very unique. Blue is virtually unheard of in the Fire Nation."

The compliment felt wrong but as he stared at her, she felt obliged to respond. Unsure of her words, she quietly thanked him. The resulting grin added to her building nausea.

"Well, how charming."

She was saved from further interacting with him by Zuko's interruption. "We were in the process of heading to lunch," the prince said irritably.

"Of course, Prince Zuko. I wouldn't want to keep you from your family," Zhao said humbly, eyes finally removed from her as he acknowledged the prince. "I look forward to seeing you both around."

Zuko nodded before turning around, grabbing Katara's hand and dragging the girl with him. She refused to turn back around, grateful for the prince's lack of patience. Zuko looked at her in surprise as she squeezed his hand and murmured a thank you to him. The prince's returned smile was stronger than earlier, and he didn't drop her hand until they reached the dining hall.

Before entering, Katara drew in a deep breath, noticing that Zuko was mimicking her actions. He pushed the curtain aside as she followed him through and was surprised that there were only two men in the room. Iroh smiled at them as they entered but she only briefly noticed before her eyes were drawn to the man standing next to him. There was a familiarity in his face, Katara recognising those features from hours spent with the man's brother, his son and daughter. There were differences as well, the features thinner than those of his brother and more refined than that of his children.

But there was no doubt. This was Zuko's father.

Father glanced at Zuko, barely acknowledging his presence, before his eyes flickered to Katara standing at his side. Zuko felt his stomach sink. His father sneered as he glowered down at the girl. When his father spoke, Zuko had an urge to grab her hand, but he couldn't bring himself to move.

"I know who you are. From what I hear, the Commander of the Southern Raiders has you to thank for some snow-related trauma."

Who? Wait, what did Father mean by trauma? Zuko looked at his friend in confusion. He found no reassurance. Katara had tensed, eyebrows drawn and tiny fists clenching her skirt. She didn't meet Zuko's gaze, her blue eyes heatedly directed on the new arrival.

"Ozai." Uncle's tone of voice startled Zuko. There was a danger lurking in that word, a warning building in the last syllable. His uncle was angrily glaring at his father with an intensity that Zuko had never experienced.

"Oh, come on Iroh, where's the harm in expressing admiration for the girl's skill. She did it. You know she did. Why would you not want to celebrate the brutality of her actions?"

"You know why."

Father scoffed. "Pathetic. You know what she is. I don't want a savage training with my son."

"She is a child. Unless you want to take this up with the Fire Lord, you know this is out of your control."

"Control? You dare speak to me of control?" his father said, spitting each word. When he received no response, a disdainful grin broke across his face, causing Zuko to wince. "What, you think she has her powers in control?"

"I have complete faith in Katara's control over her bending."

"Obviously, you have enough to risk my son," Father responded. "So, we're all just to sit here and forget that she embodies those pitiful savages. Keep the girl coddled so she doesn't have to get too angry at the big bad Fire Nation."

"She's been here for six months without any issues. There is no need to have her relive past experiences for your own entertainment," Uncle replied.

"Past experiences? You are being ridiculous, Iroh. I highly doubt the girl is stupid enough to not have realised what happened to her."

At the taunt, the temperature escalated rapidly as Uncle stepped forward. His usual calmness had evaporated. Zuko couldn't remove his eyes from the scene. He didn't notice that Katara had moved forward as well, until her defiant voice cut through the tension.

"I know why I'm here," she said. "I will never forget that."

His father chuckled. "Oh, so she speaks? How fascinating," his father said. "Well, I'm interested, why have you accepted your place here? I would have thought someone from the Southern Water Tribe would have had more pride than that." Father began to pace in front of them, waving his hand casually as he continued. "I guess you would get a better education here than back there. Or do they raise all the savages in the same way, even motherless ones?"

Motherless? Zuko's eyes widened as a strangled sob escaped Katara.

"Ozai, that's enough! Back. Off. Now."

Fire enveloped Uncle's fists. The man had stepped forward causing his father to raise his hands, before stepping back and turning to walk out of the room. A moment later, a chuckle broke the silence before Father spoke over his shoulder.

"Just remember Iroh, you dared to bring that savage around my children. I wasn't here to stop your naivety. I am now."

"You know who you have to discuss this with," Uncle said. The fire hadn't retreated, adding a light hiss to his words.

Both of the men glowered at each other, before his father spoke, his words lingering in the air even after he departed the room.

"You may have convinced Father that she isn't an unpredictable savage but you aren't going to pull the wool over my eyes. She lost control once. She will again. It's in her nature."