Zuko met Hina and Kaito in his study. "So, what do you have for me?" he asked, after the tea had been poured.
"Well, there are three main options," Hina began... All three plans required retrieving soldiers from the military to serve the rest of their conscription in food production, technical changes to increase food production, and the use of military cargo ships to transport food through the lakes to Ba Sing Se. The biggest differences were in how much food to send when, with additional choices to be made in how to fund investment in food production, where to put it to best effect, whether and how much rationing was to be used, and money so that the Fire Nation poor could still buy food when prices rose.
"I don't think we should do option three," said Zuko. "It seems really risky. If the harvest is poor..."
Hina and Kaito nodded. "Good," said Hina. "I don't like that one either."
"Too risky," said Kaito. "Personally, I think option one is best."
Zuko shook his head. "That one may be easiest on the Fire Nation, but it leaves the population of Ba Sing Se barely skating along the edge of starvation – assuming perfect distribution, which there won't be. And if there's serious hunger elsewhere in the Earth Kingdom, we're not going to be able to do anything about it at all."
"You don't think the Ba Sing Se authorities will do a decent job?" said Kaito. "I thought you liked the Earth Kingdom."
"I like the people. But the Earth King and Dai Li..." Zuko tried to figure out how to put it politely, and gave up "are doing a really bad job. Or they were, and now the situation in Ba Sing Se is in flux and I don't know what's going to happen, or who will be running things next week."
"Is that why you helped Azula conquer Ba Sing Se, then turned on Ozai on the day of Black Sun?" Kaito flinched back a little. "Just wondering."
Zuko frowned. "Mostly," he said eventually.
Kaito visibly relaxed.
"Knowing your priorities helps us meet them," said Hina.
"Right now, I'm just trying to stop the aftereffects of the war from killing anyone else, and build a lasting peace. I've seen enough of war and death to last me a lifetime."
"I can appreciate that," said Hina.
Hina stayed after Kaito left, and Zuko looked at her. "The letter," he said.
"Yes," she said.
"Thank you," he said. "I wish I'd realized that jurisdiction had changed earlier. I've sent all the members of the War Council an update on the situation so that they at least know where we are as of yesterday. I'd imagine tomorrow's war meeting is going to be interesting."
"Quite. But that's probably the best you can do now," said Hina. "I offered to help you avoid mistakes like this in future. Thoughts?" She tilted her head at him.
"Yes." Zuko refrained from rubbing the back of his neck. Show no weakness. He'd looked into Hina's file. No one who'd survived over 30 years in the service of two different Fire Lords could be as harmless as she appeared. Even if she was a lot of people's grand or great-grandmother, and it showed. "What exactly did you have in mind?" he asked.
"To start, how about going over all the things where practice and theory don't line up?"
Zuko winced. Of course there'd be more. "Let's do that." They spent the next hour going over some of the unwritten rules and pitfalls none of his tutors had told him about. Maybe Uncle had told him some of this, on the ship when he'd been obsessed with finding the Avatar and it had just gone in one ear and out the other. It might as well have been totally new to him. He wasn't going to remember all of this...
They agreed to meet again early the next week. As she steadied herself with her cane after getting up, Zuko blurted, "Why are you helping me?"
Hina smiled at him, looking almost sad. "Because the Fire Nation needs you at your best."
Zuko nodded. "Fair," he said. He wanted, needed to trust her in order to do his job, but... trusting anyone in the Fire Nation court had always been a great way to end up dead.
Saying goodbye was hard. Zuko felt a lump rise in his throat as he helped his friends load their gear onto Appa. Aang, Katara, Toph. It was crazy, he'd been a part of their group for barely two months, but being separated from them felt like losing an eye. Sokka clapped him on the shoulder. "They'll be back before you know it," Sokka said. "And Aang doesn't have the Fire Nation gunning for him anymore. No Zhao, no Azula... no Prince Ponytail chasing them. They'll be fine."
Zuko smiled, remembering that Sokka and Suki were staying for now. He wasn't alone. And he had Mai, too.
Hugs were exchanged all round, with promises to TRY to stay out of trouble that no one really believed would be kept, and the three leaving clambered aboard Appa. "Yip yip," cried Aang. Appa took off, and circled once before turning to fly away into the east.
Zuko had only seen Dr. Chimon, the new Royal Physician, a couple of times when he was discussing Zuko's health with Katara. Zuko had never really spoken with him before. "Hello?" Zuko looked around the main infirmary, not seeing anyone.
"I'll be out shortly, Fire Lord," said Dr. Chimon from the next room. He entered the room a few seconds later, and bowed deeply. "Sorry about that, how are you feeling today?"
"Okay," said Zuko automatically.
The doctor raised an eyebrow.
Zuko elaborated. "The lightning burn is less sore than it was, and less red. I'm less tired, and I get dizzy only rarely. Katara made me promise to come see you regularly."
"That is very good and sensible of her, considering the amount of lightning you had running through you. Thank you for doing so."
Zuko shrugged uncomfortably. He'd never liked doctor visits, although being a refugee had made him appreciate having the option.
"Why don't you come into the examination room, so I can take a look at the burn?"
Zuko nodded, and followed Dr. Chimon into the room he had come from. He sat on the table and took his shirt off. He endured the resulting poking, prodding, and listening with a stethoscope. There was only the lightest gauze bandage needed over the tender pink skin any more, and it only hurt when poked or if he moved wrong.
"Well, you are certainly looking a lot better than the first time I saw you," said Dr. Chimon. "Your heart sounds fine, and your breathing is not far off normal. I understand you have a history of respiratory issues?"
"That was mostly when I was really little. It stopped interfering with my firebending years ago."
"I wish I had a better baseline for you." Dr. Chimon pursed his lips.
"Can I do firebending katas again soon?" asked Zuko hopefully. "Or swords?"
"No. If you keep improving at the current pace, then perhaps in a week or two."
Zuko nodded. It was pretty much what Katara had said the last time she'd checked him over, too.
"Is there anything else troubling you?" asked Dr. Chimon.
Zuko shook his head, but an image of Azula's face wreathed in lightning flashed through his mind as he bid the doctor goodbye. Stupid nightmares. But he could deal with one more nightmare. It wasn't as if he hadn't been dealing with them for years.