Two for the price of one:O Yes, we're really updating, furthermore a freshly revised Chapter 8 has just been posted yesterday, and now you've got a new chapter too. We're finally picking up momentum again :)
Also, thanks to all of you who reviewed last time, it was a pleasure reading through your comments and thoughts.
Guest review ss: Reading this many chapters in 2 days, that's fast! Glad you're enjoying the story and now hoping you're going to enjoy the new chapter just as much :)
Chapter 15 Negotiations
Guest review ss: Reading this many chapters in 2 days, that's fast! Glad you're enjoying the story and now hoping you're going to enjoy the new chapter just as much :)
Chapter 15 Negotiations
Hakoda began as soon as everyone had settled.
"This gathering is to discuss how we are going to handle the presence of His Highness, Zuko, the exiled Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. I've spoken with him and as far as first impressions go, he has come across as genuine and his intentions unproblematic, and so I'm inclined to grant him some requests in terms of freedoms within our campground, as long as he doesn't overstep them.
However, I do wish to gain a better understanding of how he ended up in the Avatar's presence, and how that arrangement has worked so far. I'm doing this with you all here, so you will be able to offer your words and better understand my final decision."
The Chief turned to Sokka. "Sokka, Aang, I want to ask you a couple of questions about Prince Zuko, and then also hear your opinion on his proposal."
Sokka reluctantly nodded his head and Aang wondered what they were agreeing to.
"Please describe what Toph was rescuing him from."
Sokka swallowed, eyes darting around in hesitation, his gaze avoiding Hakoda. He threw Aang a worried glance, and Aang recalled what Zuko had said, that night he had tried to ask about it. He could still recall the chilling sound of Zuko's voice as he had said: "Be glad; it's not a story you want to hear."
But then, Sokka took a breath and set out to speak. "He, uh, was forced to stand there. Arms shackled above him. Anyone could walk up and do whatever." Sokka looked away, to the ground, looking kind of guilty.
"He had no shirt, the worst case of sunburn, ever, and I didn't even know firebenders could get sunburn. Blisters and whip marks, bruises. Katara knows better about all of that. Way too thin, too…He was so battered and filthy that we didn't recognize him at first."
Listening brought a few more memories up for Aang. His time being caught inside Pohuai Stronghold came to mind, and suddenly, Aang wondered if… Aang was really glad that Zuko had shown up so soon after he'd been captured, so he didn't have to find out… It was horrible that Zuko probably had been forced to, he thought with a subconscious shudder.
"Where was he held like this?"
"In Huáng Zhèn. In the centre of the market square."
Aang hadn't seen Zuko there. He'd only seen parts of the aftermath, but what he'd seen had been horrific enough. Sokka's description slowly put things into context, it painted the situation so much worse than Aang had dared to think. Zuko was probably right, it wasn't a story he should want to hear, yet he felt responsible, burdened with the truth of what Zuko had endured.
He recalled the discussion he'd had with the Water Tribe siblings about Zuko's situation, and he still couldn't understand how they wouldn't have, at least, gotten the poor guy they'd seen out of there. How could anyone do this? How could anyone ignore it?
"Did you at any point interact with him?"
Sokka looked mildly ill. "Kind of? He wanted to be left alone. He recognized us and threatened to announce Aang's presence. He also refused Katara's offer of healing while he was there."
"Why do you think that was?"
Sokka contemplated, trying to keep his voice from squeaking. "Uh, he wanted to be left alone. I… maybe he was afraid of us recognising him. Not sure if refusing Katara's offer came from a lack of trust or fear of people realizing and retaliating. Could have been both."
"And after?"
"I had to talk him into letting her heal him, so he wouldn't slow us down. He didn't like it but he let it happen."
That had been strange, Aang thought. Why would anyone prefer being in pain? What was so much worse, that Zuko would rather stay in pain? Did he fear Katara doing something instead of healing him?
"Hmm." Hakoda slowly said as if in confirmation. "Tell me more about after the rescue, how did he behave?"
"He was super weird. He slept a lot. He refused to firebend for starting a campfire. He flinched a lot. Still does. He is easily startled." Sokka recounted.
"He was afraid of me." Aang carefully shared. He still recalled that frightened expression when he'd first seen Aang after the rescue. Aang could hardly grasp the gravity of what Sokka's words meant, it felt so wrong, so downplayed.
Hakoda's line of questioning just moved on, taking careful note of everything the boys said.
"How did his behaviour change when you found out it was Zuko?"
Sokka seemed to think hard before he set out to answer. "That was what was strange about it. It didn't really. When we found out, his reaction was to go to sleep. When I didn't let him," Sokka swallowed, "he offered to be tied up… He…"
Again, Sokka seemed reluctant, but Hakoda expectantly looked at him, so he caved.
"He didn't fight back when I tried to hit him. The Zuko we knew from before would have never behaved anything like that."
"Why did you need to hit him?"
"I, uh, was trying to figure out how much control he had, since we'd known him to have a temper."
Aang thought that that was nicely sugar coating what Sokka had done. Which, in truth, Aang noted, really had been goading Zuko into losing control… he said nothing though, wanting to keep the peace between Father and Son, his limited time in the Water Tribes made him unsure of the dynamic between family members in the tribe.
"What happened?" Hakoda asked.
"He said, if I wanted fire, I could have it, and made our firepit shoot high into the air. When I grabbed him afterwards, he froze up. The fire went dead as if someone had kicked it out to leave no trace after leaving camp, there weren't even any embers left."
Aang noted how reluctant Sokka was to share the details of what had transpired and felt conflicted about what he saw. He still felt conflicted about if Zuko had control of the fire or not. As Toph had pointed out the next day, it indeed had only shot up. It had spilt nowhere else. But Aang preferred to be on the safe side. Fire could hurt badly, he knew from experience, looking at his hands as he got caught in memory. Mentally shaking out of it, he returned back to the conversation and consoled himself that luckily there hadn't been any trees nearby; all life, from your friends to the simple leaf, was sacred.
"What kind of agreement did you have with him at that point?" Hakoda was asking.
"It was, uh, kinda murky. And it changed as the situation changed." Sokka replied.
Back in conversation, Aang piped in."Me and Zuko weren't to hang out alone."
"Considering what he did in the past, completely reasonable." Sokka looked at Aang as he defended the group's reasoning at the time. "We locked him up at night for a while. but we dropped that again when we were all lost in the desert."
"I meant firebending." Hakoda clarified before the boys went into verbal loops.
"Oh," Sokka said, "I, uh, I wanted to forbid it, but I guess it was never really a spoken agreement as a group. Either way, Zuko refused to bend at the beginning, and then never really did much with it. I think he was avoiding to bend out of fear that we would ban it for real."
"He admitted that he didn't want to risk bending alone in my immediate vicinity once. He did meditate with fire though." Aang chipped in, grateful for a chance to say something that won't invoke a negative response. "He would sit in front of the fire, eyes closed and sometimes the fire would pulsate together with his breathing. It wasn't dangerous, so we never really said anything."
"So he never practised martial firebending?"
"He, no. He didn't really. But he did tell me yesterday that he was going to start practising that and swordsmanship again to be able to protect himself."
"When did he acquire the sword?"
This time, Aang answered: "That was two days ago, at Wan Shi Tong's library, when he was protecting Appa from sandbenders. He held them off until Katara and I got back from inside," he said with a note of pride and care in his voice.
"What made you let him keep the weapons?" Hakoda asked in a gentle, careful, voice.
Sokka did not jump in to answer, so Aang set out to reply. "He got recognised, he knew about the bounty on his head, and he still risked his life, his freedom, so that they wouldn't take Appa, my bison."
Sokka, though reluctant, voiced his disagreement. "He would have risked his life either way, Appa was the only way to maybe get out of the desert in time before dying of thirst. We were already dehydrated and lost for two days at that point. We needed to get out."
"Zuko likes animals, and the animals like him too." Aang countered, his voice level, ending Sokka's protest.
"Is Zuko trained in wielding dao?" Hakoda called them back to focus.
Sokka replied unwillingly. "Katara hasn't had to heal any self-inflicted cuts from them, so I guess he knows how to use them well enough, but I haven't seen him put them to use in a fight."
Aang stayed carefully quiet, remembering that he hadn't even revealed Zuko's involvement in getting him out of the Pohuai stronghold to the Water Tribe siblings. He wouldn't do Zuko any favours anyway if he let slip that Zuko had held two blades at his neck.
Hakoda probably saw him fidgeting, because now he turned to him, "Aang, what do you think?", causing Aang to flinch slightly.
He tried to play it off. "Who… what? Oh, yeah, that's right."
Hakoda squinted his eyes as if he saw right through him, but after a tense moment, that calculating gaze slipped from his face, as he made his thoughts clear.
"Alright, so, now that we've heard a bit, I asked Zuko how he imagines this stay working out, This is what he answered, listen to the end before you protest: Zuko wishes not to be locked up. He wishes not to be shackled. He proposed to stay in sight and out of the way, and that he do chores if allowed. He would stay away from any meeting that doesn't concern him and follow rules as long as they don't impair his ability to protect himself from danger."
Hakoda levelly looked through the lines of his men before continuing to speak.
"From what we just heard Sokka and Aang recount, I can see why this young man pleads this way. I'm also certain that if we try to restrain him physically, or if he feels threatened, he will lash out in some way. It's not his first choice, but it is a choice he will be serious about in action. That is my assessment of the situation.
Besides that, we do not have the resources to hold a firebender properly. Furthermore, my impression of him is that he avoids disputes if he can do so, and that he will keep his word if we give him a chance to be here on those terms. There's also the Lady Bei Fong who seems fairly protective of him, who already freed him from captivity once."
Hakoda turned back to Sokka and Aang.
"I'd like to hear your assessment on those terms, as you have experience dealing with Zuko in your midst."
Sokka looked away, uncertain in his gaze. Aang didn't.
"Zuko will keep his word." He said confidently.
"Sokka?" Hakoda now turned to his son. "You seem reluctant, do you disagree?"
Sokka swallowed once more, but he knew he had to say something.
"He… I… I feel divided about it. It's not even that I think that he will cause problems, he doesn't really have anywhere to go. I just can't forget what he did in the past."
"Yeah, I don't see why the Prince of the Fire Nation would actually keep his word towards us." a fellow tribesman agreed, going silent upon Hakoda's glare.
"Zuko never did anything in his time with us, not even when Sokka goaded him." Aang vehemently said. "He accepted the rules we gave, and he followed them. You can trust him to do the same here. Zuko doesn't just go back on what he said."
Hakoda wore a thoughtful expression, with one last glance at Sokka, he then turned to his men.
"Any thoughts or questions?" he declared, allowing the tribesmen to let their voices be heard.
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The atmosphere outside the meeting tent was tense. Zuko had let himself be pulled closer to the open campfire everyone else had gathered around in waiting. He refused to go anywhere near the other men, and so Toph finally plopped down on one of the farther off logs and eventually convinced Zuko to sit down as well. He pulled the hood back over his head for a bit of privacy, leaned the scabbard against his body and kept an eye out for movement, otherwise, he seemed tense but calm. One could see that he was tired. Katara finally came over, offering them both a bit of seal jerky. Zuko took some, chewing slowly.
"How did it go?" she asked quietly, sitting down on a nearby log.
Zuko shrugged and took another bite. Katara could see how energy-sapping the talk had been, and that Zuko didn't let himself relax yet, and he probably wouldn't for a long time.
When they had eaten what Katara had brought, Toph got up and confidently walked over to get more. She pressed another handful into Zuko's hands when she got back, ignoring the shocked glances of the others around the fire, who were surprised she could find where the jerky was. A couple of the men, some that Katara knew, others she didn't, threw Zuko displeased glances for eating away the food that reminded them of home, but no one said anything.
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"What about his sword use and firebending?" One of the men asked.
Hakoda calmly answered: "Prince Zuko said that he will only use them if someone makes a move against him and assured me that he knows how to use his sword without seriously injuring someone. If we take away his blades, he will resort to firebending."
"What is the plan if it comes to a fight?" another countered.
"We don't know how good he is, so it would be better if none of us triggered him into a fight in the first place, the chance is high that you are no match for him. If it still happens, try to back away, try to get through to him by talking. We don't want to risk injury to multiple people, so don't engage thoughtlessly. Once the situation de-escalates, come to me, so we can settle the matter peacefully."
"What if he tries to escape?" another man reasoned.
"I doubt he will do that. But if you catch him, talk to him about it, avoid a fight if possible. I will assign areas he's allowed to be in, if he steps out of them without permission, bring him to me. I'll also assign a guard to keep an eye on him at all times. So it really shouldn't come to that."
"I don't like it." Someone mumbled.
"If we keep him busy enough, he won't have the energy to attempt an escape. Didn't you say something about chores?"
"What can a Prince even do?" scoffed one of the older tribesmen.
Aang felt their doubt misplaced. "Zuko knows how to do lots of things," he exclaimed, his voice falling on seemingly deaf ears.
"Oh come on, he looks like a bit of wind might blow him overboard." laughed the tribeman.
"Constructive thoughts, please." Hakoda called out, then looked at Aang and his son in expectation.
Aang once more answered: "That scabbard you saw for his swords, he created that just yesterday. He also knows a bit about food and cooking and has been helping Katara around camp a lot."
When he was finished, all eyes turned to Sokka to see if he had anything to add: "He can wash dishes, do laundry, and he even asked Katara to learn how to sew, so he can do that." Sokka said lightly.
That got a bit of a reaction, some disbelieving mumbling, some doubtful glances. Aang didn't quite understand why. It was work that needed to be done, Zuko got it done. In the temple, everyone learned to do their own sewing as well, though his own stitches had never been very pretty or sturdy. He just didn't have the focus, so Katara did it, and any time he tried to help around the cookpot, Sokka would shoo him away, or Toph would call him for practice.
"The Crown Prince of the Fire Nation asks to learn about women's work?"
"Well then, I guess he's got his chores cut out for him here." one man said with a combination of contempt and glee.
"But that won't make him too tired to think about escape and such," pointed another one out.
It wasn't lost on Aang that today was the first time that Zuko had mentioned leaving since Aang had laid eyes on him lying between Appa's feet for the first time. Aang wondered if Zuko would have tried running away for real if he'd seen any way to get away with it.
"What about if he's seen in the camp? He's high profile. Discrepancies with the Earth Kingdom forces aren't something we want. And if the Fire Nation gets wind of it, they might take a more specific interest in us, we shouldn't tempt fate like that."
"Our camp is hidden, we have look-outs to prevent being unprepared. I'm sure Prince Zuko will understand that if someone comes, he'll need to wait things out in a tent."
It was quiet for a moment as the men considered that they'd essentially be hiding the Prince of the Fire Nation, then, one of the younger tribesmen perked up:
"The Prince of the Fire Nation, even if he's been banished, I'm sure he knows things about the Fire Nation…"
Zuko wouldn't talk about these things, Aang thought, then. With horror, it dawned on him what this man's unspoken question targeted.
Hakoda's sharp voice cut through the air. "I already got all we need out of the Prince."
"But-" the man started anew, but Hakoda cut him off.
"You will leave the decision of what we need to know at my discretion, you needn't concern yourself with it."
He turned a levelled gaze at the circle of men, then continued: "I think we're done here. I'll talk with Prince Zuko one more time, see if he agrees to the terms I set out for him."
One after the other, the men got up and left the tent. Some were quietly murmuring their resentment at the turn of events. Sokka and Aang reluctantly followed.
Zuko was sitting on a log together with Toph and Katara. He was distrustfully looking at the people streaming out from the tent. The men's stares were equally so. Then Hakoda appeared at the tent flap and called Zuko in once more.
Zuko just got up and handed Toph his swords again. Toph got up to follow, but this time, Hakoda stopped her. All too soon, Zuko and Hakoda had disappeared once more. This time the wait had lost all cheerfulness from reuniting. The atmosphere was even more tense than before.
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"So, what did you talk about?" Katara asked. Sokka had dreaded the question. He had wanted to snag a moment to talk to his dad, but now he had to wait again. And talk about Zuko, again. He couldn't help but feel jealous now, Zuko had a second private audience, whereas he hadn't even had one moment past the initial hug.
"Zuko apparently suggested some terms to his stay, Dad wanted to estimate if he was trustworthy to uphold what he suggested. And he wanted to give the other men a possibility to voice objections."
"What did you say?"
"That I feel divided about it. He also asked about where we found him and about his time with us."
Toph made a displeased huff, but at least they hadn't made Zuko talk about it. She held one foot firmly on the ground to track Zuko's vibrations. Their travels through the desert had surprisingly improved her earth-sense on sand. It also helped that this one, unlike in the desert, was hardpacked. Though he was a bit muffled through the distance and the furs he was sitting on again, she could make out his heartbeat fine. Granted, there seemed to be some kind of conversation going on. Zuko was nervous, but he wasn't panicking, she was relieved to note.
"I vouched for him," Aang said confidently. "I think it will be alright. One guy suggested that Zuko be questioned about important Fire Nation things, but the Chief told him off."
Toph was really glad to hear that, and so was Katara, but the matter wasn't settled yet. Zuko was still in there and the men were talking among themselves in hushed tones, filling in the others on what had transpired and muttering about the situation. No one sounded nearly as comfortably confident as Aang.
Sokka still fumed, he went over to grab some more seal jerky and then was intercepted by Bato on the way back. "Sokka, how are you holding up?"
Sokka's shoulders slumped. "I know Dad's a good Chief, I know he's just doing his duty, but it's… I shouldn't be jealous of Zuko, I wouldn't ever want to trade with him, but this is so, ugh. It's just so frustrating. We haven't seen him in over two years, and Zuko gets to have him all alone first."
A reassuring hand was placed on Sokka's shoulder, as Bato left the tent, his mind already set, "I know it's hard, but just wait a little while. The matter around Prince Zuko will be settled soon and your dad will make time for you, I know he will."
"Yeah. I hope so." Sokka mumbled.
"Oh come on Sokka, cheer up. I've recounted some of your adventures to Hakoda. And I also told him about the rock dodging. He's really proud of you."
"Thanks, Bato. The wait's just hard."
He returned to the log the Gaang had gathered, but he still felt apart. Katara was looking at the tent flap, a worried expression on her face, probably worried for Zuko. That guy knew how to handle himself, come on, Sokka would give Zuko some credit, at least in this.
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"So, Prince Zuko. The Avatar has vouched for you, though he did not speak out on the matter of the dao. My son did indicate that he's prejudiced, but in general, things speak in your favour. So here are the terms of your stay:"
Hakoda set a levelling gaze on Zuko, who had slipped on a princely mask again, as soon as Hakoda intoned as Chief.
"You will be allowed in the area around the campfire in the centre of the camp. You will only leave the campfire area with an escort, even for the smallest thing. The escort may be any member of my fleet, therefore you will not enlist my children or anyone else they've been travelling with an escort. You will state your reason for leaving and wait until someone is available to go with you. I should not have to point out that if you go alone, or injure the escort, there will be consequences."
Zuko nodded.
"I told my men not to provoke you. I expect the same courtesy from you."
Zuko looked away, then, realizing how guilty that must look, forced himself to return the gaze. "I understand."
"You will stay at least four paces away from this tent unless you're told otherwise. You will not go near the sky bison. You will sleep out in the open in the middle of the camp and there will be an assigned guard keeping an eye on you at night. You will also be supervised during the day. You may use non-martial firebending if you can justify its practicality. No fires that could give away the location of our camp though. The Avatar mentioned that you meditate; you're allowed to do that as long as no one feels threatened by it."
"How am I supposed to do that?" Zuko now exclaimed. "Won't your people feel threatened by firebending no matter how little the flame?"
"You probably shouldn't use the campfire as a source to meditate with, but I also don't really see you mingling, if you keep your distance and keep things safe, there should not be any issues."
"Thank you." Zuko awkwardly said, tipping his head.
"You will be given chores, which you will work on in the main area of camp unless stated otherwise. If there are any issues, let me know and I'll discuss them with you. You may keep your sword, but I'll hold you accountable for what you said, should there be an incident. Privileges may be revoked if you abuse them in some way. Can you agree to those terms?"
"Yes." Zuko replied, bowing slightly in acknowledgement. His head swam slightly. This was a far better outcome than he'd ever dared to hope for. He couldn't help but feel like it might be a trap.
Chief Hakoda got up. "Alright, let's go."
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"They're getting up." Toph quietly said, and immediately, the Gaang looked over to the tent flap. Indeed, a moment later, Zuko and Hakoda stepped out and everyone grew quiet.
Hakoda announced that the Prince had agreed to the terms and then explained them. There were murmured protests and general unwillingness, but Chief Hakoda had spoken, and his words were final. Bato observed the happenings with patient curiosity. The boy stood there, enduring the announcement with a mask of indifference. There was an awkward moment after Hakoda had finished talking, then Hakoda's kids went over to their dad and the Prince carefully shrunk back, glad to be out of the spotlight at last. The earthbender girl tossed him his sword a second time and promptly tried to pull him towards their group. Zuko refused, instead, he murmured a few words to her which sent her off in the direction of Appa.
Hakoda finally sat down with his children, and the men respectfully stayed a few feet away from where they had gathered. When Aang came over to Zuko, Bato's lips twitched again, he remembered how the boy had acted when he'd met him the first time, and it was a good thing that he let Sokka and Katara have their alone time with their dad, now. On the other hand, it was a bit ironic that the Avatar picked the very youth that had spent so much time hunting him as the alternative to hang out with, though, even if Bato could understand that men twice his age and older weren't that attractive as conversation starts for the young Air Nomad. The Prince didn't seem too happy about it, either.
Toph had returned with a bundle of something, tossing it to Zuko, who had sat down a safe distance away from the men in the camp. The Firebender carefully unravelled his bundle into a ratty blanket and some clothes, which he laid to the side. The blanket itself, he wrapped around his shoulders.
Toph was saying something and his lips twitched slightly, which irked Bato a bit. Yet, the Prince was still very much tightly wound, his polite calmness all but a thin veil, hiding nothing. Bato wanted to get a feel of this new version of the Prince, so he approached.
The Prince flinched when he looked up to see someone standing there. Not a mere startled flinch either, it was a violent fear-driven one, followed by a momentary ducking head movement.
"Do you need me to do a chore?" the Prince asked carefully.
"No, I just thought I should get to know the new members of the group that Sokka and Katara have been travelling with." While Aang scooted over to make some space, he introduced himself: "I'm Bato."
The Prince tilted his head in greeting, acknowledgement, whatever.
"Aang, I see you found an earthbending teacher. How is that coming along?"
"It was hard at the beginning, but I'm starting to get the hang of it," Aang replied, grinning ecstatically at someone asking him a question. So, Aang told a little bit about his trials and his progress.
"Are you any farther with looking for a firebending teacher?"
"No."
"What about him?"
Two sets of eyes narrowed.
"Let's talk about something else." Toph determinedly said. "Hey, do you have any good stories to tell?"
Bato decided to go with it for now, if only to see if the Prince would relax a bit.
"Well, Chief Hakoda may seem intimidating now, but I can still remember the days when Hakoda and I were up to a lot of mischief. One time, when we were about your age, Avatar, we decided to do our own war paint, and we decided to forgo the traditional colours. We wanted our own style, so we went out to search for possible alternative sources of colour. I shall remind you that this was at the South Pole, which largely consists of ice and more ice. We started by going through each of our dad's weapons, then the cooking area when our respective mothers were out and about, got scolded for misplacing some things, too. And we admittedly also stole some seal jerky while we were at it." Bato said, and everyone listening could relate to sneaking a bit of food. " Anyway, we didn't find anything suitable until we looked through the women's equipment for parka making. We had found some containers with dark looking crumbly paste there, so we nicked it and experimented by mixing it with some of the regular ingredients for war paint, like animal fat. Let me tell you, it looked amazing."
Bato's eyes beamed, caught in memory and pride, as he went on. "We played enemy tribe with the other kids, scared my big sister by spooking her a bit, went penguin sledding, and had a great day all around. It wasn't until we went back home and tried washing our faces that we realised our trouble." Bato paused to up the tension, looking into the round to see if anyone suspected something, pleasedly taking note that the three teenagers seemed to be hanging on his words.
"Turned out it was blue dye for our clothes, and it was near as anything, permanent once it had time to soak on a surface and dry. Hakoda's mum was pissed, because ingredients to make dye aren't that easy to come by. We didn't think it would actually stick to our skin, either, so we ended up walking around with blue faces for about two months. There was just no hiding it." Bato said with mirth in his voice at the embarrassing memory.
Toph had a delighted expression on her face, even Zuko's lips twitched, then Toph turned to Zuko and asked: "How weird is blue skin?"
To Bato's surprise, Zuko really did try to answer. "Uh, it's rather weird. It would look like you had bruises on your face, only minus the swelling. It's not desirable."
"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Aang interjected loudly, but Toph cut him off:
"So, Sparky, how about you? Any funny stories?"
"No." Zuko's voice wasn't even blocking off, it sounded as if he believed what he said. Toph didn't.
"Oh come on. You never share any stories. You were a Prince, surely you did get away with some things."
"Toph, no, life in the palace isn't like you imagine it. And you met my sister, do you really want to hear those 'funny' stories?"
There was a moment of oppressing silence, punctuated with a gulp from both the Avatar and Toph, but then Aang spoke up, trying to sweeten the mood. "I can tell one."
As it turned out, Aang had not mastered the art of storytelling yet. One slightly rushed and disjointed Air Nomad story later, something about stolen custard tarts ending up in an older monk's bed, Bato took command of the conversation again, closely observing the firebender as he spoke.
"Prince Zuko." Bato addressed after a moment of calculated observation. The Prince flinched again at the title. "I understand that you were banished, it probably doesn't mean exactly the same thing in the Water Tribe."
Zuko heard the unspoken question and set out to answer, though one could see his reluctance about it, each word dragging out. "I still am. I'm not allowed to set foot on Fire Nation lands, and I'm honourless, meaning any citizen, should I step foot on home soil, that is the home islands, and in theory, also the colonies, could kill me on sight, with no ramifications, should they recognise who I was. In my case, there was a clause that stated that I may return with my honour and status as Crown Prince restored if I captured the Avatar and brought him home. That was the reason I hunted him. Though I suspect that that clause has become invalid since, the last time I saw her, my sister tried to trick me into captivity."
"Homesickness is hard." Bato agreed, mildly horrified with the notion of the death sentence for returning, and a sister that would try to imprison her own brother, before he tried to understand how capturing the Avatar could be related to honour, honour was in battles won, and a successful catch, not in a wild goose chase around the world for a legend.
Aang sprang in at the conversation, eager to move to more pleasant thoughts. "Yeah, it's hard, and the Fire Nation is a beautiful country. But hey Zuko, you've been to lots of pretty spots in your travels, haven't you? I'm sure you'll find a place."
Zuko looked slightly irritated at the avatar's shallow optimism. "Aang, it's not that simple. I'm not only banished, I've been declared a traitor. I'll probably be hunted for the rest of my life; A person of no Nation. And as you can see, I'm not exactly allowed to leave right now."
"We won't be here forever."
Zuko's chuckle was bitter.
"Oh come on, Sparky. Do you think I'd let them keep you?"
The Prince's scowl intensified.
"How does the Fire Nation define honour?" Bato then asked, as it seemed that their interpretation of that also vastly differed.
"As a Prince, I was to be loyal, act befitting to my station and carry out my duty with dedication towards my people, my Fire Lord, and my father. If I had done what you and Chief Hakoda did with the dye, I'd have embarrassed my family and lost face, I would have brought them grave dishonour." Zuko stated, then returned the question. "What does honour mean in the Southern Water Tribe?"
"Well," Bato said, a bit surprised at the interest. "Honour is about upholding your moral standards and being known for your good traits. For example, being reliable, fair, kind, and able to contribute by taking care of family and by extension, your tribe."
Bato hadn't thought the Prince to be like this. When he'd met Sokka and Katara those months ago, they'd told him of an arrogant 'Angry-Jerk'. The figure that sat across from him was about as far from that description as North from South. He didn't quite trust it. The Prince's eyes were flitting around, it looked like he was on constant alert, ready to run, even if he appeared calm outwards otherwise. There was a group of men that had come closer upon noticing Bato exchanging words with their 'guest'. The Prince was keeping an eye on them, too.
"Prince Zuko," Bato started again, looking for the flinch that indeed was coming. They had all heard a rough version of the conditions that the prince had faced in captivity, but the scar was older than that. It was said that he'd already had it when he was banished. "I would expect a Prince to get the best medical treatment the Nation has to offer, how bad was the wound you had?"
"I…" Zuko's face had lost some colour, but he caught himself. "That's none of your business." he spat.
Some of the men nearby had heard, however, and now they were listening closely.
"Why are you so defensive about that scar?" Bato now asked, unimpressed, there must be some kind of story behind it, it was surely a key to understanding the prince.
"Yeah, how did you get it?" another man now called out "Burned yourself?" he snickered in afterthought.
Zuko looked angry. "I'm going to bed," he sneered, grabbing the clothes next to him.
Bato bent forward as if a closer look could get him answers. It did look like a burn scar, cradling the side of his head in faux affection.
The Prince froze when he turned to stand up and noticed Bato to be closer than before. Mismatched eyelids widened in sudden fear.
"Was it a training accident?" someone called out.
"Was the Fire Lord unhappy with you?" a third one joked. Zuko violently flinched at that comment, before going rigid as a board, right in front of Bato.
"Oh, he looks afraid." the second one belittled.
The Prince's eyes went out of focus. Bato leaned back abruptly. This was... The Prince didn't flinch, even as Toph grabbed his hand, squeezing it. He seemed far away, holding his breath, then at once gasping for air at an unnatural speed.
"Sparky, snap out of it!"
She didn't shake him, she didn't attempt to further touch him, though her other hand twitched like she wanted to. Instead, she slipped off the log and crouched in front of him. "Sparky, snap out of it. Breathe. You're not breathing right, come on, listen to me. You need to slow down your breathing, look at me!"
Wide, out of focus, eyes vaguely turned to her. "Listen to me. breathe in and hold it… now let it out, slowly through between your lips. Follow my lead!" Toph instructed repeatedly, and at one point, Zuko began to match her words, squeezing her hand back. "That's it!"
"What the hell was that? Was he summoning fire?" the third man asked.
"Shut up!" Bato pointedly said, his glare chipped ice, his words flint. Hakoda's men knew better than that, and to act in such a crass and insensitive way, even to a perceived enemy, was wrong and dishonourable.
He'd seen and heard enough from the children and the men; he had enough puzzle pieces together that drew an uncomfortable image in his mind as he walked away from the three children.
00000
In the meanwhile, the Water Tribe siblings finally got some together-time with their Dad. Hakoda had taken them to the side of one of the camp's fires and the other tribesmen were holding a respectful distance. For now, they were just catching up. Katara had shown him a bending trick or two, but she didn't want to make Sokka feel stuck in her shadow on their first night back as a family. They'd each get their turns to bond with their dad alone sometimes later. It turned out she didn't need to worry about Sokka. After she'd mentioned that she'd gotten Pakku to teach her combative waterbending, Hakoda was quickly shifting his focus on him.
"So, what have you been doing, Sokka?"
The thing was, Sokka had been doing a lot, only that it wasn't as easy to pin down and name as it was for Katara.
"Well…being moral support, keeping the group focused, theorizing routes to travel, coming up with ideas… whatever the situation requires..." He scratched his neck in embarrassment, thinking of what else to say.
"...I fell in love with the girl that became the moon. Her name was Yue. She was engaged to an arrogant asshole."
Hakoda gave an understanding nod, then opened his arms. He'd heard about the change of address to Tui, now Yue, or were they different but the same? His head hurt to think about it. No matter what, though, he knew of the change, although he hadn't yet heard the story behind it.
"At least he didn't get to marry her either," Hakoda replied and opened his arms in invitation.
Sokka dove into the hug. "This was her destiny, but it doesn't make it any less sad." He didn't cry, Hakoda had seen the protective numbness spreading and hoped that the hug would soften the memory.
"Tell me about her." Sokka straightened back up.
"She was polite, kind, and laughed at my jokes. She was super pretty and though she was my age, she had unique, pure white, hair. I only got to know her for a couple of weeks."
Sokka looked downwards. "Let's talk about something else."
"Where else have your travels led you?" Hakoda went with it, he knew how hard it was, the want to talk about the person you lost, and yet always running out of words. "Where did you go after you split with Bato?"
"Uhm, we found a Fire Nation deserter and Katara learned to heal. Oh, and then we went to the Northern Air Temple. That was a really cool place and I really got along with their leader. He's an inventor and created some really cool devices. I even helped him find a solution to find a gas leak. We ended up using rotten eggs to stink up the gas."
"That's my boy!" Hakoda said, pulling him close again to rub his back affectionately.
That led Sokka to wrack his brain for something else he could say that would make his dad proud. He found it in an earlier memory. "I also got a chance to learn fighting from the Kyoshi Warriors. They might be girls, but by La they're fierce."
At this point, Katara chimed in. "Yeah, he had to follow all of their traditions. Including their warrior dress and the facepaint."
"Hey, I looked awesome! And I really learned something. Zuko didn't even recognize me…"
"He still kicked your butt."
"Yeah, he did, but I had only had a few days to learn, he had his lifetime to learn from the best teachers the Fire Nation had to offer. I didn't, but it was enough to protect Suki once, and for me, that made all the difference. And anyway, until you found a teacher, he kicked your butt, too."
"Now, now, children. Calm down." Hakoda interrupted their bickering. Inside he was perplexed. His son had chosen to learn to fight from women. It was unorthodox to say the least.
"They fight with fans, and they got the drop on all of us, including Aang and Katara. We didn't even see them coming and I was quite pissed off at first, but really, they deserve to be called warriors. They're amazingly skilled and they were just protecting their village from intruders."
At that moment it struck Hakoda again, he hadn't had a chance to teach his son to fight. They had lost many a promising young man due to a lack of experience and technique in combat and the thought of Sokka the South Pole with no skills of combat to draw upon, left him with a bit of a lump in his throat. Though Sokka spoke highly of these Kyoshi Warriors, and he was glad that his son had taken matters into his own hands, it was hard to believe that a bunch of women really could fight. Sokka had admitted after all that they had gotten the drop on them. Sneak attacks were legitimate and took a certain amount of skill to execute, but if done properly, they often didn't need a lot of skills in martial arts. He really needed to use the time to teach his son some proper fighting techniques.
Hakoda made a mental note to get to it as soon as possible.
For the next few minutes the siblings both recounted some more about their travels. There was a story about a crazy Earth King named Bumi. There was a story about Jet, a 'Freedom Fighter' and something about a village flooding but Sokka had gotten everyone away and to safety just in time. Hakoda hadn't quite understood everything through their excited, and sometimes heated retelling, though he didn't miss Katara's blush at Jet's name.
Eventually, Katara excused herself to go to the loo. And that was when Sokka's face turned serious. Hakoda realised now, Sokka had been waiting for a moment alone with him since he got here:
"Dad. There's something I need to tell you. At Wan Shi Tong's library, I found out about the darkest day of the Fire Nation, the day of Black Sun. It's a solar eclipse, and I figured out that there is gonna be one this year, directly over the Fire Nation. This is our chance!"
originally posted on 24/12/21
edits 02.08.22 A/N:
And there you have it. Sokka finally gets a moment with his dad and Hakoda learns about the eclipse.
With the Gaang's discord with Sokka momentarily forgotten as they settle in, things almost seem back to normal, but will they forgive and forget that easily, even if he keeps up being more careful of his words and actions?
Meanwhile, Zuko's in for a hard time. He's never been good at negotiations, and hadn't really expected to actually be listened to. Of course, he doesn't trust Hakoda's words, but now he's there with a lot more freedom than he expected, and a lot of scrutiny from unknown guards that could potentially assert power over him.
On the breathing exercise Toph has Zuko go through briefly, in English, it's called pursed lip breathing (I don't like the name, as the lips should be somewhat relaxed while doing it and pursed doesn't sound relaxed) it's a technique to calm down breathing when experiencing shortness of breath due to medical, but also due to psychological reason as it was the case here with Zuko. Just wanted to point that out.
I've really looked forward to write Hakoda and especially Bato. Keep an eye on those two in the future ;) -Ystävä
Hey guys, hope you enjoy this new chapter. It was a welcome challenge to try and build up characters both that we have gone through on this work with, showing Zuko's growth as an individual for example, as well as individuals that don't get much time in the show, namely Bato and Hakoda. Further, having Sokka begin to unravel his handling with Zuko, and the social dynamics of the tribesmen were both fun and a challenge to explore. There is still much to unravel and develop in the camp however, and we shall indeed spend quite some time to explore these out.
For now though,I hope you are all having a great summer time, it has been a mix of too hot and just right over here, so hope it is better for you guys. Best wishes and thank you one and all for sticking with us all these years,you make this story worth it, thank you truly from the bottom of my heart, you guys rock - ML8991
