And we're finally back with a brand new chapter, happy reading!
Guest comment reply to ZukoDeservesLove:
Sorry about the cliffy, and for taking so long, I guess. We hadn't planned on taking this long to get a new chapter out, we were also revising old ones, but we're finally caught up, so here the new chapter. Let us know what you think - ystävä
Triggerwarnings at the bottom just to be safe
Chapter 17 Behind Closed Doors
Something was going on. Not too long ago, they had come to get his guard. The messenger had said something to Tulimak, as Zuko had learned his name was, but Zuko hadn't quite caught the other words, the inflections unusual to his ears, and then the younger messenger stayed as Tulimak made his way to the main tent. Zuko ignored the new face and kept hitting the log with the axe. He'd been at it for a while, but in spite of his exhaustion, and despite Bato's reassurance that he was allowed to take breaks, he felt it safer to just keep doing what he'd been told to do for as long as he could. Having his every move under scrutiny wasn't easy, and this was yet another new guard. He just didn't know what to expect from this one.
The wood cutting assignment wasn't bad, he reasoned. It helped to build up the strength he had lost in the desert again anyway. He couldn't very well practice any martial forms as long as he was stuck here, so he rather spent some time working physically so as to not go crazy from his inner tension. Finally, the branch split all the way. He put down the axe to take a breath. Picking up his over-robe and the water skin hanging there, jugging down a few gulps, he didn't hear her coming.
"Hey Sparky!" a familiar voice startled him enough to splutter. "You're shaking, you should take a break!"
He turned around, finding that not only Toph, but Katara and Aang were there. "I'm fine," he sighed.
"Yeh, sure, come on, sit down with us for a moment. Hey, you! Come too," she called out to the guard, as Katara looked at Zuko with a pointed, matronly, glance. The man who had observed the interaction looked surprised, but then sheathed his carving knife and got up. They only walked to the nearest logs, and before everyone even sat, Toph already asked for the guard's name.
"Nukilik," he replied.
Aang immediately introduced them, then asked: "How old are you?"
Turned out the young man was only 19, not that much older than Sokka or Zuko himself, and now that the ice was broken, the young man participated in the conversation with more ease. Not much time had passed, however, when Bato zeroed in on them, coming closer at a fast pace.
"Avatar Aang, we're about to start the war meeting, your participation is requested."
Everyone looked up, Aang shared a glance with Katara, then nodded. Zuko ducked his head. "Alright, we'll be right there."
Bato shook his head. "Just you Avatar Aang, Sokka's already there."
Katara shot up, glaring at Bato: "Why only Aang and Sokka? Because we're girls?"
Toph heard a sharp intake of breath, Zuko's heart rate was spiking.
"Sokka and Aang are enough to represent your group."
"We got just as much right to be there." Toph agreed with Katara, no way she was missing a war meeting. Fighting was her thing, she moved to get up too. Zuko's hand stopped her. He shook his head, nervous. She shook his hand off.
Katara, in the meanwhile, was just getting started. "Bato of the Wolf, Master of the Tides, I don't care if you are Dad's Second in Command! We're his bending teachers, we know our respective elements better than he does. We are formidable fighters, and we're the best judges on what can be done with bending…"
"Katara!" a voice called out, stern. She spun around, Hakoda was walking up to them. "Enough."
But Katara wasn't finished at all yet. Instead, she now yelled directly into the Chief's face walking up to him with rapid steps as she shouted: "We're just as much part of this war as you are, whether you want to believe that or not! Just because we're girls doesn't mean we're not involved!"
Zuko stared helplessly at what was unfolding. Katara was challenging her father's authority in public. Her father had told her to stop, and she hadn't. This was going to end badly. Zuko was just about to yell something, anything, to draw the attention away from Katara, when she finally paused to catch her breath.
Hakoda calmly closed the gap to Katara and laid a hand on her shoulder. Zuko's tension levels spiked even more, and he began to shake, and not from any muscle fatigue.
"Katara, listen to me, I understand that you're upset, but my decision is final, we can talk about this later."
"You're just as bad as Pakku," she spat, challenging him further with her eyes. "Toph and I can fight, we can strategize, and we need to know what's going on with Aang, so we can properly train him!"
"That's right! We should be there." Toph now added, stomping into the sand so that everyone in a 30 feet radius felt the slight tremor.
It was then that Bato took word. "Toph, Katara. You're scaring the Firebender."
Zuko flinched as everyone's attention turned to him. The words quieted the girls.
Zuko was staring at them wide-eyed, clutching at the fabric in his fists to keep himself in place, his face ashen. At least they had stopped opposing the Chief, though now everyone's attention was on him, had he yelled something after all?
"Zuko? Are you okay?" Katara asked, taking a step forward. Zuko took a shaky breath, forcing himself to unwind as nothing else happened.
"You won't be part of this war meeting, that's final, we can talk later," Hakoda repeated, then motioned Bato and Aang to come. Reluctantly, Aang followed, throwing a last glance at the girls.
"Sparky?" Toph knelt down next to where he was still seated, grabbing a hand that was still clawing at the fabric. "What's wrong?"
But Zuko had not recovered his voice yet, nor did he know what to say, so he said nothing.
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The tent flaps opened smoothly, as the procession came in. Hakoda first, followed by Bato. Aang and Sokka, who had come outside of the tent due to the commotion, quickly followed after them, before the attending warriors filled out the remaining space, their curiousity also peaked. The tent was alive with whispered murmurs, but Bato signalled them to stop. Hakoda, sparing a silent thank you to Bato, then began:
"Thank you all, with the Avatar in our presence, we now know the war's end is near at hand. With the defeat of the Fire Navy at the North Pole this season past, it is paramount we take this opportunity to strike the Fire Nation when it is at its weakest. My son, Sokka, has been to the Great Spirit Library of Wan Shi Tong, and has found a crucial piece of information. Sokka, please step forward."
Sokka gingerly did so, not used to such attention on him, but his voice was clear as he spoke. "In the Spirit Library, I found a planetarium, a device which is able to simulate the heavens above. Based upon a scrap of a letter I found, I manipulated the device, and discovered an opportunity. At the height of xiǎo shǔ, in the 7th day, during the hour past noon, Agni and Tui, now Yue, shall unite as one. In these moments, firebending shall be ineffective, and they shall be defenceless. We must attack."
"But how?" asked a random warrior. "The Fire Nation is winning the war, they have more troops than we in the South have ever had, we can't win."
"On our own, we can't. But have you forgotten the Earth Kingdom? They have helped us before, and if we inform him of this option, surely King Kuei will not miss this chance!" Bato countered.
Hakoda nodded, "Generals Sung and Quán have both requested our assistance before, and we have experience working with them. We could also try and ask General Fong of the Northern Fro…"
Sokka quickly stepped in at that, "No, no, not him."
Hakoda looked suspiciously at his son, "And why is that?"
Aang replied, skirting the issue "No reason!", sharing a furtive glance with Sokka, as Hakoda frowned.
"General Fong's base is one of the closest to Fire Nation territory. It would make sense to involve him, and we have briefly worked with him before."
"Well, Dad. He might have tried to trigger the Avatar state by pretty much trying to kill me and Katara. So no, we're not working with him again."
Hakoda baulked at first, as did many of the men, then he just shook his head. This was going to be more difficult than he had imagined.
"That still leaves Ba Sing Se. Since General-Prince Iroh's assault six years ago, The Earth King has not made moves of his own to retaliate. This has resulted in the fall of Omashu, and the consolidation of the Fire Nation's hold on the Western shores of his Kingdom. We must wake the sleeping bear, and make him take action. Avatar Aang, I would hope you would be up for this task."
Aang nodded in acceptance, trying to hide his discomfort. Meanwhile, Sokka piped up:
"We met a mechanist who has been hiding in the Northern Air Temple, we should get word to him. And what about the North? We know that the Fire Navy was defeated there, let's use the power of the waves against them."
A ripple of harsh laughter echoed through the men, confusing Sokka.
"Ha," said one, "why should we trust those pansy snowlickers to come to our aid, they abandoned us at the start of the war, why would they start getting their dainty furs all dirty now?"
"They had a great victory with the siege of the North Pole, they might be more willing to get involved in the war now," Sokka affirmed his point.
"I'm not working with those ignorant fools. I heard your recount of the events that happened, and from what I gather, La did most of the work, not the Northern Water Tribe's Army."
"They've got bender manpower, and the women are skilled at healing. It could be a huge advantage if we had them onboard."
Various voices voiced their protests and Hakoda lost hope to convince his people otherwise. It would have been good to make another attempt at requesting help, but if his men would end up refusing to cooperate with their Northern brethren, then it wasn't worth it. Hakoda wished to be able to say that they weren't that petty, but not everyone was as open-minded as he and Bato, such things as these needed time.
"Son," said Hakoda sadly, "I sent many letters to the North before the young Avatar was found, as did your grandfather before me, and no good word returned. The Earth Kingdom messengers always relayed the same message: 'We can not help at this time. We must keep to our own, and hold fast, the Avatar will reveal themselves soon, Tui and La wills it.' We can't rely on any help from the North."
That wasn't to say that Hakoda wouldn't keep trying to get his men to open up to the idea and potentially send another letter, just as he said, that he knew that he wouldn't be able to rely on their help.
Sokka and Aang looked downtrodden for a moment before Aang remembered another group. "We also met a renegade group of water benders in the Foggy Swamp. We could ask them for help."
Murmurs of discontent, mostly in disbelief or dismissal of the swamp benders as a myth or a travellers' tale, made their rounds through the men before Hakoda intervened.
"My son and the Avatar have travelled far, if they say there are other allies to be found, and ones that can bend water, we should use them to our advantage, I trust word will be outreached to these allies on the fringes."
Aang and Sokka looked at one another, wondering the same thing: could they even read? Aang thought to say something but quickly closed his mouth for fear of sounding silly. Sokka murmured under his breath "Huu probably can…" but his tone wasn't too sure.
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Being left behind, while knowing all the important men were attending the war meeting she'd wanted to go to, was frustrating, yet Katara felt guilty, her energy spent from the screaming before. Zuko had calmed down a bit, but he kept looking at her out of the corner of his eye, gaze worried. She didn't quite understand why he was looking at her that way.
Toph was starting to get more vocal about not being allowed in now, her tone growing more frustrated with every passing moment. She hadn't gotten an answer out of Zuko as to why he'd been so distressed, so she'd gone to the next best thing that bothered her.
"Come on, you have no idea how boring those meetings can be." Nukilik said good-naturedly in response. "This is only the first round anyway, that's usually more of a brainstorming session than anything else."
Toph blew her bangs out of her face, unwilling. "So you don't want to be in there?"
"Nah, and the Chief knows it. All that listening to everyone talk, it makes me feel cagey. "
Toph just flopped on the ground and the young warrior turned to Katara.
"Would you mind showing me some waterbending?"
Katara, glad for the distraction, complied. Nukilik's request may have been a diversion, but he was observing what she was doing fascinatedly and Katara was glad that they weren't just sitting there in oppressive silence. Well, Zuko was just sitting there, eyes flitting between them and the main tent, but by now, his gaze had shifted into his usual scowl that Katara knew meant nothing much.
Nukilik's request moved to Toph, whose annoyance levels dropped a bit as she got to show off.
Katara's mind wandered. She still remembered Bato's words from earlier in the day. Battle memories, captivity. But this time, she couldn't recognize any of the usual triggers. Zuko had seemed afraid for them. He had not been the centre of attention, there was no threat to his person. It made no sense. She desperately wanted to ask him, but Toph had tried and Zuko was not answering. Katara was quite sure it didn't have to do much with Nukilik's presence, Zuko just didn't like sharing things like that.
"Uhm Zuko," Nukilik said at that moment, "wanna show us some firebending?"
Zuko's eyes narrowed. His guard asking him to firebend sounded like a recipe to get him into trouble. "No."
"Oh come on," Nukilik tried once more, "I'm in charge of guarding you right now, and you've got my permission to show us some things. We got a master waterbender right next to us, nothing can happen. What more do you need?"
"Fine." Zuko reluctantly lifted his palms, calling forth flame, he glared at Nukilik through the orange-red hues as if asking 'Happy now?', before clamping his hand into a fist, extinguishing the flames at once.
"Glad to see you back to your old self, Sparky." Toph said. "Well then, I'm gonna see if Nukilik's right and if this is really as boring as he says."
"Toph, don't." Zuko's voice was quiet but sharp.
"Why the hell not?" Toph challenged.
"You shouldn't antagonise the Chief further. Do not force his hand."
"Hah, so that was what that panicky shit before was about. You were worried about us!"
"Yeh, I was. I still am." Zuko didn't deny it, his voice closed off, far away, caught up.
At that, Katara was a bit affronted. "Why would you be?"
"You questioned the Chief, in public," said Zuko as if that would explain everything.
"Well, if he thinks that we're just gonna accept this, then he's wrong. If I don't fight to have a place as a warrior, then things will never change."
Zuko shook his head. "You don't understand. He is your dad, but he's also the Chief. He needs to set an example, you were undermining his authority. Something like that should be fought for in private."
Nukilik harrumphed. "Ehkhm, I don't know how things work in the Fire Nation, but the Southern Water Tribe, at least, isn't like that. We don't play pretend. Hakoda may be the Chief, but he isn't infallible. He knows it, we know it. He's the Chief because he's good for the position. We need someone to lead, someone who's even-tempered and can call the shots when needed. He's our Chief because we want him to be. If someone disagrees with something he says, it's gonna be addressed. Saying such things directly saves a lot of time."
"The Chief said his decision was final, you can't mean that it's okay to argue at such a point." Zuko had forgotten his usual reluctance, caught up in having gotten an actual reply.
"No it isn't, but for one, Katara is his daughter, he's not only Chief here, he's also being a father. He's gonna talk to her later, but he's not gonna punish her or anything, if that's what you're worried about."
"He isn't?" Zuko asked, shocked.
"My dad isn't like that," Katara said, still a little alienated that Zuko could think so. She didn't want to think about the why.
"The Chief doesn't just punish people for speaking out. And when he has the time, he does explain his decision-making. He did that yesterday after he negotiated the terms of your stay. It's necessary to understand a decision for a tribe like this to work well."
"Do you know why he doesn't want Katara and Toph there, then? Is it really because they're girls?"
Katara noticed that Zuko was growing more confident in asking questions. It was nice to see him coming out of his shell, though Katara hadn't expected it here and now, out of all places. It just showed how little they knew Zuko still.
"Well, I can't talk for the Chief, but it probably was part of the reason." Began Nukilik diplomatically, "But as you can see, there are quite a few men left that aren't in there either." He gestured around the camp, where there were still many Water Tribesmen milling around. "What Chief Hakoda was doing now is preventing too many cooks from spoiling the broth. That's why he's limiting the number of people in there. He's picking the people he sees most fit for this stage. Involving more people, as well as discussing any specialised aspects will make sense after a basic plan of action has been defined."
Katara had not expected the explanation to kind of make sense. Zuko only nodded, taking note of what was being said, and then leaning back. He did not ask another question. Katara however was filled with a little hope. Toph on the other hand didn't think it was enough to maybe be included later.
She determinedly got up and went to listen, instead of trusting Nukilik's words that it wasn't interesting yet anyway. Zuko did not stop her this time, though Katara could see the disapproving worry on his face.
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Toph had walked along the tent walls to find the perfect spot for eavesdropping before settling close to the back wall. She'd found what Nukilik said to be true as apparently, they were discussing allies, droning on and on, though it was intriguing to learn that the Gaang had encountered Waterbenders in the Earth Kingdom in the past. She'd hoped to hear about strategies and what they knew of the enemy.
Toph was as patient as a rock, though, and perked up when they started questioning the terrain and environments they might encounter. Now they were speaking her language. She cracked her knuckles in eagerness for some juicy details, but it quickly became apparent that the men inside had next to no idea what they could be encountering. She had a bit of fun playing around, listening to the squawks of indignation as her calamity caused issues for those inside.
Through it all, she heard Twinkletoes mention something about going to Roku's island and seeing a volcano, to the sounds of confusion and shock from the tribesmen. They reached a new height of ridiculousness when someone asked on which side of the main island Caldera City even was and they started to argue about that. The last straw was when someone questioned if it even had a port. These guys really did know nothing, she shook her head. She should be in there, and so should Sparky. She hollered at him, trying to get him to listen in, this shit was getting entertaining.
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Zuko had a hard time believing Nukilik's words that the Chief would not have to carry out a punishment, but he was a tribesman that had worked under the Chief's command and his explanations made sense. It led Zuko to believe that Nukilik really was just out here because he wanted to, not because he didn't have the intelligence to be.
Zuko also appreciated Nukilik's civility. Nukilik hadn't insulted Zuko's culture, he'd just stated how he saw his own. The young man had not acted as if they were on opposite sides, he hadn't talked down on him. Zuko was not used to being treated with such equality.
It had been a nice distraction, but it didn't keep his thoughts off of his worries for long. Zuko knew what they were talking about in there. Yeah, he might not know the specifics, but he knew whose demise they were ultimately planning. He also knew that he, as the Fire Lord's son, would be expected to know things, and they were probably right about him knowing some.
It would only make strategic sense to try to get information out of him; information that he wasn't ready to give them. And he was here, he couldn't flee. He was a sitting turtle-duck.
Aang was an airhead and, with Sokka on his home turf, there was no saying that they wouldn't call him in. The one war meeting he had ever attended had ended in him being banished. To him there was no doubt in his mind, that being forced to attend a war meeting as a hostage, expected to be a well of information, would be even worse. At least he'd already be used to torture this time around.
Thinking of that, Toph and Aang, at the very least, would probably not agree to such a course of action, but there were other ways of torture too, ones that those two may not detect. Or they'd just go somewhere that those two didn't know to look for. Would they take him to a ship to have the privacy of Toph's seismic sense? It wouldn't take that long for them to figure out how Toph did what she did, given how nosy she was.
He was too valuable to pass up the chance, yet he was out here, talking with a tribesman, almost as if they were equals. Zuko hid his worries behind his scowl, and hopefully, Toph was far enough away not to detect his racing heart. Speaking of her, he heard her yelling something in his direction, possibly trying to gather his attention, but he brushed it off; Toph was loud even in the quietest of moments.
In the end, Zuko was not called into this first meeting. Instead, the group eventually split up as the conversation died off. Zuko was back to splitting wood and glad for it. He needed the physical workout so he could let off some steam.
Before he'd known it, he had lost track of time and the men were streaming out of the main tent. Nukilik called him over for a break upon noticing that he didn't have any water left. Nukilik also took him to relieve himself and then to get some food. He even talked to him: easy small talk, that under normal circumstances, would have gotten on Zuko's nerves, but in this situation, it was good as a distraction. Nukilik didn't cross any boundaries, and neither did Zuko, though they did get into another discussion on cultural differences. Eventually, Zuko asked to lie down on his designated spot.
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Bato waited until everyone had streamed out of the tent. What he had to say could not be said in such circumstances. Hakoda had thrown him a suspecting glance, but waited till they were alone.
"Let me guess, I won't like what I'm about to hear?"
Bato grimaced, sometimes Hakoda could read him too well.
"Probably not. There are two things. One concerns your son, the other the Prince."
"Hmm. Well, let's hear it, then. What's wrong with Sokka?"
"I've noticed some tension between Sokka and the rest of the group, such a discrepancy between your children that wasn't there the last time I saw them. I think Sokka did something, something that at least partially concerns Prince Zuko. I didn't dig much, as he's your son, but I think you should talk to both of your children, get to the bottom of it."
"And you don't think it's something that will pass? I haven't noticed anything much." The only thing that remotely registered that pointed towards that, were the Prince's indirect, though unsubtle, words that Sokka did not want him in their group.
"Miss Toph said, she's not going to let it blow over, and I've seen Katara giving Sokka the cold shoulder as well."
"Hmm, I guess they probably hid it in front of me, then."
"I may also have set up an encounter with Sokka and Zuko to observe their interactions, and Sokka acts guilty when interacting with him. The Avatar also said that Sokka isn't talking about it. That's about all I know. I'm leaving the rest to you as Sokka's father and as his Chief."
"Huh, I guess it was too much to hope for a little peace in that regard. Alright, I'll ask about it. What about the Prince?"
"I've asked the group about his behaviour and reactions in an attempt to figure out his triggers. Hakoda, I think he was raped."
"Uh, and how do you figure that?"
"I asked Katara about his injuries. She doesn't know, she couldn't make sense of what she discovered. She told me she'd been worried that there was something wrong with his digestion."
"You didn't tell her, did you?" Hakoda asked, a crease of worry on his forehead.
"No, I haven't yet. I don't like the thought of Katara or Toph being the ones to eventually be confronted with addressing that, but if the Prince ever opens up, it's most likely to them."
"Me neither. But they're definitely attached to the boy, they don't intend to leave him behind."
Bato had noticed that too. "So yeah, it leaves me wondering what to do. The boy is pretty docile right now, but he was said to have had a temper. He does have the potential to be volatile, and he certainly has the training to be dangerous. I think it is highly triggering for him to be here in our midst."
"You've seen more of the Prince than I did within social context, so I trust your judgement on this. I will have to speak to my son about this in the morning, before the next council."
"I'll keep you informed."
When they left the tent, they saw that the sky had been brewing, a potential thunderstorm in the making. Hakoda barked out orders.
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Triggerwarnings: Mention of suspected rape
Ystävä: Hey there, yes, we're back, hurray. Thank you again for all the lovely reviews last chapter. Sorry, Zuko's not getting much reprieve of stressful situations yet, but we're working on it. At least Nukilik was decent to him :)
So yeh, Bato let the cat out of the bag, at least to Hakoda. What Hakoda does with what he learned remains to be seen.
ML8891: yeh, alas not much let up for our boy Zuko, but pieces are beginning to fall in place. It was interesting to be able to explore some of Katara's anger in this chapter. Especially after the North, I think she has begun to understand her own power, and being cut out from key events strikes her as unjust. Zuko's reaction also was a 'happy' (for us, certainly not for him) consequence of this, and allowed us to explore some cultural differences.
Other highlights was showing Zuko's political astuteness/less than polite views on the Gaang and Toph starting to sneak. Looking forward to seeing you guys on the next one. Take care and thank you all for your patience, comments and love, each and every one of you and your words are greatly appreciated by us both :).
PS: ML and I will be meeting up in November and we thought we'd bring up the option of doing a voice chat Q&A or simply hanging out with you on our discord server sometimes during that time (around 22-25 Nov). Specific times can be discussed if anyone's interested. So let us know if you are :)
