Disclaimer: Refer to Ch. 1
A/N: I'm starting to think that I should have post these two chapters along with the last one. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 4: Stories and Destinations
After Iroh calmed down he thanked the four for their kindness and support, and he lay back against the gear along the back of the saddle. He'd placed the mask down beside him, but the dagger was still held tightly in his grip. He'd soon lapsed into a sleep filled with visions of the past.
Sokka had removed the map, and had begun to study it again. He said, "From the looks of this I would have to say we'd be there in two days. Anybody got any guesses as to where he was trying to send us to?"
"After what he did, I'd doubt that it was some trap. Besides Iroh has told us that he'd given up on capturing me after that one incident." Aang replied, floating over to look at the map.
As the two tried to figure out where they were going and Toph rummaged around for something to eat, Katara had picked up the blue mask. She looked down at it, and she suddenly began to feel a small amount of guilt at all the nasty thoughts she'd had about the late prince. There had been more than one occasion when she'd wished for some tragedy to befall him. Now that she thought of it, the feelings had truly began shortly after the incident where Iroh had been injured. She remembered the anger born of fear in his eyes when he'd demanded them to leave. What was it that had driven the young man; every time she thought she had him pegged he did something to counter her idea.
She studied the mask, tracing the curving features with her fingertips. The smile was somehow hard to place with the so often serious prince. The most she had ever seen from him had been a smirk that had usually irritated her immensely. The fangs were a little too demonic for her tastes, but he'd probably given the illusion of a monster to several people in the past. Katara's gaze then fell to the eyes. It had been only a matter of hours ago that she'd tried to see the eyes through those very holes. Why would he wear this?
'You dolt, even a child knows why thieves wear masks! He wouldn't want to be recognized.' She thought, angry at her own foolishness.
That night they bedded down in a secluded area of a forest not far from the mountain range that their destination was located. After a dinner consisting of a few assorted meats and fruits the five sat about their small fire. No one was doing much more than making a bit of small talk. That was about to change.
Aang asked, "Iroh, um could you tell us about Zuko so we can try to understand why he did that today?"
Iroh gave a small smile and said, "I doubt it would help to figure out today's events. Even I don't know what could have lead him to the path he chose. However as he is now gone, I suppose it has fallen to me to tell you of his past. This will at least answer those questions you all once asked."
"You mean like why he was so determined in chasing us around the world?" Sokka asked.
"Yes." The elder man nodded. "I remember the first time that I had ever seen my nephew. It was about two weeks after his birth when my ship pulled in; my lovely, late wife and son were waiting on the dock. We arrived at the palace to find Ursa, Zuko's late mother, in the courtyard. She was such a beautiful lady, in body and spirit. She was one of the few ladies of court that could overcome Ozai's temper. I spoke to him, welcoming him to the family, when all of a sudden he sneezed scorching my beard. It took me a couple months to regrow it to the point it had been.
Soon though, Azula was born, and even from early ages could some how manipulate flames with some ease. You see, a firebender's training usually starts when they are five or six due to fire being so potentially dangerous. She would often be found setting her toys ablaze and playing with the flames until someone put them out. Zuko on the other hand always seemed to struggle with his bending, but no more than any other firebender. My brother was instantly convinced that she was a firebending prodigy, and even I noticed, the few times I was home, that Azula was able to get away with more than Zuko. I remember once I had overheard Ozai tell him that Azula was born lucky while he was lucky to be born.
I heard about this incident shortly after my return from Ba Sing Se, and the death of Lu Ten. My brother did something to anger our father and thus decreed that Zuko would die to teach him a lesson. Servants were able to tell me that it had been Ozai that killed my father after Ursa died in exchange for Zuko's life. Ozai though made sure that all of this was covered up, and took my place as Fire Lord. After that I did what I could to protect Zuko from his father's influence, having retired as general."
"Listen I feel bad for him. I really do, but that doesn't explain why he chased us for so long." Sokka commented.
Katara said, "In one encounter we had, he told me he was trying to regain his honor."
Iroh nodded and continued, "Yes, it started about three years ago. Zuko convinced me to help him sit in on one of his father's war councils. He said that he needed to learn all that he could in order to become a worthy Fire Lord one day. There was a general who proposed a plan that would sacrifice an entire division of new recruits to defeat a regiment of veteran earthbenders. He spoke out against it. Though he was correct in his protest, it was a show of disrespect, and thus an Agni Kai was issued."
Toph quickly asked, "What's an Agni Kai?"
"A fire duel." Aang said quietly. "They weren't done very often a hundred years ago, but I did see a few. They were one of the few things I didn't enjoy when I visited my friends in the Fire Nation. They had a tendency to become rather…brutal."
"Yes, they can." Iroh sighed. "As the match began Zuko stood and turned to his opponent. He was not prepared for who he saw, his father. Because his protest was in his father's council the disrespect was to him rather than the general. Upon seeing his father Zuko bowed down and pleaded for forgiveness. Ozai claimed that he would have to learn respect through suffering, giving his own son that scar, and when he did I turned away. Immediately following that Ozai decreed that Zuko was to be banished from the Fire Nation, and that he'd only be allowed to return if he found and captured the Avatar. You see, Zuko loves his father very much and has tried to make him proud all his life, but he is his mother's son and inherited her kind heart."
The four younger people each sat back from their rapt attention of the story of the late prince. Suddenly it was as if the mad drive the man had to capture Aang made some sense, but still not much. They still could not understand how it must feel to have a father that would purposely rid himself of you. Iroh had explained what had happened after the events at the North Pole to them before. Soon the group each fell into deep slumbers.
They left their campsite an hour after sunrise, heading to the south toward their destination. They all sat about the saddle, each going about their own little activity. Katara was mending a shirt of Sokka's as he sharpened his boomerang while keeping an eye out for any sign of fire nation troops. Iroh and Toph were working on some So Doku puzzles, and Aang was fiddling with a couple of small stones. They would arrive by sunset of the next day, and Zuko's act had given them the chance to lose their pursuers.
That day passed without any remarkable events, and soon they came to the next. After crossing a few miles of ocean, they came to a land riddled with mountain ranges. It appeared that the location on the map was situated in the middle of the peaks. Aang couldn't help the feeling of remembrance as he looked about. What was it that was teetering on the edge of his memory?
The answer to this came at two hours till sunset. They came within sight of the central peak to behold its summit. They gazed at the Eastern Air Temple as they approached, and Aang tried to find an area for Appa to land. It looked as the Southern Temple had, walls crumbling, no lights, and not a soul in sight. This had once been a thriving place of life with some of the highest order monks. Now it was no more than a silent reminder of a time long gone. They landed in the courtyard to be surprised that almost everything but the things that only an earthbender could handle by them self was cleaned.
"Um, correct if I'm wrong, but shouldn't this place be, I don't know, more demolished than this?" Sokka asked to no one in particular.
Aang replied, "I, I would have thought so, but it doesn't look nearly as bad as the Southern Temple did. Do you think Zuko could have done this?"
"Yes, he did." Iroh answered from what was left of a doorway to one of the large meditation gardens.
They followed him down the remnants of the stairs to the garden. What they saw was a sobering sight. The old garden was littered with logs of varying sizes sticking out of the ground in rows. Each log had a symbol carved and then seared into it. The logs either bore the three spirals of the Air Nomads or the tri tipped flame of the Fire Nation. The graves were all mixed together it wasn't Fire Nation on one side and Air Nomads on the other. The sight only made them hope that the spirits of those dead could find peace together in death that they'd been denied because of the war.
They explored further through the temple, and found the other work Zuko had been able to do. The kitchens, though not spotless, were for the most part clean, and there were a few items there; some drying meat and a few half empty bags of fruits. The library showed signs of being used even though a number of the scrolls were still covered in dust. There was a table that had candles with recently melted wax at their bases, and scrolls telling of the four nations before the war. Only one of the bedrooms had been cleaned, and they assumed that Zuko had used it.
Iroh recommended, "Miss Katara, how about you use this room for now, and see to supper. While you're doing that, the rest of us shall be finding rooms for ourselves, and prepare them for the night."
Looking around at the others, who didn't supply any protest to the idea, Katara nodded, "That sounds good enough to me, Iroh. I'll go see what I can do down in the kitchen. I'll give a yell if the food's done before you."
From the supplies they had and the few edible items Zuko had left Katara had managed to make a descent soup. As was almost the usual she received gracious compliments about her cooking from the old firebender. It truly surprised her with his manners and how polite Iroh could be about things she and the others seemed to take for granted. She usually chalked it up to his being raised as a royal at court. Then again so was Zuko, and, while never having eaten a meal with the late prince, she just couldn't grasp the idea that he would act like his uncle did. Where Sokka and Toph would seem to just shovel their food and Aang would either follow suit or play with it while he ate, Iroh showed exemplary manners. She still laughed at the time she had convinced him to teach the others at least some table manners. Teaching them to Sokka was something even beyond the Dragon of the West's ability.
After dinner they took their packs up to their rooms. They were going to be there for a while and they decided that they would get comfortable, pretty much settling in for now. Katara, using one of the candles that Iroh had Aang light, began to light the sconces in her room. As she unpacked she stumbled across a pile of clothes. They weren't in great condition, but still usable. On the top was a vaguely familiar item, the long tunic that Zuko had worn the last couple times she saw him. She lifted it, and saw how torn and ragged it was. When she'd first seen him, he always wore the armor and uniform of his nation, and it was always clean and in perfect order. After the North Pole he wore clothes not too high above rags. That was an indicator of just how far he had fallen.
She folded it back up and placed it back on top of the pile, which she moved to the floor of a wardrobe. She didn't know why, but she couldn't bring herself to get rid of them. She shook the idea out of her head. He was gone, died giving them a chance to escape to this sanctuary. She lay down on the bed and pulled the blanket up around her. Even over a hundred years the bed hadn't lost much of its comfortableness, but as she snuggled into the pillow she noticed something else. There was a faint smell to the bed, a smell like autumn leaves and smoked wood, and she had to admit she found it almost pleasant.
The next morning she got up just before dawn, and dressed. When she got down to the courtyard she heard someone digging and a few mild grunts. She walked over to the passage to the graveyard they had found the previous day, and saw a bulky figure sitting on the ground. As she approached she saw that it was Iroh, but couldn't see what he was doing with his back toward her. Katara slowly sat to his side, her legs tucked underneath her. He lift a log about a foot in diameter and three feet long, and sunk it into the hole he had made. It left just over two feet sticking out of the ground, and she saw the Fire Nation symbol just above the writing burned into it.
In memory of
Prince Zuko
May he know the honor in death
he was denied in life
"That is a very touching sentiment." She said, giving him a sad smile.
"Unfortunately, almost no one could see just how much honor he truly had, not even himself." Iroh replied, looking out toward the sun beginning to break the horizon.
After a moment of silence Katara said, "Hang on, there's something missing. I'll be right back."
She ran off and returned a few moments later, carrying something in her arms. She walked up to grave marker and tied the object to it so it hung just under the epitaph. Iroh looked at it, and couldn't help the smile that came to his face. There hung the mask of the Blue Spirit.
"I thank you Katara." He said with a small bow. "Here, I think you would might enjoy looking at these."
He pulled a small stack of canvas squares from one of his pockets, and held them out to her. She took them gently and looked down at what was on them. They were each a different drawing of people. The first was of three men; the eldest in the middle wore a flame ornament in his topknot. She looked back up at him with a quizzical expression.
He explained, "These are drawings of my family I have carried for many years. I first started doing this the first time I went off to battle. That is my father, brother, and I many years ago."
The next image was of a pretty lady with a little boy sitting on her lap.
"Ah, one of my dearest drawings, my wife Leeta and son Lu Ten."
Then there was a young man who wore Fire Nation armor; she could tell who this was.
"Lu Ten, again?" She asked.
He nodded, "Just before leaving for his first mission."
The next was of a beautiful woman with a little girl on her lap and a young boy standing beside her.
Iroh said, "That is Ursa, Azula, and Zuko when he was about six years old."
He looked completely different. This was the first time she had ever seen him without his scar, not to mention the smile of true contentment on his face. She pulled out the next one to find an older, perhaps fourteen, version of the boy. Now her eyes widened in surprise. The boy in the drawing was one of the most handsome she had seen in her life.
She asked with a little bashfulness in her voice, "Is this really what Zuko looked like before…well you know?"
Iroh gave a nod and said, "Yes, I had this done on his fourteenth birthday, only a couple months before his banishment. Now, that's enough with all these thoughts of the past. We should be looking toward the future, and in doing so I have a student to wake for training. Perhaps though, you could find it in your heart to start a pot of tea for an old man?"
"Of course, Iroh. Thank you for sharing these with me." She smiled handing the stack back to him. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something else. What's the story behind the knife?"
Iroh looked at her then shifted his gaze to the rising sun. He answered, "When we breeched the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, we captured a general, who presented that pearl dagger to me. After reading the inscription on the blade I sent it home to Zuko. Never give up without a fight. Those were words he took to heart…and his grave."
She had to admit that she couldn't think of a motto that fit the fire prince anymore than that. They both walked away through the passage, neither noticing the light breeze creating a kind of laughing sound as it passed through the blue mask.