Chapter 26
Effect
A/N: This chapter is rather short, however I wanted to have an entire chapter dedicated to Zuko. This is important as it really shows the changes happening. The ripples are becoming waves and it is going to be a wild ride really soon. Just to let you know if you don't remember all of Maddi's talk to Zuko back on Kyoshi Island, the italics with the exception of the one that Zuko states is from Aang are all from Maddi. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Princess Kassie Out.
Zuko
It had taken nearly two months for Uncle and I to find a place to stay. Even using our firebending to push the raft along all we could do was control speed. Somehow we had ended up on a resort near the line*, here the cherry trees were beginning to blossom filling the place with a sweet scent. This resort was available to both people of the fire nation and earth kingdom, however only the nobles could afford it. It was luck that the hospitality had been offered to us for free. I didn't understand why, but apparently the man who ran the resort used to be close friends with my uncle.
Despite the tension in my shoulders I couldn't accept the offers of messages with fragrant oils. Today was not a day for relaxation. A hand on my shoulder caused me to look up into the yellow eyes of my uncle. His eyes were deep with sadness and compassion. For a split second I felt the need to throw myself into his arms the way I had done when I was a child. After Lu-Ten had died, after my father began to distance himself me. I would never forget the look in my father's eyes after I discovered I was a bender. I was six years old, two years before my mother vanished, seven before I would be scarred and cast out of the only home I had known. The shame in his face and my realization that if I hadn't been a bender I would have brought less shame to my family.
"I see. It's the anniversary." Uncle Iroh stated softly, taking a seat beside me. I sighed and tipped the straw hat over my face.
"Three years today." I replied. I was torn. For two years I had pursued the Avatar with no other purpose. Now though, I had met Aang and his friend and small group had influenced my life. Aang was now more than the Avatar to me. I couldn't forget what had happened back on that day I had masqueraded as the Blue Spirit. He had told me about his friend back a hundred years ago and asked if I thought we had been friends. In the end I had told him to leave. In return he had smiled and told me that he thought we could have been friends. That brought me to Maddi. That girl had made an impression on me in a way that I could never forget.
You have the heart to be a good leader, one your people would love. If your father had let you stay and remain the way you were then his own people would rise up against him and give you the crown. Besides Iroh, you are the only one in the royal family deserving of the peoples love.
I had been unsure of her, conflicted and confused but after meeting Aang I found myself beginning to honestly wonder if maybe they had a point. It was as if something had been lifted from my eyes. I could see another side of the story and it made me sick to my stomach. My father had been cold, distant and angry with me for years before I was banished but I had locked those memories away, convincing myself that if I captured the avatar he would love me again. Now I realized it was a task that I would have never been able to complete. Even with Aang being twelve years old and master of only one element(a fact that was soon to change if it hadn't already) I could not defeat him.
"Perhaps you would like to join me in a quiet walk at the seaside." Uncle suggested softly, "To take your mind off things." I looked up at my uncle and gave him a small smile.
"That would be nice."
We returned to our small cabin with a bag full of shells that uncle couldn't resist taking from the sand. After some time I noticed how careful he was that each and every shell was empty of any inhabitants. It was with the familiar gentle care that my uncle seemed to share for everything under the sky.
He unloaded his horde with a child-like glee, eyes bright in excitement. He confused me, never seeming to be consistent, one moment giving me pieces of wisdom or raising my confidence and the next attempting to play an instrument off key or collect sea shells.
"These keep-sakes will bring us joy for years!" He cried causing me to shake my head. Four months ago I would have shouted at him but now I felt like I couldn't tell up from down any more. Had one girl really made this much of a change in my life?
You are a kind, compassionate person Zuko.
Do you think we might have been friends?
Now I was thinking of Aang again. Why was this happening to me? I winced, I was going to get a headache if this kept up.
"Hello brother." Never mind. I spun around, already knowing who it was. Only one person would have the audacity to break into our private cabin and wait in the dark before acknowledging us. Azula. My little sister walked out from the shadows. It had been three years since I had last seen her and she had changed. She was taller, prideful and full of arrogance. I had never walked that way but her special training with father evidently was making an impact. She had changed a lot but I couldn't help but remember the sweet little girl she had been. Back before she turned nine, back before she showed her first blue fire. To create a fire that intense at such a young age...
"What? No greeting?" She challenged, gold eyes sharp. There was a distinct malice to them that hadn't been there when I had last saw her.
"To what do we owe this honour?" Uncle asked. I could tell he was uneasy, even wary of the clear changes that had occurred since we had left. A strange feeling welled up in my gut, one that I couldn't quite place. I tried to shake it off.
"Humm, must be a family trait. I glad that particular one missed me." She stated. Her voice was like ice, empty but full of spears. She moved toward me with a smile that long ago would have unnerved me, now however that feeling in my gut simply grew stronger.
"I've come with a message from home. There has been talk of a rebellion, treacherous plotting against the crown. Father realized that family are the only ones who are trustworthy. He's revoking your banishment."
Show them that you would be a better leader then Ozai, then overthrow him.
Why couldn't I get that girl out of my head? However, wasn't Maddi a colonial? Could she have been talking about this rebellion? Could it be that the rebellion that Azula was talking about wanted me as Fire Lord? A creeping suspicion slithered into my mind. If that was true, father wouldn't want me home where I was within easy access of the rebellion. He would want me far out of their reach. For him to invite me home meant that one of two things were happening. Either Azula was lying again or uncle and I were going to be imprisoned. Azula didn't notice my disbelief or she chose to ignore it.
"I'm still waiting for my thank you. I'm not a messenger, I didn't have to come here to give you the news." I looked at my sister. There was something wrong here and her words of a rebellion were ringing in my ears. I tried to answer her but the only words that I could manage didn't come out the way I wanted.
"A rebellion?" Azula looked ready to slap me across the face. I could feel the anger radiating off her in waves but she seemed to pull herself out of it with ease although there was a tenseness in her eyes that wasn't there before.
"Yes a rebellion. I understand how that might seem ridiculous but it's true." She paused, "I can see this is all to much for you. I'll come see you tomorrow when you can think more clearly." With those parting words my sister, who I hadn't seen in three years swept out of the cabin.
It was later, once she was long gone that I realized that feeling in my gut, was pity.
I was torn, pacing up and down the cabin my frustration kept growing. Part of me wanted to believe Azula, the other part of me, the part that spoke in Maddi's voice whispered 'didn't you yourself say Azula always lies? Besides you know about the rebellion and they want you as Fire Lord. Not Ozai, not Azula, you.' Uncle Iroh noticed my troubles. He sighed and sat down, patting a spot on the floor across from him.
"If you keep walking you will wear through the floor nephew." I stopped and sat down. My uncle looked into my eyes intensely.
"Tell me what is bothering you." I opened my mouth then shut it. I hadn't told my uncle everything about what had occurred on Kyoshi island and I hadn't told him anything of what had happened between Aang and I. I started in shock, suddenly realizing that I had been calling Aang by his name for a while. I sighed and began talking to uncle Iroh. I told him everything from Maddi's speech, to Aang's beliefs and now to what Azula had said and my mistrust in my sister. On his part my uncle didn't say a word, he just listened, face impassive as I told him everything. It was so strange to have no secrets between us.
"It is your choice Zuko," He stated softly, "what are we doing?" I looked at my uncle, deep in thought. I doubted I was wrong about Azula although I wished I was. My thoughts wandered back to the North Pole. After I had captured Aang I had dragged him with me farther north. At the time I had convinced myself that I was trying to get away from Zhao and once he was gone I would leave, taking the avatar with me. Once again it hadn't worked. I had been defeated. However, instead of leaving me alone to die from the cold Aang and his friends had brought me with them. I had woken up during the journey back and carefully cut the ropes binding my wrists. I was careful to make sure I appeared to be asleep and after they had been distracted by Zhao I had slipped away, hiding in the shadows. I watched as they confronted Zhao over the spirit and my uncle's interference. Unlike everyone else though, I had seen Maddison hiding across the water from me. Curious I had changed my focus to her, watching as she slowly made her way to the small island and than watched as she reacted to Zhao's attack before it happened. The second the fish had been dropped from the sack she began to run straight towards the pond. I hadn't realized what she was doing until she threw herself in front of the flames. She had attempted to sacrifice herself.
I wondered where she was now.
I shook myself. I needed to focus. There were three options for me. The first was trusting my sister, something which I knew was a bad choice. The second and third were both similar, I would leave with uncle and we would seek out answers from either the Avatar or the rebellion. The choice should have been easy. I knew which one was the choice that needed to be taken but to do so would be to turn my back on my family.
Hadn't they already turned their backs on uncle and I anyway? Uncle Iroh looked at me, waiting for my decision. I could see the worry in his eyes. Turning I admitted softly in a voice I hadn't heard in years. It was the voice of the boy I had been before my mother left, before my father started hating me.
"I'm confused uncle." I flinched at how delicate the voice sounded, breakable and scared. In a few months my entire life had been flung on its head and it was all because of that girl.
"I know Zuko, I know."
A few hours later I looked back at the small cabin which had been our temporary home. From now on we would have no home, no one but ourselves to rely on. Our packs were small, we had brought no more then what was absolutely necessary and despite my uncle's thoughts earlier he chose to leave the most behind. I didn't question him but it caused me to wonder. Had he not been serious when he had talked about the seashells or if he was upset but knew the necessity of leaving such things behind?
We hurried away, we needed to move quickly to escape my sister. Despite that I stopped at a river. If we were to turn our backs on our family than we needed to do it properly. Slowly I dug into my pack for a small knife that I always carried with me. Slowly I held it out to my uncle, the earth kingdom lettering across the blade glittered in the light. Solemnly my uncle took the knife and cut off his top knot before passing it to me. I took it and repeated the gesture, cutting off the long hair in one slice. We watched in silence as the river bore our hair away, slowly breaking them apart until only long hairs were left, floating away downstream.
That night I looked up into the sky deep in thought. I didn't regret my choice I had made the right choice as hard as it had been. My family no longer cared for me. It hurt but not as much as I had believed it would. Images kept appearing in my mind. My uncle, smiling, the man who had been more like my father than my real father. Aang, smiling as he told me he thought we could be friends. Maddi telling me with complete sincerity that I was ten times better then my father. More faces appeared, faces who my mind conjured, men and women reaching out to me, each begging me to free them from my father's dictatorship. Boys and girls, younger than me with a sad age in their eyes, marching off to war under my father's command coming to stand with pride beside me. All of them turned to look at me at once and a haunting echo came to my ears. One repeated a thousand times in my dreams, a war cry that stayed with me that entire night.
"Long live Fire Lord Zuko! Long live Fire Lord Zuko!"
Long live Fire Lord Zuko
*Back before we named the equator it was called the Line
