Zuko crept through the halls of the Royal Palace, trying to remain as discreet as possible.
Azula had hinted that she had resorted to spying on Ozai because he wouldn't tell her anything, and now Zuko had decided to follow her lead. Besides, if questioned, he could just point out that he was the Prince of the Fire Nation and he had every right to be there.
Tonight was a big meeting- a council of war. It had been called quickly, so clearly there was some big news that needed to be shared. Zuko had spied on a few of these meetings, but had learned nothing except for routine troop movements, logistical concerns, and general strategy for pacifying the last holdouts of resistance in the Earth Kingdom. The most exciting thing he had learned about was the recent hijacking of a prison ship by waterbenders on its way back from the South Pole.
Zuko arrived at the entrance to the throne room, but instead of going through the grand hallway he ducked to the side, where a richly decorated red and gold curtain adorned the side of the room and allowed people to conceal themselves behind it. The Prince crept along behind the scenes of life in the fire nation court of ages past, and then didn't move. If there was one thing he had learned from his time as the Blue Spirit, it was how not to be seen if he didn't want to be.
He had been there for about five minutes when the door to the hall opened, and the Military Council of the Fire Nation, which controlled of all parts of the country's armed forces, entered. At their head was the Commander of the Fire Army; Firelord Ozai himself.
The chamber had been made ready for the council by servants, who had unrolled a vast map of the world on the floor. Territories controlled by the Earth Kingdom were marked in green, with Water Tribe territory made out in blue and most of the map being the rich red of Fire Nation territory. Zuko saw that Ba Sing Se was now marked as red on the map.
The council sat around it, and Ozai opened proceedings with the old ceremonial introduction.
"In the name of Agni, I, Ozai, protector and defender of the Fire Nation, do seek the assistance and guidance of my council of war."
"We should be honoured to provide it." The council echoed as one. Zuko did not know any of their names; he had made a point of forgetting because they reminded him too much of the events that had led to his banishment.
"So, I hear that we have news from the South." Ozai got straight down to business.
One of the men, wearing the uniform of First Sea Lord, the head of the Fire Navy, spoke up.
"Yes, as you know we resumed raiding the south immediately upon your return from the Earth Kingdom. We did this, as you know, to try to weed out the new Water Avatar before they could become too much of a danger to us."
"Yes, yes, we've been over this. I gave the order."
"Yes, that's the thing. The Last Airbender still lives."
I knew it! Zuko allowed himself a moment of smugness, before remembering that the Avatar was supposed to be a mortal enemy of the Fire Nation. Had he really just reacted with happiness at the news Ozai had failed to kill the Avatar?
"WHAT!"
Ozai looked incandescent.
"But I shot him with lightning!"
"Yes, Fire Lord."
"I saw him crumple to the ground and everything!"
"Yes, Firelord, it was very heroic."
Ozai, who had been pacing up and down on the map, turned on the man who had spoken.
"Now is not the time for sycophancy, man!"
"No, Fire Lord."
"Well, this changes everything. How did we find this information?"
"Captain Akifumi, commanding the raiding vessel Zuiho, came upon the stolen vessel Zoryu outside a water tribe village. He decided to conduct a punitive action and deport them, but was attacked by Waterbenders, including the airbender's companions. The airbender then revealed himself to save the waterbender's life, and Akifumi's crew were forced to withdraw."
"Interesting. That girl was his weakness in Ba Sing Se and she remains so now."
Ozai stroked his chin. Zuko didn't have a good view of his face, but he knew Ozai was plotting.
"First, arrest that captain. His failure will be judged. Second, send every ship we have in the south to attack that one village. They might have got the drop on one crew who didn't see them coming, but a massive attack should overwhelm them."
"Isn't that overkill?"
"When it comes to the Avatar, there is no such thing. I have underestimated that boy before. I do not intend to do so again."
"And what of... other matters?"
"Like what?"
"Our plans for Sozin's comet."
"This changes nothing. Our victory at Ba Sing Se expunged the shame of one of our greatest military defeats, but it is not the only time my failure of a brother led our armies into humiliation. Our reckoning approaches with the Northern Water Tribe too, even if we don't need to hunt avatars there. And that city will share the fate of Ba Sing Se."
"Though of course, we may still need to."
This last sentence induced a panic in Zuko. He knew full well what "sharing the fate of Ba Sing Se" entailed, and it wasn't pleasant. Zuko had, after all, been there the day the Impenetrable City fell, and had seen things there he would rather not see again.
He also knew that it had been that insufferable idiot Zhao who had led Fire Nation armies to defeat at the North Pole, but that was besides the point.
At the time, while horrible, he could just about rationalise the sack as the spontaneous outpouring of stress from troops who had just been conducting a siege for several weeks. It hadn't been deliberate military policy, had it?
But now, faced with proof that Ozai was planning to do the same thing again, entirely deliberately, put the lie to that statement. If the Fire Nation was willing to do that, then what else were they willing to do?
In that moment, Zuko came to a decision. All his thoughts on the fate of Ba Sing Se, and the attitudes and behaviours of his family, came together in that one moment into one potentially very stupid decision. Slowly, he backed up, and silently crept away.
Once he was out of the room, he ran.
Zuko had decided that the honour his father offered was not for him.
He made his way to his room, and frantically began to pack. His dual swords, the mask of the Blue Spirit, and everything else he thought he might need for the journey and was light enough to carry went into a bag. He was just about to leave the room again when a thought occurred to him.
Mai.
He had to say something to her, for she would wonder where he had gone; but he couldn't risk implicating her in what he was about to do, in case she or her family were targeted afterwards. He took out a piece of paper, sat down and began to write the meanest breakup letter he could possibly think of.
In it, he put all the blame on Mai for the end of their relationship, citing her flaws, real or imagined, as reasons. It was the hardest letter Zuko had ever had to write, but he pushed through. If Mai hated him, it would be harder for her to be implicated.
With the letter finished, Zuko tucked it into his clothing and stole out of the palace. He had one place he needed to go before he left this city.
Zuko ran through the empty streets of the Caldera at night; only now did it occur to him that he didn't actually have a plan. Still, nobody knew what he was about to do except him, he was sure he could get a ship or something. He could lie about wanting to find the Avatar to restore his honour.
That might not be quite such a lie.
Mai's house seemed empty, and Zuko was able to scale the outside to the balcony easily without being challenged. He slipped in through the window, making sure to be as quiet as possible; he didn't know where Mai was. There would probably be no servants though.
He walked slowly through the house, making sure to savour it and relive all the happy memories he had there. He might not be returning for a very long time. He might not be returning, ever.
He found a desk, and took the letter out of his clothes. Leaving it here would mean no going back. Only now did Zuko begin to doubt, but eventually his convictions won out. He placed the letter on the desk.
Which was when a knife came from behind him and pinned his sleeve in place.
"Zuko? I would advise you to make the explanation you are about to give me phenomenally good."