Chapter 31: the firelords call

Femke's POV

For the next few months my friends and I stayed at the North Pole. Zaheer stayed in bed most of the time, even as he disliked it a lot. I was grateful when Najira came with the message he was regaining his strength at a faster pace and after nearly a month and a half he was finally able to get up again.

"About time." Zaheer said when he finally stood next to the bed on crutches.

"I know it was hard but it was for the best." I smiled back at him as I helped him walk towards the door and opened it just as Ming Hua walked by with her mother, smiling at us before they turned around the corner and walked on. To my great surprise Ming had been wearing a royal gown and a tiara.

"Was that Ming?' zaheer asked as he looked after her with an incredulity.

"I think they're going to an official meeting." I answered. "Now that her daughter is back in her life again, the Queen is a lot more sociable and she asked Ming to do the same."

"And she's complying? " Zaheer asked me smirking as he walked alongside me, his crutches tapping in a slow rhythm as he did so.

"She doesn't have to. She helps with some adjustments to the North. Thanks to her input things have already become a lot better here for the lower classes. " I smiled, remembering Ming had given a big hand in organizing help for homeless children children like her, who had nobody else to turn to and would otherwise end in bad situations.

"Sounds like she is using her own experiences trying to prevent people from ending up like she did." Zaheer smiled.

"Like a real Voortrix." I smiled, looking up as Xai Bau and Tziza walked towards us.

"Finally out of bed, I see." Xai Bau smiled as he gave his nephew a friendly pat on the back.

"It's not like me to stay in bed for to long." Zaheer replied with a smile.

"You've always valued your freedom." Xai Bau smiled while Noatak and Tarrlok walked around the corner as well, smiling when they saw us.

"Good to see you're doing better." Tarrlok smiled, both them giving my boyfriend a small hug.

"I'm glad to be doing so." Zaheer smirked. "What's with the backpacks?" He wanted to know, noticing both men wore them.

"We just came back from our old family home." Tarrlok smiled, which earned him a prod from Noatak.

"Since we have to stay here for a while so you can recover, we took the opportunity to visit our adoptive mother." Noatak said, the last thing still stinging.

"How did it go?" I asked to know with a sad look. It must have been hard for her to hear her boys knew they were adopted, especially after she just had Noatak back.

"She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Noatak but after we explained what had taken place she was really happy to see us again." Tarrlok explained as we sat down in the library of the palace.

"The house was just like I remembered it. Mom just got a little older, that's all." Noatak shrugged.

How did she react to, you know, you being Amon?" I asked a little hesitant.

"She was angry about it. Saying our father was a honorable man and was spinning in his grave because of me behaving like that." Noatak replied with his head down.

"It was hard to break the news to her that our father was Yakone." Tarrlok nodded. "But we had to be honest with her. She had to know what happened."

"How did she take it?" Zaheer asked.

"Badly. At first she thought we were making it up to excuse our behavior." Tarrlok said.

"When I showed her I could bloodbend and told her dad taught us that in secret during those 'hunting trips' off his, she believed us" Noatak said with his head down.

"She took it badly. Going as far as blaming herself for not noticing." Tarrlok said with a solemn look.

"Well, if you want to get technical about it." Noatak said.

"How could she have seen it coming? He covered up everything." Tarrlok said. "She trustedhim, thinking he lovedher."

"That was naïve." Zaheer said. "She never noticed something was bothering you and didn't even ask why Noatak got so distant all of a sudden?"

"She probably assumed it was part of puberty since Noatak was in his early teens when he started to distance himself." I brought up, looking at Noatak. "The only strange thing she never picked up on is Yakone's abusive behavior towards the boys."

"She was never there when it happened. If he wanted to he sent her out on a chore." Tarrlok replied.

"She never noticed any injuries? " I asked.

"No. If he hit us he was always careful to hit us on places that stayed hidden under out clothes." Tarrlok said with a shrug. "That rarely happened. Mostly it was mental abuse."

"Horrible." I shuddered.

"We got used to it." Noatak shrugged. "We did manage to convince her dad was a horrible man and the cause of us going down the wrong path until you got us out." He smiled.

"Did you tell her what we found out?" I asked.

"Yes and she wants to meet you someday." Tarrlok smiled. "She was really impressed by what we told her."

"Nice." I smiled. "I would love to meet her as well."

"We could go visit together next weekend." Tarrlok smiled. "If you and Zaheer feel up for it."

"I am. I feel a lot better already." Zaheer replied, smiling. I had to admit he was right. He was looking a lot healthier already.

"Anyway, any idea were P'li and Ghazan are?" Zaheer asked.

"They'll arrive any minute now" Master Xai Bau smiled as he placed a hand on my boyfriend's shoulder. "They have been home for the weekend."

"Everybody wants to spend some time with their families now that they still can." Tziza commented, smiling.

"Can't blame them. I would have done the same if my mother hadn't insistedon an arranged marriage" Zaheer nodded.

"About that… " Tarrlok started. "She'll arrive any day now."

"OH." Zaheer smirked as he stumbled over to elbow him. "You finally had the courage to talk?"

"We have been writing each other for the past two months." Tarrlok admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Some love never fades." Noatak said as Tarrlok gave him a prod.

"Says the one who can't even speak to P'li without blushing." Tarrlok teased, which made Noatak turn a deep shade of red.

"That's so romantic!" Femke beamed.

"I know the feeling." Zaheer admitted with a small smile.

"I heard the two of you really loved each other until you started to develop feelings for Femke." Noatak smiled.

"That was a grand old mess, wasn't it? Glad it turned out okay." Tarrlok said, backing away a little when Noatak gave him a firm glare.

"It was wrong to go behind her back. Do you know how match that must have hurt?" Noatak asked firmly.

"I was told the love of my life is already engaged to someone else, does that count?" Tarrlok admitted looking down as he said this.

"Let's not turn this in a competition." Noatak huffed as he looked to the side, blushing when he saw P'li turning around the corner.

"I have to go." He said after which he quickly walked off.

"What's with him?" Zaheer asked as he looked after Noatak.

"The same thing that was with you for the longest time." Ghazan smirked as he gave Zaheer a firm pat on the back.

"I wasn't thatbad." Zaheer sputtered.

"Yes you were." Ghazan said teasingly.

"We were young." Zaheer stammered.

"And you loved her." Ghazan said.

"Probably." Zaheer smiled at P'li, who nodded in reply.

"It wasn't easy to trust anyone after all I went through at that point." P'li said, looking down sadly. "But it got better thanks to everyone giving me the courage to keep trying to build trust."

"That's in the past. In the present, Noatak likes you." I smiled as I elbowed my friend.

"You think?" P'li asked.

"Certainly." I said, smirking.

"I don't know. What if you mistake the signs?" P'li asked.

"I know him." I replied smiling as I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me on this."

"I guess I should try and talk to him." She smiled before she headed off to do just that, just as another familiar looking girl walked around the corner.

"Tar!" She exclaimed, dropping her bag before she ran towards him.

"Alli!" Tarrlok smiled, running towards her as well, scooping her up before they shared a kiss. "It's been too long."

"It has. How have you been?" Allerys asked as she hugged him.

"I'm a Voortrix Fairy now and on my way to save the world." Tarrlok smiled. As he returned the hug.

"I did read some headlines though. I thought you were an honest politician." Allerys said sternly

.

"I know it was wrong of me to go down that path. Thanks to my half sister Femke I know that now." Tarrlok smiled at me when he said this as Allerys turned and looked at me.

"You're the Fairy I saw in Ba Sing Se, right?" She asked as she looked at me with a small smile.

"That was me. My name's Femke." I introduced myself. "These are my friends; P'li, Ghazan, Xai Bau, Tziza and my other half brother Noatak; Tarrlok's older brother."

"Didn't he die?" Allerys asked as she looked at him, shocked.

"I thought so as well, until we found out he somehow survived that blizzard and changed his name into Amon." Tarrlok explained.

"How did he manage that?" Allerys asked.

"He used bloodbending to control his own body temperature and found shelter." Tarrlok answered.

"I made my blood pump faster, which kept me warm enough to survive the blizzard and find shelter until it settled down." Noatak explained as he walked back around the corner.

"That sounds like you've been through hell. I'm glad he didn't lose you in that blizzard. That said, this doesn't make up for the horrible things you did." Allerys said with an accusing tone in her voice.

"We know." Tarrlok said as he hugged Allerys. "That's why we want to help Femke save the world."

"All of us made mistakes but we all learned from it and managed to move away from it. All thanks to Femke." Zaheer smiled as he hugged me.

"And to Korra handing your butts to you." I said with a teasing smirk. "Let's not forget shedid all the hard work."

"I sure did." Korra said as she entered the library with a messenger hawk on her arm.

"This just came in for you." Korra said while she let the messenger hawk fly over to me, carrying a message with a black line on it, meaning it was very important.

"Hey Hawkie the Second."I smiled, giving it a small pat on the head before I took the message from the Hawk's back, who tapped its beak against my cheek in a friendly way before he flew to a stand in the corner.

"He likes you." Ghazan smirked as I took the message and opened it, smiling when I saw Zuko had tried to write to me in English, which he had been practicing.

Hello Femke

,I hope my english is getting better. I'm saddened to hear you couldn't get along with Korra. It might somewhat explain why you choose to do what you did I have to say I am deeply disappointed in you for letting your personal emotions get in the way of your decisions.

Sokka and I are both world leaders and Aang was your closest friend. Do you realize how terrible it was what you did? Do you realize they had come for me? For my daughter? Did you hate Korra that much that you wanted to murder her? You could have ruined everything we fought for. YOU fought for. Destroyed Aang's culture once more.

I know you were hurt and I understand you might have found solace with them. It's what I once did. But realize what you almost destroyed. What you had almost done to those that meant the most to you. Aang would be turning in his grave if he knew what you did. Murdering innocent people is against everything he ever believed in.

That being said, could you please come? It is very urgent.

Best regards,

Zuko

I figured as much

I thought as I looked over the letter sadly.

"He doesn't mince words, does he?" Zaheer said as I went and took a blank piece of paper.

"Harsh." Ghazan smirked.

"I understand where he's coming from." I replied as I looked at my friends sadly. "What he says is true. I almost destroyed everything they believed in."

"But when you realised your mistake you helped to make the world a better place. Guiding the people around you." Toph's voice called from behind me as she entered the library.

"I tried my best but doesn't excuse what I did." I said as I looked down.

"It doesn't but you did understand the error in your ways, which can't be said of every bonehead that I've met." Toph smirked. "You learned from the mistakes you made just like Zuko did all those years ago. You gave him a second chance by trusting him when Katara didn't. Maybe he should be the wiser one now and return the favor." My daughter said.

"I think I'd draw the line at them killing Zuko. I'd kill them if they did that." I said as I turned around to them.

"That would change your mind?" Zaheer asked.

"He is one of my best friends as well. I wouldn't have let you hurt him. Even if I have to die myself." I admitted looking down.

"Femke." Zaheer whispered, getting up, stumbling because he forgot to grab his crutches but I managed to grab him before he could fall.

"I'm sorry Zaheer but just as match as I like you, he is also my friend. I would have never hurt him. Not even if he had been the one hurting me." I said as I looked him deep in his eyes, hoping he would understand.

"Figures." Ming Hua muttered as she looked to the side.

"I understand. Your old friends mean a lot to you." Zaheer smiled. "I would have done anything to protect my friends if I had been in your position."

"We're touched." Ghazan smirked.

"I was too far away at that moment. Had I been there, I would have risk everything to protect the two of you. Even if it had meant me dying." Zaheer said sternly.

"Back to the subject at hand." Ming Hua interrupted. "Are we going to see him?"

"I think we should wait a little longer." I said sternly, shooting Zaheer a worried glance.

"Why wait?" P'li asked as she entered the room.

"Until Zaheer can stand up without crutches again. Then we head back into action." I explained. "I don't want the illness to get worse again."

"Maybe he just wants to talk face to face." Tarrlok offered up, at which Allerys nodded.

"I don't think so. His letter sounded urgent." I replied with a pondering look. "I already explained most of the things happened in messages the past one month and a half. If he just wanted me to come over he would have just said so."

"True." Zaheer agreed.

"So are we going?" Ghazan asked.

"I agree with Femke. Zaheer should still take it easy. We have to postpone it until he is better." Ming Hua said firmly.

"You also don't wants to leave home now you found it." Ghazan commented.

"I do. I just don't want Femke to start moping again." Ming Hua said but I could clearly see she was lying. She was enjoying life with her mother.

"No need. I will be alright" Zaheer smiled.

"And what if you aren't?" I asked my boyfriend worriedly.

"Then I'll just have to stay here." zaheer said, before he looked to the side with a hurt look. Being ill was very hard for him.

"It's probably another mystery we have to solve." Ghazan commented.

"If you're up to it." I questioned Zaheer as I looked him in his eyes. Zaheer nodded in reply. "Then I will write to Zuko we're going to the Fire Nation."

"We're going to take a trip to the Fire Nation." Ghazan smirked.

"If we go on like this we've seen all parts of the world soon." P'li agreed. "I think we have not been in all four air temples yet." P'li agreed nodding.

"Maybe someday we will visit the last two." I smirked as I got a pencil and started to write down a message for Zuko;

Hello Zuko,

We will leave the North Pole by dawn tomorrow. We will arrive in a few days if they weather stays as good as it is now.

What you said is true. I made the mistake of letting my emotions get the better of me and with that I endangered the whole world. I am truly sorry for the harm I caused. But you should know that, had they gone to the Fire Nation next, I would have stood up for you. No matter what, you're still my friend, Zuko. Even if i had to attack them to keep them away from you I would have done it.

I am a lot Zuko but I am not a monster. I will never be, whatever you might think of me. I hoped you would know that after all we have been through back then.

See you in a few days

Love,

Femke

"There we go." I smiled as I put the message in the tube on Hawkie's back and put the black line back in place. "Take that to Zuko, please? I will see you in a few days."

Hawkie screeched in reply, which made me smile.

"See ya!" Ghazan called as I opened the window and allowed the hawk to fly out.

"I better go tell my mother we have to go see the Firelord." Ming said after a short while after which she headed off.

"The rest of us should go pack." I replied, looking after Hawkie.

"Good idea." Zaheer nodded.

Normal POV

Three days of traveling later, the Voortrix with Master Xai Bau and Tziza stood before the Fire Nation's Royal Palace where a guard was already waiting for them, making some of them back away slightly.

"This way, Lord Zuko is already waiting for you." The man said as he gestured for the group to follow him. "We could have easily handled the mission just as well." They heard him mutter under his breath as they walked through the long hallways towards the throne room.

"This place hasn't changed much over the years." Femke whispered to Zaheer. "It's exactly the same as all those years ago."

"Remember fighting all of those Fire Nation soldiers here to reach Ozai?" Toph smirked.

"Hasn't changed a bit, has it?" Femke replied. "The same with the Earth Kingdom Palace."

"I remember that door being broken. By me." Toph smirked.

"Only for Zaheer to break it again when we entered." Femke smirked, which made Toph snicker a little.

"I was more careful. I remember you saying the door at least stayed in one piece." Zaheer added, wrapping a arm around his girlfriend carefully.

"A pretty banged up piece." Femke said. "The Earth Queen's reaction wasn't as funny as the Earth King's, though."

"That woman had a dreadful sense of humor." Toph nodded. "Rarely laughed."

"She did." Zuko replied to Toph as he stood before his throne while Firelord Izumi sat on the one next to him.

"Lord Zuko." Femke smiled as she bowed before her friend.

"No need to be so formal." Zuko smiled as he came down the small stairs before the platform the thrones stood on. "How about a friendly hug?"

"Even after all I did?" Femke asked as she looked up at her old friend with surprise.

"But you're trying to make up for it, right?" Zuko smiled as he closed in now and hugged Femke. "I understand how that feels."

"Zuko… " Femke whispered as she now returned the hug. "I'm so sorry. I never intended for any of this to happen. I just… " Femke stammered, words failing her as she felt tears flow over her cheeks.

"I know." Zuko smiled as he rubbed the brunette over her back to comfort her. "What I do want to know; why did you allow Zaheer to murder the Earth Queen? You knew that was going to create chaos. Not even getting into the morality of murder in general."

"I turned around to late. He was already bending the air from her lungs by the time I handled the Dai Lee attacking us." Femke explained.

"Because you threatened to kill her." Zuko said sternly.

"Because we refused to tell her to tell where the Airbenders were Master Tenzin and Avatar Korra took from her city by force in exchange for our freedom." Zaheer said.

"Which wasn't the deal." Ghazan added.

"What was the deal?" Zuko asked.

"The whereabouts of her 'stolen' Airbenders for Korra." Zaheer said.

"You fought the Dai Lee out of self defense." Zuko nodded. "What drove you to murder, if I may ask?" Zuko asked sternly, which made Zaheer look up at him with shock.

"There was no reasoning with her and she was in the way of our ultimate goal." Zaheer said.

"They were out of balance and believed that chaos would bring true freedom." Toph brought in. "Femke talked them out of it."

"And Korra kicked their butts." Femke added, before getting serious. "So what was that secret mission all about you wrote about?" She asked.

"A woman escaped the village of Song Pan, claiming there is a monster living in one of the houses." Zuko said as he looked at the Red lotus Crew firmly.

"We want you to investigate this and see what you can do to stop this monster." Firelord Izumi said as she got up and stood next to her father now.

"You think there is a realmonster?" Zaheer asked.

"Maybe. Maybe not. We can't be too careful." Izumi said with a stern look.

"Her mother taught her a thing or two about believing." Zuko smirked as he gave Femke a playful nudge. "She would never believe me."

"Just like Mai." Femke smiled.

"Who said I married Mai?" Zuko asked teasingly, which made Femke look up at him dumbfounded, before she coughed. "To get back the subject at hand; if there is a real monster, what do you want us to do?" She asked.

"You will report to meonce you arrive and I will give you clearance to get rid of the monster if it poses a threat." Zuko said. "Do you understand?"

"Got it." Femke said with a firm nod, which got Zuko smiling.

"Here, a woman living in the area gave us a map on which the house with the monster was marked." Zuko said as he handed Femke a map, which she looked at once before she handed it to Zaheer. "Take Fang, he will get you to the village safely. Good luck."

"Good luck, Voortrix." Firelord izumi smiled, at which Femke nodded before she turned around and along with the others, left for the village.

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And with that I end another chapter. I hope you all liked it.

Thanks for reading. And also thanks to Paranoidgirl for doing such an awesome job as a beta reader and advisor. Be sure to check out her stuff as well when you're done here.

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