So, one year, over 20,000 words and much writer's block and headaches later, this story is done. Originally, there was only one chapter plus an epilogue left. That evolved into two chapters (The Siege had to be cut in half otherwise it would never get done and go on for way too long) and an epilogue. And then I realised how I ended the last chapter wouldn't fit with what I had planned for the Epilogue, so that had become the Prologue to Book 2. Coming, some point later this year, I promise.
My apologies it took so long to get the chapter up. It's been so long since I started this story and I won't bore you with the introspection and mild existential crisis caused by realising that I was still at school and so naive in how this story would turn out when I started. With no plan, no clear path how this would move forward and how many OC's would sneak their way in. But here we are, nearly ten years since I first started posting this in 2014, with Book 1 done. (I foolishly thought a story this bug would be done by now. As in, we'd be at Book 3. Oh, how wrong and young I was...)
Please enjoy this installment! The Siege of the North will be posted next Sunday and Book 2 I will be starting to post later this year when at least the first two chapters are written. I won't promise no long breaks again with that story, but I haven't given up with the behemouth. I now have a clear plan (slightly deviated from, but there is wiggle room far more than having no plan at all). And soon, our favourite Princess will be making her proper debut within this tale. As well as a certain waterbender who has only been mentioned in passing so far.
And so, without further ado, The Preparations for War!
It had taken Katara a while to realise that something was wrong. Sure, Sokka had taken off with Yue a few times now, and this time shouldn't have been anything to worry about either. And yet, as she perfected her waterspout, a hint of red caught her eye, a reminder of a day near a month and a half ago now, when they almost died within a volcanic explosion.
It was enough to make her pause.
Eyes squinting, she ignored the jeers of the boys, shielding her eyes against the glare of the sun. On such a wonderful day like today, without a cloud in the sky, there ought to only be the speck of Appa on the horizon. Instead, there were two.
And the second was long and sinuous, even from a distance.
"Aang, it's the dragon!" she cried, feet already running for the wall. Aang jumped, and she caught a brief glimpse of his face confused and shocked. It paled in dread.
"Wait, Katara!" She ignored his calls to stop, heart in her mouth. If Yue dies, eaten by a dragon, Arnook will blame us. And all this time training and striving to be taken seriously within a Tribe that saw them as nothing but peasants would be wasted.
On the wall, Nukilik had already blown his horn. Pakku was half a step behind her, having followed the moment the word 'dragon' left her mouth.
"I've never seen anything that big that could fly!" Nukilik squeaked, handing over the spyglass to Pakku. The waterbending master was considerably calmer as he eyed the creature.
"Ready the boats. A few waterspouts ought to deter it," he said, handing the spyglass back.
"Wait!" Aang panted, strangely behind them. She wondered why. "Wait, we shouldn't harm her!" Pakku gave him a look. Aang gave him one right back. "The dragons are endangered! You'd kill one of the last of them!" Pakku looked considerably unconcerned.
"That sounds like a problem for the Fire Nation. Who, it must be said, have done their best to rid the world of dragons either way." He pushed past Aang. "Katara, will you be in the boats?" Aang gave her a beseeching look. Fingers balling into fists, she hardened her heart, turning away.
"Yes. But there's something you should know. The last we saw of that dragon, it was with Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation." Aang made a noise of protest. Pakku froze, and then quietly swore.
"I had heard rumours… Nukilik, tell the waterbenders to make haste. One of the line of Sozin has decided to join the field with a dragon companion." Aang jumped between them.
"No, wait!" he said desperately, eyes flicking towards the form of the dragon, making lazy circles around Appa in the distance, and Pakku's icy visage. "Look, if something was wrong, Appa would have sensed it! He would be bringing Sokka and Yue back right now if there was a problem! But he's not!" Katara frowned.
"Aang, Zuko's pursued us across the entire world. And he tried to kill us in that temple!" she argued. Aang gave her a hard look.
"Zuko was the one who saved me from Pohuai Stronghold!" The words hit her like a tsunami. It felt as if the breath had been stolen from her lungs. Pakku raised an eyebrow. Aang quailed under the look, but didn't back down. "He helped us get away from Zhao when he attacked Jeong Jeong! And, and he's spirit-touched! Roku told me on the Solstice that he was important- so I can't let you kill him." Pakku hummed.
"Prince Zuko is the son of the Fire Lord. We cannot allow him to walk free. If you will vouch for him Avatar, I will have Arnook know, any resulting deaths will be on your head." Aang flinched, fingers grasping his staff tight enough to turn the knuckles white.
He nodded, silently.
It took mere minuets to ready the boats, the trail of waterbenders from their practice having coalesced at the docks, along with some of the other masters. Only senior students were allowed with them, but Katara managed to bargain her way on board by way of having faced the dragon before. All that time travelling hadn't been wasted time, after all. Aang took to the air on his glider.
The dragon didn't seem to take notice of them, hardly caring as it wheeled around Appa on another lap, closer this time. Since Aang was flying towards him, Appa was making a slow trek towards him, seemingly unaware of the danger.
Her heart leapt into her mouth when the dragon dived to catch a figure jumping off the saddle.
"Now!" Pakku cried, arms wheeling. Katara's followed almost woodenly, barely helping. Only the stronger benders managed to make their spouts high enough to catch the dragons wings, but it squealed and dropped enough for Katara and some others to freeze the water. Appa lowed, alarmed.
Fire blasted down, heated to melt ice on membranous wings. The dragon strove for the sky-
"Bring her down!" Pakku shouted, already in motion. For a moment, all Katara could see was water, turned orange from flames drawn around them, steam hissing in the air. Slowly, the ball froze, encasing dragon and rider. They were dropping, they were winning-
Flames burst, coiled scales hit the ball and ice exploded everywhere. Shards rained down on everyone, dragon, sky-bison and boats alike. Katara had to shield her face from flying debris, and so missed Aang's cries.
Something hit the water hard enough to cause an enormous wave, strong enough to tip all the boats over. A moment later she hit polar water, the breath stolen from her lungs.
Aang was screaming. Sokka could barely hear him over the dragon, right up until it hit the water. Then he could hear him just fine. For a moment, he thought that they were going to see one angry, glowy-eyed Avatar, until he dived off Appa after Zuko instead. Silently, Sokka prayed he reached him first- Zuko had said the dragon needed warmer air, and hitting water so cold could not be good for her.
Yue's grip on his arm was painful, even through the layers of parka and tunics.
"Appa, get us down there!" Sokka shouted. He could see that Junsuina's collision with the water had upset several boats. He hoped Katara hadn't been stupid enough to get on one. He hoped that they would all be fine. They were waterbenders, they were native to the area, they could dry off quickly5 and see a healer incredibly soon. They would last longer than one firebender and dragon.
And if they had just killed Zuko, he did not want to be the one to tell Iroh.
Aang bounced up from the waves, a limp figure in red in his hands. Waves and air rose to plop the Prince in Appa's saddle. Aang dived back under, surfacing again with a red head. The dragon snorted water, whining pitifully. She was moving sluggishly.
Not good, Sokka thought, tearing off his parka to wrap around one wet and unconscious Prince. Zuko is never going to forgive us if she dies, I don't know how he is Spirit-touched and I don't know how badly he was injured when he hit the water. Hard enough to have been knocked out, which means I need to find a healer for both a dragon and a firebender without them being killed immediately.
Why did he always get saddled with the impossible jobs?
"I've got him," Yue said, having divested herself of her own parka. They could survive a little while in this cold. Long enough to get Zuko somewhere warm. Sokka nodded, heading back to Appa's head. The bison was hovering just above the water. Junsuina was flailing, trying to get out of it, almost dunking Aang as he tried to help her.
"Come on buddy, we've got to help her. And make sure she doesn't accidentally kill Aang," he murmured, flicking the reins. The bison dropped, splashing water.
"Appa!" Aang gasped. He had one arm wrapped by a feeler. "Come here! We need your help!" Aang's lips were starting to turn blue from being in the water. Please let this work, Sokka prayed. Please let it work long enough before the waterbenders get themselves sorted out.
They had mere minuets. Pakku's boat had already righted itself and they were bending people back into the boats.
Aang shivered his way up Appa's tail. Junsuina huffed, steam escaping her mouth in a whine. She was too long to completely leave the water, but she managed to manouvre herself so her head and neck were in Appa's saddle, front claw clinging to the edges. Sokka could feel her warm breath against his back.
It wasn't as warm as before.
"I think we're gonna need to warm her up," Sokka said worriedly. Aang settled next to him, now dry. Sokka wrapped an arm around him, Yue coming to sit on Aang's other side.
"Get us back to the city," she said firmly, brows furrowed and determined. "I know where she can stay and recover." Her hands were fists, blue eyes hard. Pakku met her gaze and flinched.
Someone dragged Katara out of the water, his sister shivering as another bender moved to sweep water out of sodden clothing and wrap a blanket around her. Sokka deliberately didn't meet her eyes.
Leant up against the bulk of Junsuina, listening to the dragon's rumbling breaths as she slept, Aang tried very hard not to cry. He had told Pakku not to hurt Zuko, had thought that the man understood. What did it matter if he would be responsible for Zuko? The other boy wouldn't have come without a good reason, and Aang knew better than to turn his back on those who needed his help.
Pakku had ignored him completely. And so had Katara.
Sokka had shouted at her a lot in the Healer's Hut. Yugoda had been looking over Zuko, but Aang had been focused more on following Yue to the newly revealed Spirit Oasis. It was warm here, warmer than it should be. Warm enough, to heat up a half frozen dragon who ought never to have met polar water in the first place. It was amazing she had survived this long, but she was a survivor much like her rider. Across the oasis, sat by the pond of koi fish, Yue trailed a hand through water, playing with a small ball of water with her fingers. He hadn't known she was a bender before now.
Quietly, he tried not to sniffle. Yue heard, blue eyes turning and softening.
"It wasn't your fault," she said quietly, water splashing back into the pond. "You did all you could. And you likely saved her life." Aang swallowed thickly.
"Zuko won't see it that way. He came all this way to see me, and… and-!" He didn't want to cry like a baby in front of Yue. She would think him pathetic.
Warm arms wrapped around him. "He knew what he was risking," she said as tears slipped from his eyes. "He said as much. He was here for three days, waiting for an opening to talk to someone trustworthy. It was a surprise, that's all." Aang hiccuped, embarrassed.
"But… I'm the Avatar! How am I supposed to keep balance in the world, if half the world wants to turn on the other?" It had been a question he had been struggling with since Jet. Because surely Jet couldn't be the only one, right? And if there were people in the army who wanted to wipe out the Fire Nation… how did one stop them? Sokka talked of invasions, but where was the line? How did they know if they were hurting someone innocent or guilty? Or in a grey area like Zuko, who hurt people when he had to and never enjoyed doing it?
How could he keep the world safe, if they all hated each other?
"I don't know," Yue said quietly. "Pakku will say that he was trying to protect me. All I can say is that he was the one who put me in danger. Some of the council will not listen to me. And that is only here." She paused, biting her lip. "He wanted to give this to you." She held out a hand, a slip of paper within. Aang took it shakily.
At first, the words didn't make sense. When clarity struck, his heart sank to his stomach.
"They're going to think he was the first wave," he whispered, feeling sick. Yue's hands were fists in her lap.
"Not if I can help it," she said firmly. "I will help you as much as I can. He…" She paused, fingers reaching up to touch her hair. "He has been touched by a spirit, like me. The Council may not wish to admit it, but Agni is just as vital to the world as the Moon and Ocean. She will not be happy if we are the death of her Chosen." Aang hiccuped, wondering how she knew which spirit had touched Zuko.
He didn't have time though, as Katara stalked into the Oasis, stomping her feet and swaddled in a blanket. Her face was clouded, angry. No doubt, Sokka had finished shouting. He hoped they hadn't had another argument like the one in Jet's treehouse.
She paused when she spotted Yue and Aang, huddled up under the bulk of a dragon.
"Princess Yue!" Katara's eyes were blown wide, blanket slipping from her shoulders. "Look out-"
"For what?" Yue asked serenely. One feeler gently touched her cheek, as well as Aang's. Trust, relief, worry, where is rider? Aang wasn't used to such alien feeling or wordless emotion from a spirit guide. Appa was intelligent, but couldn't convey emotion outside of body language. "She has been quite docile since the waterbenders dunked her in polar water." There was an icy edge to her voice.
Katara scowled.
"Good. Look, I know you might not think it a problem, but I've seen what she can do. Especially with Zuko alongside her. And if she decides to attack, we won't stand a chance of keeping the city together-" Yue cut her off with a look. The ball of water she had been playing with froze between her fingers. Aang resisted the temptation to edge away.
"I do not need you to tell me how to think and feel, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe," Yue stated, chin tilted imperiously up at her. "I helped you gain access to the waterbending lessons you so desired. Do not presume that means I must believe everything you say." Katara gaped at her, eyes wide and face pale.
"You- I'm not asking you for help! I'm asking you to do the right thing! To defend your people!" Yue's ice ball twisted into an icy dagger. Her hair seemed to almost glow in the light of the moon.
"I will not be at fault for the death of Agni's Chosen." Overlapped with Yue's voice was another, ancient and deep and alien. Aang gulped. "I will turn my face away, should my people bring about his death. Vengeance must be sought." Katara staggered back, hands raised as if to bend herself. Aang jumped between them before he could think.
"Thank you for your words of wisdom, oh great spirit," he said, bowing in Yue's direction. Her blue eyes seemed brighter, the light of the moon bright within the Oasis. For a moment, it was as if the world held its breath. The next, Yue blinked, slumping back against the dragon, Junsuina snaking her head down to catch the girl. She trilled in worry, feeler wrapped around her. The other wrapped around Aang's wrist, only just reaching.
Tired, drained, used by spirit, came that same feeling of other from Junsuina. Requires rest. Heed words, else terrible things happen. He swallowed, nodding.
"Yeah," he breathed. "We'll look after her." Junsuina's only reply was to let go of him, wrapping the Princess more securely within her coils.
It took Iroh an embarrassing three days to realise that Airi may have been lying about having read the letter. However, tracking down the girl for when she was alone was a near impossible task. Zhao kept her close, and when he couldn't be with her, one of his guards was with her instead. Even Iroh was kept close, Zhao near demanding his presence at every meeting within his too sumptuous rooms for an Admiral. And all the while he had to keep up the pretence of mourning for a second son.
That part wasn't as hard as it should have been.
Zuko had done stupid things in the past, had a tendency to act first before thinking a plan through. And that letter contained the most desperate plot of them all. He had warning, Iroh consoled himself. Zhao did not cover his tracks well enough. And he ensured that we were all safely off the ship before it blew up. So, there is a co-conspirator in all of this, one who knows he has the wherewithal and resources to warn the Northern Water Tribe . Iroh was proud that Zuko was taking steps down the right path. He was scared down to his old bones that he wouldn't live long enough to see that plan through. And Pakku would not listen to his letters that his nephew was mostly harmless.
Now, they were only days out from the Northern Water Tribe, and the deadly ash would soon start to fall. Black snow the Southern Tribesmen called it, he had heard. If the North did not know what was coming, the Avatar's young friends most certainly would. And Zuko may not have been able to deliver the warning in time. Stood at the front deck of the ship, Iroh gently touched the precious letter in his pocket.
I'm sorry, Uncle, Zuko had written, in his careful calligraphy. There isn't another way. And for the good of our people, I cannot in good conscious take a child back to suffer at the hands of my father. He hadn't added a section to say like I have , but Iroh heard the words either way. When he got hold of the boy, he would never let him go. Or at least, only long enough to tell him how foolish and dangerous this venture was.
"General Iroh?" The words were quiet, dainty. Iroh barely hid his flinch, surprised he hadn't heard her. It seemed Lady Airi was as quiet as her cousin. Turning, he noted immediately that she was wearing the jade dragon pins Zuko had bought for her.
And she was somehow alone.
"Lady Airi," he said, surprised. It was a strange feeling, but it would seem his sister-in-law's family loved to surprise him these days. "I didn't hear you." He paused and softened his face. "How have you been faring these last few days? I know… the loss was hard." She offered him a small smile, stepping up demurely. There was something implicitly fake about it today. As if she were putting on a play.
"I thank you for your concern," she said quietly. "He said you loved to play Pai Sho. I was wondering if you would be amenable to playing a game or two?" Iroh hummed, bowing his head.
"Of course. My set is within my rooms?" He would never presume to ask a young lady back to his quarters. She was far too young for him. Airi gave him a smile, edging into a satisfied smirk. For a brief moment, he saw not Ursa, or Chinatsu (the little he had seen of the woman), but Azula .
"I will wait for you here. My fiance is so busy these days. Too busy to look after feckless young free-spirits." She made a tired little sigh and Iroh knew he was being led on. Azula was better at faking emotions. Or perhaps, he thought as he headed below decks, she wants you to think she is bad at playing this game. There is something going on here, something I don't know. First the debacle of Pohuai Stronghold and that archer, and now the cousin Zuko barely spoke of as a child. I know they spent three summers training with Piandao, but that was it. And Piandao… does not speak of those summers.
It was not a comforting thought.
Airi was waiting right where he had left her, no guards still in earshot. Only two stood guard three feet away from them, and Airi positioned herself to face out to sea. Ahead of them and away from the direction of the wind. Her words, at the very least, wouldn't carry further than they should. It was a trick that had Iroh on edge.
He laid out the pai sho board as well as the small tea set he had brought with him. Offered the genial smile that took many a person off guard.
"I brought us some Jasmine tea as well," he said gently. "It was Zuko's favourite." Airi smiled, dipping her head.
"I would love some. It has been a while since I have had a good cup. The Earth Kingdom teas are good, but do not quite compare to the Jasmine leaves we grow back home." She considered her tiles a moment before placing a flaxweed close to the edge of the border. Iroh hummed, heating the tea and pretending to ponder his own opening moves.
"An interesting move to use the flaxweed first," he mused, deciding to test her knowledge of the game. "Most firebenders tend to favour the knotweed for its fiery nature." He placed said tile right in the eastern edge of his own side. Airi's eyes flashed again, almost acknowledging the challenge.
"The flaxweed has its own properties," she said, relenting the conversation. And placed a waterlily right on the other side of the board. As if to destroy her own harmonies. "My cousin said you favoured the white lotus tile. I find it a rather secretive tile." A test of her own. And perhaps a more worthy opponent than he had thought.
"I am not sure how a tile can be secretive ," he humoured her, "but it does allow one to mask their moves. You are very knowledgeable of the game." They passed a few moves as she pondered an answer. Airi accepted the cup graciously, as she placed a new tile- the wheel- on the board, close to her knotweed. She favours this move, he remembered from the letter. I shall watch closely, see what she does with it .
"I suppose that is why I find it secretive," she said eventually, tracing the pattern of the wheel. "We are a rather straightforward people, on Azuma." Iroh froze. "Papa hates such moves, calls them dastardly. It's why Mother and Aunt Ursa banned him from Court." Amoung other reasons , Iroh mused. Huitzlin would most definitely not fit in among Ozai's yes-men.
"I remember your father," Iroh agreed pleasantly. "He did seem a rather blunt man. But good, and honest. We could all do with some honesty in this world." Airi paused, fingers drumming as he shifted the white lotus to show a clearer picture of his tactic. Little that she could do about it, the perfect counter for her knotweed and wheel move.
He blinked at the self-satisfied smirk that flashed across her face.
"Yes. But a little secrecy is called for when approaching an unknown enemy." She moved, shifting her boat forward and stealing the very harmonies he had thought safe, right from under his nose. It brought their scores to a neat tie. "My husband-to-be seems to believe all his secrets are safe from me." That did give Iroh pause, enough to glance up at her. Airi took a dainty sip from her tea, tapping the flaxweed tile she had opened with. It sat in its prim little pairing with the boat, a rare harmony of water and simmering heat. "He does so wish for a wedding without the moon, that he doesn't notice a stray knotweed or two tumbling away."
She knows, he thought almost in dread. She knows Zuko is alive. And I do not know who she is allied to. Dangerous, but at least she seemed willing to share this information. Why, he did not know yet, but he was determined to find out.
"Northwards, I take it?" he asked. She pressed her lips together, a secretive little smile on her lips. Raised a finger over them in a shushing motion. He nodded. "And what about the blooming flaxweed?"
"He sees it as a fragile flower," she sighed, gazing wistfully down at the board. "Useful in some ways. Irritating in others. Papa said he wished for me to meet with you though. Said you were somewhat trustworthy."
"But you wished to test me," he said with a raised eyebrow. "Did I pass?" Hazel eyes watched him carefully, calculating and cold where Zuko was warm and loving.
"After a fashion," she said eventually. "Thank you for the tea. You should send extra warning ahead though- while my boats won't attack the knotweed, errant waves just might."
Iron hummed and refrained from saying he had already sent an urgent message to Pakku. He got the feeling it had been summarily ignored because the man didn't believe Zuko had his own way to get into the city.
Yugoda's healing halls had never been this noisy before. Young Sokka had shouted himself hoarse at his sister, Katara had done an excellent impression of Kanna in refusing fault for nearly causing an international incident, and Yugoda did her very best to keep the poor boy alive. Pakku watched her with wary eyes, but did not dare to prevent her when she glared. If fighting was men's work, she had made herself a master of the womanly art of healing, which could be as deadly as it was wonderful.
The young prince's chi paths burned.
Yugoda had healed spirit-touched people before. Yue's chi was as light and cold as the moon, Pathik's buzzing with an airy edge after being saved from a blizzard. But Yugoda had not met one touched by Agni, and so hadn't quite expected the blistering heat accompanying his chi, so hot she wondered how he didn't burn up from the inside out. Right now, it was all that was keeping him alive, alongside a stubborn unwillingness to die.
Eventually harmony returned as Katara was sent away to check on the Princess. Yugoda, still healing away from more disrupted chi paths than there ought to be, pretended not to hear Sokka and Pakku's conversation.
"Your sister did nothing wrong," Pakku sniffed, dismissive. "She warned us of the approaching danger."
"You put us in danger," Sokka bristled. "And Aang said he had already told you Zuko had helped him. If he wanted us dead, he could have left us to Zhao's mercy on Crescent Island. Or to deal with the Freedom Fighters in Gaipan. Or left Aang in Pohuai Stronghold. Or, here's a thought, not bothered coming to warn us of the coming invasion!" The boy was almost shouting again by the end. Pakku scoffed.
"And what makes you believe he isn't working with this Zhao? His Uncle is the Dragon of the West. Whom you admit has been travelling with him since he was banished."
"Because Zuko is a lot of things: scary, reckless, stubborn, but not stupid!" Sokka hissed. "He cares about his people, banished or not. And…" Sokka cut himself off, forcing himself to take a deep breath. "Despite being a prince of the Fire Nation, I don't think he's a bad person."
One could have cut through the silence with a knife.
"Fire Nation or no, it is not the business of the Water Tribes to kill one who is spirit-touched," Yugoda piped up decidedly. She would not stand by while her patient's life hung in the balance. "You were lucky his fire was strong enough to survive the ocean. The spirits would have punished us dearly for killing one so close to their realm." Sokka blinked while Pakku scowled.
"Agni is no concern of ours. He is not a spirit to us." Yugoda huffed and rolled her eyes.
"She is lady of the skies and warms the earth. What do you think happens when all the fires die? Do you think you can survive when warmth and safety flees, when the light dies and what crops we grow fail?" Pakku's scowl deepened, burrowing down as stubborn as a yak-mule. "It may not be a healers place to discuss the spiritual, but while you are in my hut, he is my patient and I shall see to it that he lives to see another dawn. The lady will not turn her face away today." Sokka's shoulders drooped in relief. Yugoda nudged him with her shoulder. "Get some sleep, young man. By the sounds of it, our Council will soon be in need of your expertise." He flushed but dutifully disappeared out of the hut. Yugoda smiled to see that some of her old friend's stubbornness had made it to her grandson too.
It was a delight to see so much of Kanna, even in the hard line of the boy's shoulders and a stranger's face. She had prayed every night that Kanna had reached the south safely, that she had met a man worthy of her love and had a beautiful family of her own. It would seem she had lived enough for the both of them, upholding her promise from long ago.
Pakku looked less than pleased at her declaration.
"You cannot protect the boy forever. The Chief will want a hostage against the oncoming army-" he started. She scowled at him.
"Tell me Pakku, do you think I'm a fool?" She snapped. "I know your little game. You'll talk the Chief into keeping him as a hostage and barter him back to the Dragon of the West, whom you've already drafted a letter to. A sham to pretend as if you are all enemies." Pakku's startled look was wonderful to see. "It won't work, because your ears are stuffed with wool apparently. Sokka has been saying in every meeting that Iroh is not the true enemy. It is this Admiral Zhao who, if he has understood Prince Zuko correctly, knows where to find the Moon and Ocean spirits." Yugoda fixed him with a stern look. "So why would this admiral want a banished prince, if he can carve out a legend for himself?" Pakku paled.
"Iroh will not let it come to that, he has assured me of this." It was amazing what secrets men would reveal when they thought they'd been found out. She'd known about the White Lotus courtesy of Kanna and her escape attempts. She occasionally played among the lower level members within the tribe and so knew Pakku was the leader for the Northern Water Tribe faction. Iroh's membership was a rumour- one that appeared to be true.
"And how will one man stop thousands of soldiers from besieging our city?" She snapped.
"He can't." They both jumped at the rasping voice from the bed. Golden slivers watched them both warily. "But there is one person on those ships who can."
The last thing Jee had expected on being drafted into Zhao's navy was a promotion. And not just a promotion, but an entire ship all to himself. Along with the crew of the Prince's ship and all those new cast-offs from the Navy. Young boys and girls newly drafted, the screw-ups, those with jumpy nerves no longer fit to serve on land. Jee was Captain of them all, by decree of General Iroh. The signature did not belong to the General, though.
My Prince forged me a promotion. And forged one well enough that the bureaucrats didn't notice, the crafty little shit. Jee didn't doubt the boy was still alive and no doubt doing something stupidly reckless. He had not, after all, been blind to the sudden disappearance of said Prince the night the Avatar mysteriously escaped Admiral Zhao. Or that the boy had stopped chasing the Avatar altogether. What did they say or do to him, to change his mind so? For three years they had searched to no avail, for two months they had followed and chased with a frenetic energy. For the past few weeks, they had done nothing.
Either the Water Tribes had threatened the Prince with something, or he had a plan that no one else was privy to. Or, as an outlier but entirely possible with Zuko, the boy was acting on a whim.
The General was off on the Admiral's ship, so Jee couldn't even tell him in person that the Prince was likely alive. Preventing the Dragon of the West from running onto the burning remains of their ship could probably be considered treason, but Jee knew better than to allow another royal to perish that night. He'd considered sending a messenger hawk, but decided against it. They were easily intercepted. Sending a message through code, or scuttlebutt, could potentially get changed or lost. And Zhao had been vindictive enough to place their boat right at the back, where they would see no action and garner no honour within the upcoming battle.
"You're worried about him." Jee refused to jump at Akiko's silent appearance. Wrapped up in the winter uniform for non-benders, she seemed smaller than before. Diminished and pale. It was easy to forget that she was a mother, easy to forget that she had taken the Prince under her wing, had given her loyalty after whatever occurred during Pohuai Stronghold. "I am too."
"He's resourceful." Neither of them was stupid enough to use the Prince's name. "He'll survive. He did last time."
"He had back up last time. Now he's alone, without allies, against a formidable enemy. And they will not treat with him." Despite the flat tone, there was a slight tremor in her voice, belying her worry. "And he… he's so young." Too young, Jee silently agreed.
It had been one thing, escorting a banished Prince wherever he wished to go when it was an impossible quest. The worst they had had to put up with was brattiness and a perceived spoiled Prince who was occasionally surprising. Back then, life had seemed simple and far from the bloody front lines with the Earth Kingdom. With the return of the Avatar, it had truly brought home how young the Prince was. And if Zuko was young, then the Avatar, who appeared to be all of twelve, was technically even younger . A war being fought over a child, who could not help how, when and who he had been born as. Was it right, to either torture or kill someone so young and innocent as the child Avatar seemed to be?
Traitorous thoughts, Jee, he thought to himself. Dangerous thoughts. Abandon them. It would be wrong to suddenly change his mind now, in the middle of the invasion.
"He may be young, but he's wise enough to not be that stupid," he reasoned. Akiko shot him a flat look.
"We are talking about the same person?" she snapped. Jee flinched, acknowledging he had earned that one. Yes, the Prince absolutely was.
"As I said, he's resourceful. And very hard to kill. That wound should have killed him before he even reached the boat." That, no one could refute. The Prince had appeared one night on the ship, half delirious with pain and an infection deep enough the ship's doctor had to slough off dead and oozing flesh, almost to the bone. That there was any left on his cheek was a minor miracle, never mind that he still had some form of sight out of the eye instead of losing it. Jee had seen worse wounds on corpses. "If anyone can outstubborn the Water Tribes, or ashes, even the Earth Kingdom, it is him." Akiko hummed quietly in agreement.
To one side of the boat there was a small commotion.
"This looks like it will be interesting," Akiko commented blandly, watching with Jee as the Lady Airi of Azuma boarded the ship, stepping delicately onto the main deck. For what reason she had to visit them, was lost to him.
Then again, anyone related to the Royal Family was bound to be slightly odd. And from what rumours he had heard of her family, she promised to be stranger than most.
Lady Airi was someone Jee wasn't sure about either. The General tended to play people like pieces on a pai sho board, and so long as you knew you were a part of those plans you were safe. He knew to take into account that most of their crew were misfits and screw-ups, more likely to ruin a plan than complete it, and move around it. Prince Zuko, as anyone knew, was a wild card in those plans, one day playing his part, another burning through them at a rapid rate. Lady Airi was a new factor not seen within the General's plans and Jee was wary that she knew more than she said.
It was made definite by the way the promotion hadn't even been questioned by Zhao, the idiot handing the paperwork over to the supposed wilting flower on his boat. "Something for my darling fiance to do," he'd laughed at Jee's furrowed brow when he had reported to him that silent, eerie next morning. Lady Airi had blushed prettily, but her eyes had flashed with something more. She'd quickly stamped the paperwork through, handing it over.
Perhaps that was how he had gotten the promotion approved. Jee had a sudden new respect for the Prince's errant planning skills. It seemed he was a more deadly player on the General's board than anyone had thought.
"Captain Jee," Airi greeted him, offering a polite bow, one of a commoner to a Captain. It was a fact that she was only made 'Lady' courtesy of her mother being the elder sister of Princess Ursa. It was rumoured that she had a different title at home, courtesy of the man her mother had married. "I apologise for the abruptness of my visit. It seems my hawk was lost in this great navy my soon-to-be husband has put together." There was a hint of mockery in her tone, a knowledge that no hawk had ever been sent.
Jee gave her the customary bow of a naval Captain to a noble. She may play the commoner thrust into the role of aristocrat, but Jee wasn't falling for it. He had spent three years with the General after all, and heard the rumours regarding the Princess. He had resolved long ago to never underestimate a royal again.
"It is no issue, Lady Airi," he said promptly. "We are delighted to have you aboard our ship." He refrained from asking why she was here. She would get to it soon or leave unsatisfied.
For a moment, there was a flicker of a smile at her mouth. An intentional slip as her body sagged into something sad. She was still dressed in white, clothes as close to mourning as she could get them. Also a dangerous colour to wear in the active field.
"I was hoping… I know it is a strange request but… Prince Iroh has informed me that you and your crew spent three years travelling with my cousin. I was wondering, if you would sit with me a while, tell me of your travels with him? I would ask the Prince but…" she trailed off, biting her lip. Hands clasped demurely in front of her, giving off a careful tremble. Jee didn't believe it for a second- Iroh would happily talk for hours about his nephew, proud in a way the Prince's own father never seemed to be about his exploits. The spirits had been truly cruel to take Iroh's own son and replace him with a nephew who would never love him as a father. They were kind to give the pair of them someone to cling to in this cold world.
"It would be an honour," Jee said, as if he had any stories other than the many complaints of crew members in those early days. As if he had somehow known anything about the Dragon Prince as some had taken to calling him. Jee had never seen the supposed dragon, wasn't sure whether he believed the rumours, but if the dragon did exist, it would likely explain the extraordinarily short temper. "Shall we adjourn to somewhere more private? The officer's mess?" Since Jee was the only official officer on board, despite a plethora of Sergeants, Lieutenants and Captains who had all been demoted, he was the only one able to use it.
"Thank you, Captain," she said demurely, eyes to the floor. The perfect image of the mourning Lady, grateful to the Navy Captain for giving some of his precious time. Jee watched her from the corner of his eye the entire way to the officer's mess, trusting Akiko to know to set up a watch. The ex-Yu Yan could be crafty in her own way and the Prince had trusted her enough for the venture at Pohuai.
The mess was deadly silent after the hustle and bustle of the ship deck.
"Lady Airi," Jee stated stiffly, gesturing to a chair. The tables and chairs were all neatly placed, the smell of fresh paint still strong within the room. All the furniture was untouched- Jee preferred to eat with his men and he wasn't comfortable alone in such a room. It reminded him too much of the Prince's lonely room set aside from the others', a place he holed himself up in for hours. "What are you really here for?" he asked without preamble once she had sat.
The image of mourning fell away and a smirk took its place. She looked amused and pleased.
"It would seem my cousin had the right amount of faith in you, Captain," Lady Airi said, leaning back to drape herself over the back of the chair artfully. Jee averted his eye to the suddenly revealed flesh at her collar. "I hear you have had your own run-ins with the Avatar."
"That we have," Jee acknowledged carefully. "Admiral Zhao knows this and has not asked for our counsel."
"My fiance is a fool and believes only in his own might," Lady Airi dismissed. "Tell me what you know of him. What we may expect to face, and how to keep as many men alive as possible." Jee blinked, frowning.
"This does not seem like something you would be concerned about." She reminded him too strongly of the rumours regarding the Lightning Princess back in the capital.
"It is something my Prince, cousin and Captain is concerned about, and so therefore is mine to be concerned about too," Lady Airi said, almost sharply. "He has not contacted me for anything in three years, and his first point of contact after I had to make the first move was an order to find a way to preserve the fleet. Preserve our people. So…" She trailed off, one eyebrow raised. Jee believed that the most out of everything she had said and yet…
"Captain?" As far as he was aware, the Prince was Captain of nothing.
"A story for another time, when we are not so short of it," Lady Airi said blandly, still waiting.
Haltingly, Jee started. As the stories continued, the narrow escapes and what could only be the intervention of the spirits, the way the Prince had gone from chasing the Avatar with zeal to near ignoring even the mention of the kid. He found himself spilling the fact that the Avatar was a child, wondering if he were not the only one with reservations about taking the kid to the Fire Lord. To the man capable of burning even his own son's face for perceived failure.
When he finished, Lady Airi sat back, her shoulders slumping. The image of the cold, cruel and cunning young woman was gone, and Jee got the feeling her relief was real.
"Thank Agni," she whispered, her fingers touching her chest. A tear slipped from her eye. A moment later it was brushed away, the mask back in place and Jee wondered if he had been right about the validity of the moment before. "It would seem my cousin shares your doubts, Captain," she said and Jee stiffened. He hadn't voiced those out loud, had he? He didn't think so but… "The Avatar is a child. Children ought not to fight on the front lines, but such is the world we live in. Perhaps there is hope yet, for some version of Azulon's dream." She rose, offering him a deep bow of respect. "Thank you for your time. I shall do what I can, to prevent the coming disaster."
With that, she was gone and Jee was left wondering what he had just revealed to the woman.
The black snow began to fall the morning after Zuko arrived. Sokka stood with Yue and her father on the balcony of the Palace, overlooking the entire Northern Water Tribe, watching it fall in silence. Yue was gripping his hand tightly, hidden under their parkas, and he couldn't even bring himself to be happy about it. He was ten years old again, watching black snow fall, mere moments before he lost his mother and their lives had changed forever. He was eleven and watching his Father leave for the first time, off to pursue the people who had ripped their lives asunder.
A sense of dread had spread over the city since the Prince had arrived. Keeping the idiot alive had been something of a chore and cost him every piece of goodwill he had built up with the Northern Council. He might as well be a peasant again, all except in the eyes of Chief Arnook. He hoped that was something good, at the very least.
He hoped Zuko appreciated the sacrifice he had just made.
"How long, until the ships arrive?" Arnook asked stiffly, blinking flakes of soot from his eyes. Sokka swallowed.
"When they came to the South, they were a day out when the ash started to fall." He had wanted to sound equally sombre but his voice broke partway through. The lump in his throat made it hard to talk. The hard ball of terror, anger and grief in his chest at the reminder made his chest hurt and his limbs shake at how utterly useless he felt at this moment.
"A day is not very long to prepare," one of the Councillors sniffed. Chief Arnook shot the man a deadly look.
"It is more warning than we would have gotten without Prince Sokka's warning and intervention. And one Prince of the Fire Nation is a good hostage against the likes of the Dragon of the West. We are all aware of what that man did to the walls of Ba Sing Se." There were some grumbles in the ranks. The same Councillor sniffed again.
"Too bad a nephew is not as good as a son," he muttered. Sokka frowned, not liking the sound of that. No one had ever mentioned Iroh having a son.
Yue squeezed his hand tightly, shuddering.
"A last resort, no sooner," Arnook said sharply, side-eyeing the man. Sokka liked the sound of that even less.
"The men are as ready as they will ever be," Pakku assured the Chief. "An extra day gives us time to prepare the other mission. Hahn has volunteered to lead it, although it would be good to get Sokka's view on it." Sokka tilted his head, almost intrigued. It would at least take his mind off of the churning memories in his head.
The sight of the ridiculously large shoulder guards had him cracking up, and was rightly a wonderful distraction. He was still chuckling at Hahn's red face as he and Yue descended into the ice cells where the Northern Water Tribe was keeping Zuko. It had been recommended to keep him and his dragon apart for the duration of the coming siege, with the Court to decide the Prince's fate after. Sokka, with Yugoda's help, had managed to wrangle a promise out of Pakku for the Prince's guards to 'slip' during the siege- it would make life so much easier for everyone.
Once the siege was over, Sokka was grilling the man for all he knew about this White Lotus club. Old man club or not, it sounded like a spy network across the world . It was both scary and intriguing. Scarily intriguing.
Inside, Zuko was huddled under a fur, coughing sporadically. Despite Yugoda's best effort, the Prince still suffered from the aftereffects of almost drowning.
"Are you warm enough, Prince Zuko?" Yue asked, perching on the edge of his bed and twitching the furs further towards his shoulders. If they hadn't stolen a moment behind a pillar or two on the way here, Sokka might have been jealous of the move. Instead, he understood it was just Yue's natural concern for people, especially her fellow spirit-touched new friend. Zuko, showing an awkward side Sokka had never seen, coughed in a way that had nothing to do with sickness, cheeks red.
"Yes, thank you." He shuffled in a way that indicated he had just tucked his knees tighter to his chest. Yue smiled, scooting back a little, reading the Prince's discomfort.
"The fleet arrived this morning," Sokka reported. While it hadn't been part of the agreement with the Council, Sokka had agreed with the Prince to keep him informed. It was only fair- he had come with the warning in time that they were able to prepare some kind of defence against Zhao. And if Arnook wished to complain that he was giving warning in return of something dire to an enemy prince, he could take it up with his father, whenever he deigned to reply to Hakoda's messenger hawks. Yue had shown him the letters, and even allowed him to slip one away into his pocket. Sokka still traced the familiar handwriting at night. "They were talking about ransoming you to your Uncle." Zuko's eyes narrowed.
"I wouldn't think that would work to stop the invasion. Zhao does't care what happens to me. Last we saw each other, he blew up my ship." Sokka swallowed. Well, that answers that question, he thought derisively.
"Was anyone hurt?" Yue asked, eyes wide. Zuko shook his head, face softening towards her.
"No. My Uncle was off gambling in the local inns and I had my crew off fetching supplies or enjoying themselves in town," he assured her. "Only I was supposed to be on the ship at the time, but my cousin sent me prior warning. Not that it would have worked too well, but I appreciate having fewer bruises." Sokka wasn't sure what part of that statement he ought to be the most concerned about. Even Yue, used to court politics, looked vaguely disturbed.
"You mentioned your cousin before," Sokka noted. "The actress?" Zuko raised an eyebrow and Sokka took his turn to cough awkwardly. "We met back at the Fire Festival," he admitted. "Didn't know you were related though."
"She takes after my mother's side of the family," Zuko said dryly. "Right down to the acting." Yue smiled softly at that.
"Your mother was an actress?" she asked, curious. Sokka had to admit, he was too. No one ever seemed to speak of the Fire Lady. Something sad stole across Zuko's face.
"Aspiring, before her marriage. Or so I hear." Sokka winced. He knew that tone of voice, that awkward note when talking about someone you only remember bits and pieces about.
"I'm sorry," he blurted, before he could think too much about it. Understanding bloomed on Yue's face as well, and she patted Zuko's hand under the fur.
"She sounds like a wonderful woman." Sokka wouldn't have said so- she had been married to the current Fire Lord- but Zuko seemed to appreciate that.
"She was. And thank you Sokka, but, I don't know if she…" he trailed off, eyes turning tot he side, swallowing. "It doesn't matter." Sokka narrowed his eyes, frowning at that statement. "Where is Junsuina?"
"I had the guards let her into the Oasis," Yue answered, allowing the conversation to flow away from dangerous memories and dead mothers. "It is the warmest place in the Northern Water Tribe and, I hear, as warm as the Earth Kingdom. She should be able to recoup her strength before you leave us." Zuko inclined his head gratefully, relaxing minutely.
He glanced up at Sokka, an almost forced small curl to his lips.
"What were you laughing at, as you came down here?" Sokka snorted to remember, almost wanting to roll his eyes at the Prince's near supernatural hearing. Maybe that had been the gift his spirit had given him.
"Oh man, you have no idea. This idiot Hahn…" It felt good to rant about Hahn's stupidity and the ridiculous plan to try and assassinate Zhao. It wouldn't work, and Zuko looked like he agreed, as had Arnook who had ordered the plan off once he had listened to Sokka. Once he had stopped laughing hard enough to give himself a stitch in his side. Not that that would stop Hahn from enacting the plan, having been so humiliated.
Noting how Yue smiled, how Zuko relaxed slightly to hear the ridiculous tale, and his own thoughts turned away from the memory of that day his own mother died, Sokka counted this as one excellent distraction.