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Chapter 2: Not Even a Week

Sokka never knew that politics could be so very complicated, but when Zuko ran through the complexities that seemed to define the government of the Fire Nation, he knew for a fact that there would be no peace for Zuko as long as he lived. That's why he accepted Zuko's job offer. In the short term, Sokka knew that he could ameliorate some of Zuko's anxiety, doubt, and dread. It wasn't something he'd thought he'd ever consider.

It struck him hard how his view of the firebender had changed so rapidly. Enemy, to enemy of my enemy, to true friend, all in nine months. Every trimester had its ups and downs. The first time he's encountered then Fire Prince Zuko, he had his ass handed to him. Zuko had made a great blow to his ego, snapping it like a twig. Zuko had actually done him a favor, bringing him back down to Earth. After Sokka and Katara joined Aang, Zuko's pursuit made him cognizant of the fact that evil was never absolute. He had never told Katara or Aang, but he had heard, in one of the ports, how Zuko was burned by his father and sent on the mad scramble for Aang. He had heard it while he was eavesdropping. It was a rumor but he believed it. No matter how much he wanted to delete it from his mind, he couldn't. It was there Sokka had hated Zuko, but pitied him too. He supposed that is why he never wanted to truly hurt him.

He thought that his and Zuko's stories had too many parallels: The War taking a mother away, a father too concerned fighting a war to love their children, being integral parts of War, being overshadowed by powerful bending little sisters, traveling unnatural distances, looking death in the eye, having the ax chop, or the sword slice close to the neck, and yet to live.

In the spring, when Zuko was no longer an omnipresent threat, but a fugitive of the Fire Nation himself, an even more sympathetic picture formed in Sokka's imagination. Life became feral for Zuko too. Zuko was no longer a threat inasmuch as he no longer had the means to pursue anyone. With successive appearances the one once called an enemy, looked thinner, nor disheveled, and nearer to emaciated. The consequence was that compassion not only made an appearance, but set up shop in the recesses of Sokka's emotions towards him. In the end of the spring, when it seemed that all the world's hope had been killed, Sokka was tossed back into the same doubt that he'd known through his childhood. Good and evil lost their abstraction and became unpleasant again, like unripe fruit. The taste always takes long to disappear.

The long, hot days of summer within enemy territory left no time for lofty thought. Every step had to be ordered to avoid capture. Often they found themselves within close proximity to death, but with each escape, Sokka knew that the War and its depravity were drawing ever closer to a fantastic end. Zuko's fate in the whole thing was a matter of concern in that the rogue prince could have proved another variable in the complicated equation of War.

And Sokka wasn't good at math.

When that awkward day came when a second-time disgraced prince, presented himself to them at the Western Air Temple. Sokka was pissed in a weird way. The person who had proven him wrong at every turn had actually done something right. For Sokka, it just didn't figure. For three years, he had searched every part of the globe, left no stone unturned,left no lead uninvestigated. He gave up the celebrity (turned it into infamy), the fortune, the prestige, the comfort, his throne, his people, their ideology and ideation, his love for what? A child having to defeat the baddest man on the planet, two water tribe kids who had never seen a tree and had no real concept of the color green, an insolent blind girl, another runaway. He didn't trust it.

Then he burned Toph. She called it an accident.

He trusted Toph's assessment, of course, because she was honest, but more personally because it confirmed the image of the confused, terrified Zuko that he had known in the winter. A good soul that had some stumbling blocks.

To be continued...


Thursday, September 13, 1900, a little after five in the morning

"Please, Master Sokka," pleaded one of the nurses, the oldest one, the Royal Matron, to be precise, "I have been nursing since before Fire Lord Zuko was born, before his father was born. I know that you are concerned, but he will live."

Sokka knew that he was driving the woman up the wall but he didn't care, "He is just as pale as he was yesterday, and when we bought him in here."

She was adamant, the deep wrinkles on her gray face not moving with her mouth,"If anything untoward happens, if anything even happens that varies from what I've said, then you may take my life." The other nurses told Sokka that she spoken to him tersely as she had to everyone. Ozai, Iroh, Azula, and Zuko. Her advice was binding and if she said it it was the truth. Sokka would have supposed that she was the most powerful woman in the Nation, a woman who could command Ozai and Azula should have been a general surely, but he was glad that she was not.

She left the servants' quarters where Katara had worked on him for hours. Sokka resumed his book,which must have been the fifth one that he'd read. It is not as if he got much sleep watching Zuko writhe. In those hours of waiting and watching he ate very little (except for samples of that exotic treat, ice cream} and read. He first read the medical textbook that the Royal Matron had given him, The Anatomy of the Firebending Body, particularly the section on how lightning is conducted through a firebender. He read other things in that book that interested him deeply and he internalized it, wondering if some of the more fantastic claims were true. Maybe one day he'd find out. After that, he read some those Fire Nation classics that he heard about all summer, from locals and Aang, Love Amongst the Dragons, The Travels of Mako Po Lo, Ro Mio and Ju Liet, and Azulon's My Struggle.

The last book was the hardest to chew on, but he'd take that up later.

He had just surpassed the halfway mark into Azulon's manifesto when he heard something from the bed opposite him. He put his finger in the book. There was something different about this sound. It had an aliveness to it. Sokka studied his figure. The color (not that it was much) started to come come back. Zuko's muscles looked relaxed but had regained their definition. His face looked contemplative, which was an improvement from the blank unconsciousness that it lived in before. Zuko inhaled deeply and Sokka watched as one of his hands formed a weak fist. Sokka got up from the bed and went to him. The Tribesman looked down and knew that something of note was transpiring.

"I think he's waking up!" He shouted into the distance, feeling an excitement in him that went far beyond what he thought possible.

He looked back down and asked the supine now-Fire Lord, "Zuko, can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you. I'm not deaf."

Sokka stifled a laugh, and felt an exceeding gratefulness that one of those fantastic claim, that lightning could fry the eardrums, was not true.


About Sunset that day…

Sokka had been grateful that Zuko offered him such an intimate role in his government, and it was true that part of the motivation was food. But in truth, he didn't want to leave Zuko behind. Everyone else would. Aang would be flying around the world trying to piece together the peace, putting down any skirmishes that may start up, Katara would go with him of course. Toph would probably try to patch things up with her parents, failing that she would probably take a place in the Earth King's Court. Suki would probably want to stay with him and that made him happy. Then he thought better of that and knew that she may have wanted to go back to Kyoshi and get her life back.

"I bet you've been eating all the ice cream too."

"Of course, I'd never had it before. I tried every flavor, the strawberry was the best," he replied, before seeing a flash of reminiscence on Zuko's face.

"That reminds me of the time- SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" Zuko sprung up like a bat out of hell. "Shit, shit, shit! How did I forget?!"

Sokka had to worst feeling in his gut when Zuko said that he'd forgotten about Mai. On that trip to the Boiling Rock they had talked about girlfriends and what they meant and he had forgotten. Suki was safe, but he had forgotten about Zuko's girl. Sokka felt guilt on a whole new level. The knife was only twisted when he remembered that Azula was the one who held Mai's fate in the balance. Not even the highest of the spirits knew what the hell that crazy bitch would do to someone who obviously betrayed her.

Then, Appa appeared, coming from the east. When the bison landed, Sokka looked at the group that got off, Aang, Katara, Toph, and Suki, and was filled with a sense of dread. They were his friends, but he was terrified of them. The people who saved the world were, two thirteen year-olds, a fourteen year old, and sixteen year old. Then he looked at the Fire Lord and then at himself, two seventeen year olds. A bunch of people who when they added the years of the lives was still shorter than the length of the war.

These humble upstarts would be the people running the world, and his true tenure started in the morning. He wondered what Zuko was thinking. Was it anywhere near his dread?

"Aang, it's good to-" Zuko started disregarding the fact that he was the one who was closest to death's door. Sokka admired the spirit he showed, and was glad that Zuko seemed to be at greater peace with… well… peace.

"Zuko," the fully realized Avatar interrupted him, "We have a problem."

"What?!" Zuko and Sokka asked at the same time

"The Colonies." Aang said plainly.

Zuko sighed, "Not even a week," he remarked bitterly.

Aang continued, "I hate to bring you this news and I don't even know how long you've been… well, anyways...The colonies are a mess. There is no standing government."

"What? None of them have a government? Where are all my Governors-General? There are seventeen colonies. Seventeen! They can't all be in shambles in two days."

"Ten of them escaped and are on their way back to the Fire Nation by ship. Four of them have been imprisoned in the jails there. And the other three are missing."

"Missing?" Zuko asked

Katara spoke up now, "We think that two of them may be… well there's no need to say. And the other may be hiding somewhere.

"Who's in control now?" Zuko asked.

Aang answered,"We've had to tell the Fire Nation Troops to stay for now. To keep the peace while a government is set up. We spread out into all of the bigger towns to tell them that they must still follow the laws and keep the peace or they will be arrested."

Toph chimed in, "When we told them that the courts might not be opened for months even the craziest of the rowdies got quiet at that. We had the townspeople pick the soldier they liked the most to lead them in the meantime."

Zuko was thinking, "Alright so, it is stable for now, but that means that we are going to have to go see the Earth King sooner than we thought, Sokka."

"Seems like, I say, give the same speech tomorrow, and write to your uncle tonight to come back to act as regent while you try to negotiate a solution with the Earth King," Chief Advisor Sokka said.

"I hate to take the throne and have to leave it so quickly."

"You're already going to explain that negotiating a fair peace may be hard negotiate and that it will take time. I don't think there'll be any insurrections while your uncle is here."

"And if there are," Toph added, "your uncle is the one to solve the problem with a cup of tea and a proverb."

"One thing at a time," Sokka interjected, "This whole thing has to be done one day at a time. And before we leave, we have a couple of things we have to do."

"Actually," said Zuko, "there's a couple of things I need to tweak with this speech for tomorrow. Sokka just a matter of phrasing the..." Zuko walked off, his robe flowing regally in the light breeze that always blew in the Fire Nation. Sokka followed still wearing his nearly as impressive clothing. Somehow he was able to keep up with the crutch. They walked together into the near darkness and their figured disappeared into the palace. Something struck Toph as odd, but she didn't say anything.

Aang spoke, "What'd we miss?"

"He didn't even say hi," Suki said, the words coming out haltingly, in a mixture of confusion and woe.

"He's probably just distracted thinking about the world," Katara said trying to offer some comfort, hearing the hurt in her voice.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Suki said hollowly, "He's just distracted."


Toph knew that there was something Suki wasn't expressing and against her better judgement she held her peace. As for the Fire Lord and Sokka, she'd be keeping an eye on them, so to speak.


Friday, September 14, 1900, 10 AM

Zuko was knelt on the scarlet carpet in front of the thousands who had gathered in the public square, called the Lord's Mall, just outside the Southern Gate of the Palace. The space itself was quite large, extending for hundreds of feet, the ground paved in a special concrete made of crushed obsidian, pulverized rubies, and reddish brown diamonds. When it was set the concrete made a smooth, black surface with little scarlet and maroon specks that glistened and shone pleasantly in the sunlight, and at sunset made the ground almost glow in the same tones. Zuko, of course, was dressed to match. His robe today carmine silk with golden shoulder spikes. He put his hair up in the required topknot (yes, it was actually prescribed by law). The crowd was silent as they looked on. Zuko scanned the people whose features he could make out.

The first person he saw was a man of about sixty, the lines on his face suggested worry and hard work, and his tan was that of a farmer, and his expression of austere excitement gave him hope. Next he focused on a woman, a little older than him, she wore a wide grin on her face and Zuko thought that maybe she had a brother or a lover who would be coming home. He looked at another woman maybe in her thirties, her arms were strong, and her hair was short, she was a factory worker by the looks of it, probably building the many machines that constituted the war machine. Her face was neutral.

He looked over at the people he called his friends. Sokka sat the closest to him, Suki sat next to him and clung to his arm, making him wonder if she felt well, it was too hot for that but Zuko minded his business. But then he couldn't ignore it, for crying out loud, Suki was attached so firmly to him like someone was going to take him away. Anyway, Aang sat next to her and of course Katara beside him. She looked a little terrified and Zuko imagined that she was realizing, much as he did before, that the eyes of the world were on her. Aang grabbed her hand, she tensed up and relaxed as she looked down at him. She reciprocated the affection and he blushed. Zuko felt a pang of jealousy, then a feeling of dread washed over him. Something told him that something was deeply wrong. There was an absence of hope where her presence was supposed to be. Something was deeply wrong, she would be here or there would be word that she was safe, and on the way. He snapped out of it and looked back out.

"ALL HAIL FIRE LORD ZUKO" The sage proclaimed behind him, and he felt the hairpiece take its place. The whoosh of the whole crowd bowing before their leader filled Zuko with a strange mixture of pride and humility,ecstasy and agony, trepidation and courage. He rose to his feet, and stood before them, a sea of red cloth black looked back at his friends most of them were awestruck, not knowing that the citizenry of this country were trained from young how to do this. He wish that he could, someway somehow, save the image of Sokka's face, his mouth slightly ajar in utter flabbergast.

Zuko looked to the guards behind Aang and the others and gave the signal. In front of Zuko, the a small section of the floor lowered and in or two and slid to the left. Out of that hole a wide podium, made of the finest, deepest mahogany and trimmed with gold, with one of those new-fangled microphones rose into position in front him. Also, on that podium, Zuko found a clean copy of his speech ready for him to deliver. He glanced over at his friends a third time. Toph looked as if a mystery had been solved for her, she probably felt that podium beneath the stage and was wondering what the hell it was. When the people rose from their position of deference, they would see a young Fire Lord behind the lectern branded with the colors and golden insignia of their nation.

Zuko said the words that every Fire Lord since the Great Charter in 1215 said, "Arise, my people, I have something to say."

They all rose, shocked that they could all hear him. When their eyes were met with the young Fire Lord standing behind the lectern a wild, deafening cheer and applause resonated in the mall.

Zuko put both of his hands up to calm the crowd. They only started to cheer louder. He looked at one person towards the front. He was a thin man and he started to shout in a particularly shrill way. Then he started foaming at the mouth, and collapsed. A couple of people dragged him away and he was tended to promptly by a nurse. The strange thing was that he didn't even look Fire Nation.

The clapping and cheering subsided and Zuko waited for the comfortable silence that came with an attentive audience to settle. When that silence made itself manifest he started.

"Today, we begin a new era." The people started to clap again even louder than before. Zuko looked over at the Fire Sages who were absolutely gobsmacked. The Fire Lord was supposed to be listened to in silence, or, at least that was the way it was until today. They could hardly contain their shock and it brought a grin to Zuko's face. He looked back at the audience, apparently not letting the grin fade away. The people who could see the grin on his face reciprocated, and the crowd grew silent again.

"The whole world is rejoicing that a century of war is over, and I am sure that you are just as excited as I am at the promise of a new future. The future I envision for this country, promises that our men who turn eighteen go to school and not to battle, where the taxes pay for road and not for regiments. This future can and will be real but it must be created by us all.

"This vision can only be realized in a world of peace. We have been given one sort of peace, but the real harmony that must be restored is based on the something very different and harder to achieve. Peace is the end to fighting and harmony is the end to hostility. I will work as hard as I can with the other. This Harmony Restoration will be facilitated with the other governments of the world. I will be meeting with the Earth King, Chief Hakoda, and Chief Arnook in due course.

The applause that rang out in the crowd was one of relief as if they were thinking, 'Thank goodness, he's competent.'

"I will take my personal responsibility in this war, and the culpability of the Fire Nation. The people never asked for this war, but you have committed sweat, blood, tears and some have made the ultimate sacrifice for this conflict. This war was offered to you on the false claim that we were the only ones who could civilize the world and that this could only be done by placing all lands under our dominion. This is a lie and I am guilty in spreading and acting it out, just as my father, and my grandfather, and his father. For the crimes that have been committed in my name and in the name of my ancestors, I humbly apologize"

And as if the crowd could not be more shocked, by an admission of the notion that most people held in their hearts, they were speechless, as the watched the Fire Lord emerge from behind his podium and bow down to them the same way they just did to him. He stayed just as low as they did for just as long, and rising again, he was applauded as he retook his place.

"I intend to make amends to you and to the world for my responsibility. I will not run from this or shirk my duties. I will be a Fire Lord for use and not merely for show. I will never abandon my duty to you just as many young soldiers never abandoned their comrades of their country. Unfortunately, my father failed and abandoned you at the last. I must report to you that Ozai is dead."

There was a gasp from the whole audience, and Zuko could feel as thousands of eyes shifted to the Avatar.

"The Avatar did not kill him."

Another gasp, and a murmur as the individuals in the crowd asked their neighbor what it could mean. How could Ozai be dead but not killed by the Avatar? And what of the Princess? Why is she not here.

"My father deserted you dishonorably by means of yameru."

Another choking sound from the audience, and angry grumbling.

He did not wait for silence, but started speaking, and they instinctively stopped, but the anger of the crowd made the situation hotter. He continued to speak with the calm, level tone that he was made to learn in school.

He started gritting his teeth at the next paragraph, anger and hate filling his mind while he tried to filter it from his voice. He knew that he could not and hoped that the crowd interpreted the emotion as compassion "My sister, the Princess, has suffered greatly from this war as well. While I will not divulge the details of her problems, I assure you that every effort is being made to rehabilitate her. In her state she is in no condition to help this country.

"I am. I will never forsake you, and I plan to be here in this capacity as long as I can serve you. In the months and years to come the government must be strong, but must not intrude on your rights. It must help those who are the most deprived, but must not be wasteful. It must be efficient, but compassionate too. I will now outline my Programme for Government that will proceed under any and all circumstances. The government will be open for business tomorrow on a weekend capacity, as will the courts. Any chaos or insurrection will be put down forthwith. The Bank of the Fire Nation will reopen on Monday and all private banks should do the same. The Stock Market will also be open for business. The schools will reopen on Monday morning, and will be open through Friday. On Saturday and Sunday the schools will close again to do the necessary inventory that was postponed in the last few weeks. I urge all private businesses to reopen as soon as possible.

"This Programme is robust and every part has tailored to maintain order and a peaceful economy. The first part is to facilitate the honorable discharge of the thousands of men overseas, and every one of them who can will return, with the pensions promised to them being delivered." Applause.

"I have never met a soldier who has not had a fantastic work ethic and desire to be industrious. The consequence is that there will be many men will be seeking jobs in one of the tightest job markets this country has ever seen. The way to provide them with jobs is to repair the infrastructure that has fallen into disrepair and by building new roads and bridges to make this a modern country. We will build levees to protect the lowest and most vulnerable parts of this Nation. We will continue to advance in the sciences perfecting the merits of electricity, and by finding peacetime applications to the machines invented for destruction. We will begin the construction of news homes for our soldiers who come home and want to start families of their own. I am sure that we can create a society where no one starves or has no place to live. This will not be a race to the bottom, but the creation of equal opportunity. What one does with his opportunity is up to him and his outcome is of his own making. Part of that opportunity is including you in the government. For too long, this government has operated with ambivalence, apathy, or aggression towards you, especially on the policies that affect you directly. That is why on major constitutional questions I feel that it is wrong for a policy that will affect all you the most to be decided unilaterally, but I shall take your advice through a referendum, where the question will be asked simply and answered with a binary choice. Yes or no" The audience started to cheer and out of the noise he heard one voice shout, "He'll listen!" That brought another smile to his face a bigger one this time as he signalled them to quiet themselves.

There are other measures that I cannot disclose, out of prudence, and under the advice of counsel who care about our safety, but be assured that all of them are being put into action to secure a better future in peaceful world.

"These plans are ambitious, but I can guarantee that your taxes will not rise one penny," There was thunderous applause at that, "These things can all be accomplished with the funds used to finance the war, and we will meet all of these targets and more, as we continue to live within our means, and build partnerships abroad. We will continue to make progress. And I will, as long as I live lead you with the heart befitting of your trust, and the strength that makes brought the islands together and made us the Fire Nation"


"So… be honest with me. How'd I do?" Zuko asked sitting at a round cherry table with the whole group gathered, half-eaten pastries on fine china and cups of tea (also china) scattered.

"You we're great." Aang, who was sitting opposite the Fire Lord, said first, "Really I mean it."

"Yes. You were sure of yourself. You gave those people hope," Katara sitting to her boyfriend's right, "And we all need that right now. This war, we never had a chance to grieve or cry or reckon with what it really meant. What were we fighting for? I don't think anyone knew the answer anymore. I wonder if people even pondered the question. Do people actually dare to explore the depths of the deprav-" Aang gently nudged her. "Oh, sorry" She blushed, more out of anger than embarrassment. It reinforced the caricature in that bad play with the 'decent effects' they saw last month.

Toph was sitting in between Katara and Zuko, "You were pretty good. I could tell you were using your bending to control your breathing and heartbeat."

"Yes, I have Uncle to thank for that. Firebenders can control their muscles if they learn discipline, and he taught me that." Zuko said, "What'd you think Suki?"

"It was alright," she said tersely, sort of shrugging. Zuko wondered what was wrong with her. Was she tired, stressed, homesick? Was she having her "ladies' days"? He looked at Sokka, his face was the absolute picture of confusion. He sort of shrugged. She continued, "It was kinda long, a little boring. I guess it was alri-"

Sokka interjected. "It was much better than alright. You gave that speech perfectly, that crowd loved you. They ate that up, and now you have to deliver. And I know you will. I know you're ready so let's do it. We're here and ready to help you any way we can."

"Thank-" Suki interrupted, "What's all this 'we' and 'us'? This is," she pointed at Zuko, "his mess and his alone."

She got up and knocked, more like banged on the doors. Zuko stood up to watch where she was going, The guards opened them out and she huffed down the corridor. She probably had no clue where the hell she was going, but she walked off. Zuko made eye contact at a very, very perplexed Sokka and shrugged though only for Zuko raising his hands one should tell. 'I don't know' Zuko mouthed at shoulder spikes were quite fixed into their position

Sokka got up wordlessly, took up his crutch, and started to chase her, hobbling along, narrowly avoiding being hit in the face with the doors when the guards were about to shut them up again. The rhythmic tap of the crutch on the hardwood faded as they disappeared around a corner. Then the corridor itself disappeared as the doors closed.

Zuko sat down again, "Um. I... yeah.

Aang tried to add something and failed as his throat refused to make a sound and his mouth refuse to form words.

Katara managed to form a sentence, though she couldn't even convince herself that she meant it, "They'll talk it out, I sure."

Toph took a line from Iroh, "More tea please."


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