Okay so I decided to start uploading chapters that I've finished re-writing as I go, this way the older readers can keep up with the changes I intend to make. First things first It's been six years since the 100 year war ended instead of five. Now this chapter is completely from scratch basically this is new material that should set the stage for things to come. So welcome to the new chapter one. This chapter is dedicated to Tuonra whose reviews have been amazing and motivating, seriously everyone; when authors say that reviews help, we mean it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Teen Titans. I own only the plots/ideas/situations that I have placed the characters in.
I'm sure everyone knows this but as a refresher: A characters thoughts, when a character receives a text message, when Raven gets angry, and [When you see this that means its song lyrics.]
Fractured Minds
Chapter 1: A Promise Broken
Six years ago, 100 A.S.C. Fall. Ba Sing Sei Middle Ring; The Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop
His tea shop was finally quiet but he couldn't really blame the Avatar and his friends for celebrating the end of the one hundred year war late into the night; they'd certainly earned it. When they'd left he locked the front doors and moved about cleaning the place up. As he was ferrying dirty dishes into the back room he heard a strange chime. He quickly place the dishes he was carrying into the wash basin and started boiling water for tea. After that he went to the wall opposite the wash basin and pushed against the black wood panel. There was a faint click and then he slid the the black panel to the left.
In the space beyond lay a yellow object that was, oddly enough, flashing with a red light. He grabbed the object and pressed the button that would open it. Immediately the screen lit up and these words greeted him: I hope you are well Iroh. I have good news to share with you, expect my arrival shortly.
He swiftly shut the device, switched it off, and closed it behind the wall before attending to the whistling teapot. He poured the tea into two cups and turned to place the teapot back on the stove. When he turned back to the tea cups he noticed that one was missing, he smiled fondly at this. "You'll have to tell this old man how it is that you do that, Raven."
"Do what exactly?" Her voice held a measure of emotion in it but it was so faint that he must have imagined it. He sipped some of his tea and waited for his friend to reveal herself. He was surprised a moment later when he felt something tap him on the back. He turned and found an empty sack suspended in the air covered in shadow. However it wasn't the bag that held his attention it was Raven. She was sitting at the small table by the back door with her eyes closed and a smile on her face; it was the most relaxed that he'd ever seen her. "One of these days you'll have to tell me how it is that you make this tea."
He laughed heartily at that, as he heard the happiness in her voice. But he had to risk upsetting her for he couldn't reconcile the troubled girl that he'd met, with the almost carefree one in front of him. "You seem much less distressed than when last we met."
He watched as her eyes opened slowly and when her attention rested on him she nodded. "I beat my father. The universe is safe from him." The happiness was still in her voice but it did not reach her eyes and that worried him. But before he could ask she sipped more of her tea and, "Last time I was here, I was curious as to why you were wary of me?"
Rather then answer her right away, he moved to sit opposite of her and as he settled he sipped his own tea. He held back a grimace at the cold temperature. He noticed that Raven hadn't taken her eyes off of him the entire time, he grinned. And a second later watched as the surprise stole across her face when steam rose from his tea.
"The answer to your question is difficult to explain." He held up a hand to still any protests that she had and placed his other one around her cup, moments later steam was rising from it.
"In this world there are numerous people who have connections to the elements; Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Those people can bend the element to their will and use it in a myriad of ways; some good and some bad. A hundred years ago the Fire Nation attacked the air nomads and almost killed off the airbenders." He paused and gestured to the steaming cups of tea. "I was one of the Fire Nation's top generals as well as firebending masters. But that was before the world and life had changed me. About a month prior to our meeting, my niece placed a price on mine and her brother's head."
'That's...can we just-' The yellow cloaked emote fell silent as she felt her mistress forcibly hammering her conflicting emotions into submission.
'Intelligence, we have a limited amount of time here and I don't think Iroh would appreciate his shop being leveled; especially when I can barely control my soul self right now.' She said trying to make the emote see reason.
'It maybe be the key to controlling them.' Intelligence whined. It'd been the second day after they killed their father when they'd discovered their magical affinity; it was fire magic. But because of the source and the sudden increase in power, they couldn't control it and they'd made no attempts to gain control of it either.
'How many times have I told you. I want nothing to do with his powers.' her words acted like a bell as they summoned Rage.
'I don't often agree with mistress Worm but in this I do. It would be a good idea to ask about this elemental bending. However our,' Rage paused and turned to eye Intelligence. 'Mistress is correct. We could be called back at a moments notice and Iroh seems preoccupied; we may need to seek information on our own.' It was a shock to both Raven and Intelligence at Rage's compromise.
'Further more, mistress you have won those powers; they are yours now.' She abruptly turned away from both Rage and Intelligence, knowing that both were right but she'd be damned if she let them tell her what to do. She'd gotten enough of that from her father and Grandmaster Sazz.
'Please don't shut me out mistress. Not like Candy.' Their mistress said nothing as they felt her presence recede.
"Seems I was fortunate to have been found by you. Thank you again Iroh." She said with no trace of emotion in her voice; unfortunately this occurred a lot when she conversed with the inhabitants of Nevermore. Iroh could sense that she was still troubled by something.
"To truly understand what is eating at me, I need to explain about my abilities; the majority of them stem from my soul-self. Using astral projection I can use it as a shield, telekinesis, and teleportation. I can conjure, control, and manipulate shadows and pure darkness. I can feel other people's emotions as well." She fell silent giving him time to mull over her words.
She'd admit that it was a lot for anyone to take in all at once but Iroh wasn't just anyone, he seemed to take everything in stride. "I noticed last time that you weren't being open with your emotions. I take it that your powers are influenced by your emotions."
Surprised she nodded and continued, having to fight against her burning curiosity and an upset Intelligence, "Before I defeated my father, if I expressed too much emotion it could have inadvertently led to his ascension to earth through me, much earlier then prophesied. Now I'm free to express them more but my powers are even more destructive now. I'm still cursed."
As she finished Iroh heard several ominous cracks and a second later the table between them crashed to the floor. He felt sympathy for his friend, her power was like a firebending beginner's; uncontrollable. He remembered when Azula first got her firebending and the terror that everyone felt; after she'd mastered the basics in a little over two months.
"Does your soul-self lash out randomly?" He could tell his question was unexpected and caught her off guard. He watched her face closely as she though over his question.
"Its always seemed random to me. I'm sorry about your table." He went to wave her concern away when a dark blue light spread across the broken table and as the light moved away from it moments later; the table reassembled itself. The most surprising thing about the whole event was that when the light was finished, their cups and most importantly their tea was intact.
He was too astonished to speak as he stared at the table and then looked up at her with a question on his lips. But she beat him to it. "I'm an accomplished mage as well."
"Have you ever tried to change what happens when your powers lash out?" He asked her as he reached for his tea. He managed a few sips while waiting for her answer.
"No. I was discourage from a young age to never dabble too deeply with my...abilities." She said in a silent whisper and was content to keep it that way as she sipped her tea.
"You could always dabble with them here." He said taking note of the momentary paused in her answer. His offer elicited a reaction from her powers, the table was once more in danger of collapsing but at the last second the blackness receded. "You won't mind?"
He shook his head and stood, pausing to gather their tea cups, motioning for her to follow him. Once the tea cups were in the wash basin and he locked the door that led to his back garden, he led her from the backroom into the tea house proper. It was a fairly large space with at least a dozen or so tables. As they passed through the room and just as he reached the stairwell, Raven's low chuckle stopped him and he couldn't help a small smile creeping across his face. "Whoever drew this is a masterful artist. Reminds me of Starfire's earliest attempts at drawing."
At Iroh's questioning look she clarified, "I never did get around to explaining what my line of work is. I'm apart of a team of people with abilities, like benders, that protect people without abilities from others with similar abilities who've chosen to use them for nefarious deeds. Starfire is on that team but out of the five of us; she's the second strangest. She's from another planet in the dimension that I'm from."
He nodded and led her down the stairs for what seemed like an eternity until they ended in a room that had giant glowing crystals everywhere. He gestured for her to step further into the room with him and when she did, she felt a faint breeze. "Is this enough space?"
"More than enough."
"Good and now this old man is going to retire for the night." With that he left her to practice and returned upstairs. His sleep wasn't peaceful as his mind was plagued by a vivid dream; more of a reoccurring nightmare. One that he'd been having more and more frequently after the war was finally over.
"General you must come quickly." The words echoed all around him as he made his way through his family's wing of the palace. It was the first time since his return from the earth kingdom that he dared to venture into his son's room.
"Its your son. He was clipped by a rock javelin. It came from the top of the wall and caught him completely off-guard." He couldn't breath as more of the lieutenant's words rose up around him. He collapsed to the ground in front of the bed and he felt the tears beginning to fall.
"Dad-" His voice was wet and he coughed blood from his mouth.
"Hush Lu Ten save your strength." He knew it was futile, Lu Ten was as pale as the moon and blood was pooling beneath him.
"Dad would you sing for me. I'd like that." He nodded and in a soft tone began,
"Leaves from the vine, falling so s-slow
L-Like fragile, tiny shells,
Drifting in t-the foam.
Little s-soldier boy, come marching home.
Brave soldier boy, c-comes marching home."
The soldiers he commanded watched in silence as the Dragon of the west wept for his son. They aren't prepared for his orders to abandon the siege.
"I though I might find you here." He lets out a thick laugh at this and turns to regard the speaker. She was standing just inside the room, almost hesitant.
"Lady Ursa to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" His voice was warm but very subdued. It wasn't the first time that they had both wound up in here. He was mourning his son and she was avoiding her husband; he didn't blame her, as Ozai was quite the piece of work especially after smelling blood in the water. He'd dodged his little brother many times in their youth.
"I have a favor to ask of you." she said.
"I'm listening." He waved her further into the room and gestured for her to take a seat at Lu Ten's pai sho table. As she moved to the table she composed the request in her head, even with the few seconds it took, to take her seat, she still didn't know how to ask.
With a sinking feeling settling in his stomach Iroh took a seat at the table as well and waved her on. "My hand has been forced into the Koh's nest that is palace politics and I' won't be around to keep an eye on Azula for quite some time."
He stayed silent, he couldn't believe what she was asking of him. And as if she was reading his mind, she said, "I'm leaving to keep my children safe and I know I've never really gotten on well with my daughter so this maybe difficult to understand but I do care for her." The fire lady's face wore a frown as those words fell from her mouth. "No, I love my daughter despite how malicious she is even at the age of six."
"I ask you, as her uncle, to watch out for her. Ozai developed an unhealthy interest in her, once she started firebending." She lets out a dark chuckle. Her husband would turn her little girl into a mirror image of himself. But with her bending and heritage, she'd be much worse than Ozai.
"I fear what she'll become with his guidance alone." she says, allowing the mourning father to turn over her request in his mind.
She could see the indecision in his eyes. "When word of Lu Ten's passing arrived and when I broke the news to the children, Azula's initial reaction worried me. She just walked out of the room without saying a word. Later that day I found her in one of the disused training grounds, crying."
He was in a state of stunned disbelief. He'd had no idea that the two were close...nor that his niece was taking his son's death so hard. In light of this he wasn't about to refuse her request,"I will do as you ask. I promise to look out for her as much as I can by the spirits I swear."
He woke abruptly and was soaked in sweat. He'd completely forgotten about his promise to Ursa all those years ago. So much had happened shortly after Ozai's coronation and when Zuko was banished he'd abandoned his niece; the whole family had by the end of the war. He could easily blame it on his revulsion upon seeing her enjoyment of Zuko's banishment but that was an empty excuse.
It seemed as if he lay there for hours and as the hours, minutes, passed he was plagued with visions of Azula. In the one he remembered the best she was a lot younger maybe five or six, around the time she began her firebending training. Shadowy figures surrounded her and as they drew nearer to her, the figures were revealed one by one; all of the people in her life. Each one turned away from her and ignored her as she screamed for help. Eventually Azula fell silent and the fire in her eyes died.
When he finally found the energy to rise the next morning he set up his shop for the day and prepared his Jasmine tea blend before descending into the caverns to check on his friend.
"Your sleep was troubled." Her statement stopped him dead and all he could do was stand there as she drew closer. "Would you like to talk about it?"
He never heard her question but what he did hear was his niece's screams, her pleas for help, for affection, for someone to see her; the real her. He tried to shake Azula's voice from his ears but instead of silence it grew in volume. As they reached fever pitch the shadows themselves lit up with blue sparks. And those sparks flared into an azure inferno. He turned to race back up the stairs but when he did, he saw a wall of fire. He gave up trying to escape. When he made his decision everything went dark and finally the screams, had gone silent.
In the distance he saw a small blue spark ignite but it stayed small and as he watched the only source of light, it began flickering. A moment before the flame died, another ignited; it was a little bigger than the last but it too began flickering after a while. He must have seen dozens of lights spark and die before he realized that they were getting closer to him.
When the firelight reached him he saw his niece illuminated beneath it. He couldn't tell how old she was because of how full of malice her eyes were but were he to guess he'd say seven. As the light began to flicker, he saw her as she had been during her brother's banishment, he saw her as she had been on the ship where she attempted to kill him and her brother, he saw her as she had been when she struck the avatar down, and he saw her as she had been after the Agni Kai on the day of Sozin's comet.
But the thing he noticed throughout all of it were her eyes, they weren't filled with malice as he'd originally though, they were filled with fear. Just before the light died he saw her open her mouth, "Where were you when father burned me? Where were you when father forced himself on me? Where were you when mother left me?"
Before he could say anything the light flickered out and a voice sounded all around him.
This voice wasn't his niece pleading for help. The voice was his own. "I will look out for her as much as I can by the spirits I swear."
He opened his eyes slowly and was relieved to find that that had all been a dream too. It was a moment or two later when he forced himself to prepare for the day. As he was blending the teas for the shop he heard someone behind him.
"Your sleep was troubled." His hands froze mid motion and all he could do was stand there listening as she prepared a pot of tea. "Would you like to talk about it.?"
His heart beat was racing and sweat was running down his face as he waited for the screams to start up again. When a minute passed by and nothing changed to indicate that he was still sleeping, he let out the weary breath he'd been holding. "Just an old man's mistakes and broken promises coming back to haunt him. Please do not worry, my friend."
As he felt her turn to attend to the whistling tea pot he resumed prepping the teas he'd be serving that day. Ten minutes later and both were seated at the small table, enjoying the early morning quiet and a excellent cup of tea. The quiet was interrupted a moment later when a messenger hawk flew in through the open back door and landed next to Iroh, the bird screeched at him. Iroh was instantly on alert when he recognized that the hawk was carrying letters for his nephew.
"Bad news?" she asked as Iroh relieved the bird of the letters.
"I hope not. Ah its just an invitation to the north pole to fine tune the details of reparations to be paid" He said as he placed them to the side.
"And that is why I don't envy my nephew his new found lordship." At her raised eyebrow he elaborated. "Too many headaches and my old bones ache far too much as it is."
"You seem much more suited to brewing tea and offering sound advice." The small smile and the warmth in her tone didn't escape him.
"Were you successful?" Instead of answering him, she gestured toward the rest of the room. He glanced in the direction indicated and he gasped. Every last cup, plate, and bag of tea was floating in the air. A second later and everything had returned to its proper place.
"I've only managed to change what happens if I feel amusement or happiness. But I'm sure the rest will come with practice."
He was very happy for her, however it was bittersweet. He had helped this strange girl in every way that mattered when he found her. This girl who'd lived a similar life to that of his niece's; the same niece he'd abandoned at the first opportunity. Not that she helped matters any. As soon as he'd thought that an all consuming wave of self-loathing, shame, and guilt washed over him. It shouldn't have mattered if she was a difficult person to understand. I should have helped her! I knew what my brother could, would, and did do to her. And I let him...
While Iroh was wrapped up in his guilt ridden thoughts a very different conversation was taking place inside Raven's head.
'His emotions are even more conflicted than when we first met him. What do you think was, and has been eating at him for all this time?' She asked both Happy and Intelligence although her tone toward the yellow emote was cooler than normal.
'Well while you were preoccupied with Red and scaring the living daylights out of those bandits, I was sorting through all the emotions we felt from Iroh. We reminded him of two people. One was familial and the other was close to someone he's very fond of, his nephew if my memory serves correctly.' She waited patiently for the emote to continue but one of them wasn't as patient as her.
'Madam Snark, didn't he say his nephew was chasing after his younger sister who was chasing the avatar?'
'Happy I can barely hear myself...' She trailed off as Intelligence stepped in front of the suddenly wary pink emote.
'She's right. We, for whatever reason, remind him of his niece. Needless to say he's not ready to talk to us about it. It may have something to do with the nightmares that plagued him all night.' She said defending Candy Cane from their mistress, despite wanting to hid behind Candy from their mistress. Intelligence could still feel that their mistress was displeased with her and wanted nothing more than to be in her good graces again; the yellow emote cursed her curiosity once more. She was reluctant to speak her thoughts as it wouldn't go over well.
'Loathe as I am to say this but we'll have to wait until he's ready. And right now he isn't.'
'He's helped us so much. Isn't there anything that we can do?' She asked, not expecting a positive response from either Happy or Intelligence. She'd hated the emotions that hit her like a freight train last night. It took her a moment to pinpoint the source of the turmoil and when she realized it was Iroh, her powers almost caused a cave in.
'We can be there to listen when he's ready to talk.' As she'd expected Intelligence's response wasn't good.
'I intend to be.' Both the emotes flinched at her tone and while Happy was use to it, Intelligence however, had never been on the receiving end of it.
[We've got the fire, who's got the matches, Take a look around at the sea of masks and come one come all, welcome to the grand ball, Where the strong run for cover and the weak stand tall.]
Both of the tea loving individuals started at the loud music blaring in the air. Iroh was curious about the strange music and, "A very interesting bit of music."
"It's a good song but unfortunately, this month, it signifies an emergency that requires my presence. I have to return home." He was alarmed at how quickly Raven returned to the withdrawn girl that he'd pulled out of a crater as she spoke.
"One break through doesn't make my powers any less destructive when I express strong emotions. Its for everyone else's safety that I reign in and suppress my emotions." She spared him a small smile, "I can't promise that the next time I return that I will be able to stay for very long."
"I must once more insist that you take this." He said with a smile of his own as he held out a large cloth bag filled with Jasmine tea.
Her smile grew into a wide grin as she waved her hand at the bag and it vanished in a haze of black. In the bag's place, and in turn Iroh's hand, was a small circular object. "Its a new battery for your communicator. Farewell Iroh."
"Farewell." He said watching in awe as she disappeared in a haze of black, just like the bag of tea earlier.
His mind was distracted for the rest of the day as he thought over the reports that that messenger hawk had brought. He felt terrible for lying to Raven but he wasn't sure that dragging her into his family's problems was a good idea. He also needed time to properly examine the reports and prepare for a difficult conversation with his nephew; a conversation about his little sister.
It was with a heavy heart that he shooed his last costumer out the door and settled in the backroom with a fresh cup of tea; it was time to tackle those reports. As he tore the seals on them, he couldn't help but wince when he saw the official symbol of Crescent Isles emblazoned at the top of the report. Two minutes later and he learned that all eight of the letters were from Crescent Isles.
He'd heard the rumors about that place, Lu Ten had been stationed there very early on in his military career; his son had refused to speak about it. And while he couldn't order his son to tell him, the other soldiers were another matter entirely...the horrors they spoke of. He slowly went through each report and all of them were perfect, perfectly benign, bland, and boring. He knew that nothing involving his niece would ever be boring, this was worrying especially with what he knew of the Isles.
Zuko what have you done. The spirits were surely punishing him for that broken promise of his, for as he though of his nephew, Zuko entered the shop's back entrance.
"Uncle..." The young fire lord trailed off as he looked the older man over, he could tell that his uncle was troubled and that's when he saw the reports spread out on the table.
"Isn't it great? One of my Brigadier General's recommend sending her there. They said that's the best place for her. That towards the end she lost it big time and started banishing people. They said that everyone would refuse to help her." His enthusiasm was brought to a bruising halt.
"You have to get her transferred back to the Capitol, Zuko." His uncle didn't sound angry but there was a tension in his voice as he spoke.
"You have no idea what the Isles are like."
"I know its what is best for her. Besides you weren't there, she...she's insane." He said with all the nativity of youth.
"What's best for her? You really think a frozen underground icebox is the best place for her? She needs to be with family, with you and me. We're all she's got left." Each word was like a kick to Zuko's stomach. The tension in the air was thick.
"You're defending her. Since when? Have you forgotten that she tried to kill us, that she manipulated me into almost killing the avatar? Did you know it was her idea to burn the earth kingdom to the ground?" he returned, completely brushing aside Iroh's concerns with an intensity in his eyes that frightened Iroh.
"Zuko, she is your sister and she needs help your father-"
"Exactly her and father were as thick as thieves, if I kept them close to home they'd probably start a rebellion or they'd try to start another war." He interrupted, cutting off what his uncle was trying to tell him.
"If you won't help her by transferring her than release her into my custody." His uncle's unexpected suggestion ignited his temper.
"No. She'll stay on the Isles until she's better."
"She won't get better if she stays there."
Both of them could hardly look the other in the eye as silence settled between them.
"So you've finally shown your true colors, eh uncle?" he said a while later.
Iroh could really only say one thing, "I made a promise to look after Azula and I've broken that promise. Now I will rectify it."
Zuko inhaled sharply, he didn't need to know who his uncle had made that promise to. Because there was only one person that came to the young fire lord's mind. Why would uncle agree to...even if she asked him...? It doesn't matter Azula is dangerous and I can't risk her safety or the world's. I'm sorry uncle. Your promise will have to remain broken until Azula is released from the Isles.
"I won't let you." His voice was a whisper. His eyes filled with resolve as he stared his uncle down. "Stay away from the Isles and if you attempt to remove her from the facility, I will lock you up."
With that he turned on his heel and stormed out of the shop's back entrance. If he had looked back he'd have seen the tears falling down his uncle's face and he'd have barely heard, "I've failed you Ursa. But by the spirits I will help you Azula."
The song in this chapter is called 'Welcome to the Masquerade' by Thousand Foot Krutch.