Ozai's Vengeance

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Summary: Twelve years after the final battle, Zuko summons Katara to help heal the victims of an epidemic sweeping the Fire Nation.

Disclaimer: ATLA is the property of VIACOM and Nickelodeon. No profit is made by this story.

Notes: Go check out my profile for new fan-art from Blue Moraine Sedai, AKAVertigo, and Irrel! And if you want to do fan-art for Ozai's Vengeance, The Three Drinks or Three Chores Series, just let me know! Thank you, ladies!

≅

"Find the physician and Xiao Zhi. Inform them that the Kyoshi warrior has fallen ill," Zuko said, as he and Sokka's children left the dining hall. He affixed the nearest guard with his sharpest glare. It was hard with a three-year-old clinging to his neck and another child's sweating hand firmly clutching his own. "Lady Katara's orders are mine."

"Yes, my Lord."

He continued walking. He failed to grasp how briskly until he heard Siida's shoes tapping the dark, glossy floors as she jogged a little to keep up. "Where are we going?" Saya asked from behind him, hitching Kurzu on her arm.

Zuko paused. His arm trembling with effort -- Sora was a lot heavier than she looked -- he crouched and let Sora down. She slid off his arm, but stayed near his leg. Suddenly they were all looking at him: Sokka's three daughters with their open blue eyes, Senzo's dark and troubled gaze, his own son's roving attention. He had simply intended to get the children out and away from the sight of Suki bleeding and moaning on the floor. He hadn't considered where he would take them or for how long, or what they would do once there. He suddenly remembered his uncle at Lake Laogai: You never think these things through!

Old drill training took over. Gather family and resources. Claim escape routes. "Sora, get on my back," he said.

Sniffling, Sokka's youngest scrabbled up Zuko's back. Her arms snaked around his neck. When he stood, he hooked his arms under her little legs and shouldered her weight. "I used to carry your Aunt Toph like this."

"Where are we going?" Saya repeated.

He didn't answer. Instead, he led them through the maze of corridors surrounding the royal wing. At each turn, he slid the ornate doors shut and directed fire up the pneumatic tubes. He paused to rattle them on their tracks and make certain the pneumatic locks were tight.

"How do you know which pipe to blow into?" Senzo asked. "Those dragon-mouth things are everywhere."

"My uncle taught me. Come on."

They arrived outside Tom-Tom's room -- his old room, where Katara had once slept -- and he rang the bell. "Go away," Tom-Tom said from within.

"You're in danger," Zuko said. "You can open this door and come with me, or I can open it myself."

Silence. Sighing steam, Zuko moved for the door. "He's not lying!" Saya shouted. "Something happened to our mom!"

Zuko heard bells tinkling, then movement. The door slid open. Tom-Tom's hair was messy and he looked like he'd spent the day scowling. He squinted down at Saya. Zuko watched Tom-Tom take in the details: Sora's red, puffy face; Senzo's tight grimace; the way Saya hugged her arms. Tom-Tom's eyes widened slowly. He blinked twice, and looked over at Zuko. "There really is a conspiracy, isn't there?"

Zuko nodded. "You need to come with us."

Tom-Tom didn't move. He gave Zuko a hard look. "First you want to kill me, now you want to save me?"

"What's he talking about?" Senzo asked.

"What conspiracy?" Saya asked.

Tom-Tom's narrow, pointed jaw set. "The one your uncle hasn't told you about. The one I'm supposed to be masterminding." He pushed away from the door and re-entered the room. Zuko watched him pick up a single rucksack and the twin hooks. The boy shouldered the bag and stared into Zuko's face. His eyes flicked over to Saya and Senzo. "I'm doing this for them, not you."

"Lecture me later. Help me now."

≅

Zuko led them straight for his rooms. "Won't they expect you here?" Tom-Tom asked, as they rounded the corner.

"Who?" Senzo asked.

"Quiet," Zuko said. He put on his best face as he nodded to his guards. "Have some books and toys sent from the nursery," he said, as he pushed the doors open and ushered the children in. He quickly shut the doors behind him and locked them with fire and mechanics, then folded a bar across the door. He crossed to the bed and let Sora down, then pulled down his twin blades from their hooks on the wall above the bed. Next he moved to a scroll cabinet against the wall opposite his armoire. He pulled the scrolls in a rough lotus pattern. Thin wires attached to each scroll went taut. The whole cabinet swung away from the wall soundlessly, exposing a circular bronze door with a dragon's mouth embossed in the center. Zuko listened at the dragon's mouth. Nothing. No invaders in the tunnels. Yet.

"Whoa…" Senzo walked up to the door. "Where does this go?"

"Out of here," Zuko said. "Can you memorize that pattern?" Sokka's son nodded. "Good. You might need it." He shut the cabinet and replaced the scrolls. Then he moved to his desk. Flipping open the top, he opened a shallow compartment littered with papers. He depressed it until he heard a click, then opened up the musty false bottom. Money, his dagger, a whetstone, and two White Lotus tiles were there. With a sweep of his hand, he took it all and closed the desk. The Pai Sho tiles he handed to Saya and Tom-Tom. He tucked the dagger into his belt.

"What's with the money?" Senzo asked.

"It's your allowance," Zuko said. He opened the pouch and began distributing funds. The children stared at the gold pieces in their hands -- he gave Sora's portion to Saya, on the off chance that Katara's fiscal responsibility had transmitted to her niece -- and blinked at him.

"Are you taking us away from our mom?" Saya asked. For the first time since Suki's collapse, she looked afraid.

"No," Zuko said. "But you have to learn the way out."

"Is our mom going to be okay?"

"I don't know."

"But what's wrong with her?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Senzo asked. "You're the Fire Lord!"

"I mean I don't know!"

As one, the children flinched. They backed away toward the bed. Sora shied away from him. Zuko deflated. He hung his head. Nice one, Zu-Zu. Way to scream at the kids with the dying mother. As he opened his mouth to speak, Tom-Tom interrupted him: "There's a group called the Funshutsu that wants to take down the Fire Lord. It sounds like your family got in the middle."

Sokka's children looked to him. "Is that true?" Saya asked.

Zuko nodded. "Yes."

"Take you down where?" Sora asked. The other children simply stared at her. "Where do they want to take Uncle Zuko down to?"

Saya slapped her forehead. "It's just an expression, Sora."

Nonplussed, Sora looked from her sister to Zuko. Abruptly, she slid off the bed and wrapped her arms around Zuko's leg. "Sorry, Uncle Zuko."

He looked down. "Why are you sorry?"

"You were yelling. That means we did something bad."

Something inside him fractured just a little. How many times had this very scene played out in this very room between him and his own father? I'm sorry, Dad, I'll do better next time, I'll be good, I promise. He remembered the stiffness in Ozai's limbs -- the man rarely touched anyone -- and the odd, awkward rasp in his voice that he smothered with mockery: Yes, cry about it, Zuko; see how far that gets you.

Blinking furiously, Zuko knelt down. "You didn't do anything wrong," he said, surprised at how small his voice had gotten.

"You're not mad?" Sora asked, staring at the floor.

"I'm angry at a lot of things. But you're not one of them."

Sora's face rose and she looked at once so hopeful and scared that for a moment Zuko thought he saw Aang in there, staring back at him. "Really?" He nodded. She ducked her head and hugged his neck. She moved so that she could speak in his good ear: "I'm glad. I love you, Uncle Zuko."

The words felt a little like his father's lightning. He was vaguely aware of a simmering tingle in his heart as his arms wrapped around her little body. "I love you, too," he said, astonished to find that his words were true. "I love you and I'm going to take care of you. No matter what happens. I promise."

Sora pulled away. "Does that mean we can eat, now?"

He would have laughed, had he not utterly feared the possibility of poisoning his tiny niece. "I'll see what I can do."

The bell at his door rang. He rang to answer it. Iroh stood outside bearing a tray of fruit and tea. "This food is safe," he said. "I bought it this afternoon; no one else has touched it."

Zuko looked from his uncle to his niece. "You're a mindreader, now?"

"I know children, my nephew."

Zuko transferred the tray to the bed. "You can eat that," he said. He stepped half-outside the door and slid it almost-closed behind him. He lowered his voice. "Suki?"

"Alive," Iroh said. "The poison causes convulsions; her womb suffered first."

"The child?"

"We don't know. Katara is bending as fast as she can."

Zuko closed his eyes. "Was it meant for me?"

He heard his uncle clear his throat. "Yes."

Zuko balled his fists. "I should never have let her sit at my place; I knew there was a threat-"

"It was meant for all of us, my nephew."

His eyes snapped open. "What?"

"We fed some of each dish to a raccoon-toad. It died in minutes." Iroh's eyebrows lifted. "Whoever your new enemies are, my nephew, they don't want any of your family around to avenge your death."

The hairs on Zuko's arms rose. He thought of his niece's little arms encircling him. She could have died. We all could have died. Who are these people? "It's not safe here any longer," he said. "We have to get the children out. I could take them-"

"Where would you go?" Iroh asked. "You don't have a flying bison. Someone here has betrayed you; you cannot rely on Fire Navy ships or war balloons. Your enemies failed tonight. Now they hope to smoke you out of hiding."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Plan," Iroh said. "Wait until we have more information. Miss Toph and her lovely companion are proving most…effective."

Zuko could only imagine. "What about the White Lotus? I gave the kids some tiles-"

"This isn't the Avatar's group, Zuko," Iroh said. "The Avatar did not have a three-year-old and an infant to care for."

"I could go with them-"

"Zuko." Iroh settled his spotted hands on Zuko's shoulders. "You have to sit still. You have to be steady. Everyone is doing everything they can."

"I'm the Fire Lord-"

"You're also a father. Do that job, for now." Iroh squeezed his shoulders. "Sokka and Suki need you to do what they cannot."

Zuko nodded. From the corner of his eye, he saw two servants delivering a trunk of scrolls and toys. He slid his arms around his uncle's shoulders. "Be careful, old man."

Iroh patted his back. "You too, my nephew." He pulled away. As he did, his eyes took on some of their old fire. "We will find the Funshutsu and destroy it."

Zuko heard a small noise behind him. He had the sudden sensation of being watched -- the children were likely spying, listening for word on their mother. He drew himself to his full height and squared his shoulders. Firming his voice, he said: "I know that. Our enemies will break like waves on rock."

Iroh nodded. "They always do."

Inside the room, Zuko lugged the open trunk of toys and plucked out a portable Pai Sho board. "So, who wants to learn the White Lotus gambit?"

≅

Hours passed. The children quickly plowed through the fruit and sweets Iroh had sent. Rolling their eyes, they memorized the words Zuko taught them: "'One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries,' we get it." Zuko painted a small map of the secret tunnels beneath the palace: "The door behind the cabinet leads straight to the vault. From there we can-" "You call that a map?" But in the end it was just a waiting game. It felt like rainy days at the Western Air Temple, the tense and nervous hours waiting for the storm to pass, hoping for sunlight. Sora and Kurzu got tired first -- their nervousness fed off the taut quiet between their elder siblings, but they were bored and confused, and annoyed with Zuko constantly plucking breakables from their questing hands.

"Mom usually puts Sora to bed right about now," Saya said. "Should we go back to the nursery?"

"No," Zuko said. "We can…" He debated. Katara's room had more space, but this room had the door to an escape route. "We can all just sleep here. It'll be like the old days."

"Dad said you all had your own rooms at the Temple," Senzo said.

"We did. But Appa's saddle got crowded. And you know how your father snores."

Despite themselves, the children laughed. "I miss Appa," Senzo said.

"I miss Uncle Aang," Siida concurred.

"I miss meeting Uncle Aang," Sora said, folding her arms. "I was still in Mama's tummy when he died."

"I'm sure he would have liked you," Saya said. "He liked all little kids."

Sora leaned against her sister. "Would the Avatar know how to make Mama better?"

Saya blinked. She risked a glance at Zuko. "Um…"

Zuko sat beside his niece. "The Avatar didn't heal people that way. But your Aunt Katara can heal almost anything. I've seen it."

Sora swung her legs off the edge of the bed. "Like what?"

"Well…" Zuko took a deep breath. "Once, I hurt your Aunt Toph," he said. "I burned her feet. It hurt too much for her to walk, and she had to crawl. But Katara fixed it."

"Why did you burn her feet?" Sora asked. "Were you mad at her?"

"No," Zuko said. He lifted his eyes and found Tom-Tom staring at him. "I made a mistake."

"That's some mistake," Tom-Tom said.

"I found out she was trying to help me. That she was the only one who believed in me. But I wound up hurting her anyway." He grimaced. "So I begged her to forgive me, and she did."

"Not without some payback though, right?" Senzo asked.

"Of course not. I carried her on my shoulders so long my spine started to curve."

Senzo snickered. "Tell another one."

Sora yawned. Her head fell against Zuko's arm. "Yeah, another one."

His good eye widening briefly, Zuko found himself looking to Saya for help. She nodded and smiled brightly. "Tell us about you and Aunt Katara," she said, claiming a spot near one post of his bed. She sat against the beam and folded her hands.

"No, no mushy stuff," Senzo protested. "I want one about firebending!"

"Most of the stories about me and your aunt involve firebending," Zuko said. "We didn't exactly get along."

"Shocking," Tom-Tom murmured, and pulled up a chair. He crossed his ankles and rested them on Zuko's desk. "Don't let me stop you, Zu-Zu, I'm just as bored as everyone else here."

Zuko suddenly understood how his uncle had felt each time he was surly, on the ship. There was that mingled annoyance and affection, and that pang that happened when Tom-Tom briefly became his sister. Smiling, Zuko pushed himself back on the bed. Sora crawled after him. After a moment, so did Siida, carrying a sleeping Kurzu. They settled on either side of him. Sora wormed her way under his covers and draped his arm over her little shoulders. Blushing, Siida leaned against his shoulder.

"So," Saya pressed, "how did you two meet?"

"That," said Zuko, "is a very long story."

≅

Zuko woke sometime just before dawn to the creaking sound of his armoire opening. His senses came alive at once and he stiffened. It was hard to move -- Sora and Siida slept on either side of him, and Sokka's two eldest children had curled up at the foot of the bed, leaving Zuko only a narrow band of space on the mattress. Tom-Tom stirred briefly in the chair, then turned over. A figure emerged from the armoire -- Katara.

She was covered in blood.

Zuko carefully swung his legs over the mattress and tiptoed over to her. "What are they doing here?" Katara asked.

"Someone had to watch them." He looked her up and down. "They shouldn't see you like this. Let's go."

"You can't just leave-"

Tom-Tom coughed. Zuko turned and Mai's brother was staring at them from his place on the chair. "So that's how you've been doing it," he said. He examined Katara's clothes and winced. "Provided his highness over here had decided to trust me, I can keep watch while you clean up."

Katara looked at her hands. For the first time, perhaps, she noticed the blood under her fingernails. Her fingers trembled. "Let's go," Zuko said, ushering her back toward the armoire. Before he left, he put the twin hooks in Tom-Tom's lap. "A single shot down the dragon's mouth should do it," he murmured to him. "Follow my map if you need it."

"You really have to work on that paranoia, Zu-Zu."

In Katara's room, he lit the sconces and started running the taps. "It's in my hair," Katara said as she stared into his mother's old mirror. "I didn't know it was in my hair-"

"It'll wash out, come on." He guided her to the tub and began gently removing her dress. She didn't move as he slipped the fabric down her shoulders. Bloodstained cloth pooled at her feet. Zuko took his own shirt off and helped her into the bathtub. Blood in her hair and on her hands tinged the water pink. He began working a bar of soap. It snapped unexpectedly between his palms and he had to put the foamy slivers away. He avoided mentioning Suki.

"I told the kids how we met," he said. He wet the hair and lathered it in his fingers. The ends were stiff, encrusted with blood. "Then I told them about the pirates and your necklace."

Katara reached for her neck. Not finding the necklace, she frowned. "Where-"

"Here you go." Zuko handed her the necklace. Katara rubbed the pendant between her fingers. Zuko continued washing her hair. It was hard without bending; he had to cup the water in his hands and let it drain out over her head. She sat still and unblinking as the water washed down through her hair. She hugged her knees.

"They asked about the Western Air Temple, and about Aang-"

A rough sob cut his words short. He froze. Katara doubled over in the water. Her naked shoulders shook. Zuko carefully extended his hand toward her. She flinched away. He pulled back and stepped away, uncertain where to go. Candles flickered and steam hung thick between them. Katara curled further into herself, her sobs muffled by her knees.

"Is she dead?" Zuko asked.

Katara's cries faded to a muttering little whimper, like screaming was just too much effort. Sliding his slippers off, Zuko entered the water, pants and all, and looked at the way the blood had made pink ribbons in the tub. "You did everything you could," he said, hating the way his eyes had prickled. "I'm sure of it, you're the best-"

Katara's sobs briefly became laughter. "I couldn't do it, Zuko."

"Couldn't do what?" He didn't want to know.

"I had to ask Sokka to…" Her hair hung to obscure her face, her eyes. She spoke in a whisper. "I had to ask Sokka to choose."

A cold ache stole over Zuko, the likes of which he hadn't felt since the war. "His wife or his child," he said.

Katara's head moved in a way that might have been a nod. "He… He grabbed me, and he shook me, he was screaming…"

Mercifully, the chilly anguish turned to straight anger -- something Zuko could deal with. The idea of anyone -- brother or no -- treating Katara this way was enough to re-align his frayed nerves. "He hurt you?"

But she didn't answer. "He was just shouting so loud, I'd forgotten…" She paused to pick dried blood from under her nails. "'You've never lost a child, you've never even had one…'" She mimicked her brother's voice. "'You don't know what it's like, Katara, you don't have a family-'"

"That's a lie." The sconces glowed blue-white for just a moment. Zuko leaned forward. "You have a family right here."

"He said I wasn't me anymore," she said, raising her head slightly. "He said I wasn't the sister he knew. Not if I could ask him that so calmly."

Zuko pushed himself back in the water. "He thinks I've tarnished you." Zuko had to look away just to keep from shouting fire. "If he wants to challenge your honor he has to-"

"This is all my fault," she said.

Candleflame leapt about a foot. "How can you say that? How can you even think it? You tried-"

"I never told them about the miscarriage," Katara said in a hushed, shamed voice. "They don't know how it changed…everything."

You've never lost a child. You've never even had one. He remembered her on the ship, the rocking swell of the sea, how he'd barely had to move that second time because the ocean did the work for him, gentle and slow, her tears on his mouth after she told him of the child she'd bled away. How even then a small part of him had thought of making another, had thought of succeeding where even the Avatar had failed, had hated that private selfishness.

"It's my own fault for not telling them," she said. "I brought it on myself. Sokka would never say that on purpose, it's because I was dishonest-"

Zuko stirred the water near his belly -- for a moment it was like bending water -- and shot lightning straight at the mirror. It shattered and Katara shrieked. Bright, jagged pieces fell to the floor. The tingle sizzled down his arm. Smoke trailed from his fingers. "It doesn't matter that your brother didn't know. He grabbed you and he shook you. And that's wrong."

"He was going crazy-"

"It's wrong, Katara."

"You were just the same about Kurzu! Look at what we did to Tom-Tom!"

There was no answer to that. No answer that wasn't a shameful half-truth, at any rate. Zuko felt about his own child now the way he knew, deep down, that Iroh felt about him: he could and would rip apart his son's enemies with his bare hands. And while a small part of him acknowledged that this might be wrong -- he knew it was wrong when Sokka did it -- he had already benefited from that kind of thinking. Had his mother not felt the same way about him, Ozai would have killed him long ago and Azulon's reign would have lasted. How could he do any differently?

"What did Sokka choose?" he asked.

Katara blinked, looked away. "Suki's alive."

Zuko sighed. He leaned against the back of the tub and stared at the ceiling. "Will Sokka forgive me?"

"I don't know."

He found her eyes. "Will you?"

Katara moved in the water. She crawled up close to him. "Can you make this right?" she asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Can you protect my family?"

"With my life."

"Can you…" She trailed off, bit her lip. Her head hung down again. "Can you protect yourself?" When he didn't answer, she leaned against him. "Because I don't think I can handle any more loss, Zuko. I failed Aang and I failed Sokka and I just can't…"

He gathered her in his arms. He found himself rocking her. His mother had held him like this, once. "You're not a failure," he said. "You're a master waterbender and the Bloodbender and the Painted Lady." He almost smiled. "Someday maybe even Fire Lady, if I'm lucky. But you're Katara." She was crying against him, finally, hot tears rolling down his neck. "Whatever happens, never forget who you are."

"I was so scared to love you," she said, breath hitching.

"I'm still scared to let you."

≅

He left Katara in his room with instructions not to open the door. The children barely woke as she slid in beside them. Senzo and Saya had migrated to the floor, and Tom-Tom held out a squirming Kurzu for Zuko when he re-entered the room. "You deal with him," Tom-Tom said. "I don't do diapers."

Zuko found himself only too happy to comply. His son was well enough to voice his discomfort. Sokka had just lost a child. When he left, Kurzu was burrowing into Katara's arms.

Sokka sat in the palace infirmary. Zuko usually tried to avoid the place, having spent nearly a week there with his eye a molten lump of agony. Sokka sat where Iroh had sat for those long, painful hours -- beside the bed in the furthest corner, staring at the gauzy curtains that partially obscured the patient from view. He looked broken. He sat with his elbows on his knees, hands in his loosened, unruly hair.

"You've got a lot of guts coming in here, Jerkbender," Sokka said, not turning around.

Zuko swallowed and continued his advance. "Maybe I'm just that stupid."

Sokka almost laughed. "Yeah. It could be that." He turned and Zuko saw what the night had done to him -- the physical traces, at least. He looked hollow. His eyes were ringed with exhaustion and his wife's blood remained under his fingernails. Zuko almost stopped walking. But then he turned to look at Suki. She slept on, breathing shallowly. The profusion of pillows made her look smaller than he remembered.

"Katara told me," he said. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry don't cut it, brother."

Zuko ignored the odd use of a family name. He continued staring at Suki. Sweat made her hair cling to her forehead. "Your wife has suffered more than her share at the hands of my family."

"You can say that again."

"My uncle is doing everything he can, but he's learned nothing about who may have done this."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Zuko winced. He licked his lips. "You have your sword. We're alone. I won't stop you."

Sokka slapped his forehead. "Damn, you're a moron, sometimes."

"I knew I was being targeted-"

"So did we-"

"I want to make it right-"

"So do it!"

"I don't know how!"

Sokka turned and blinked up him. Breath whooshed out of him. He stroked his beard for a minute, staring at Zuko. Grunting, he pushed himself out of the chair. He took a step forward so that all Zuko saw were blue eyes rimmed with red. "You want to make it right?"

"Yes."

Sokka's finger poked his chest. "You take care of my sister. You get my family out of here. You let me help you find these guys and we take 'em out."

Zuko nodded. "Done."

"Tell me you've got a plan."

"I'm working on it." He eyed the bed again. "When can she be moved?"

"Katara said soon." Sokka's tired eyes narrowed. "The sooner the better, though."

"I know."

Sokka nodded. He stepped away, resumed his chair. "How are the kids?"

"They miss their father." Zuko stepped beside the chair. He kept his posture straight, and looked dead ahead. "There's something else I have to tell you."

"You want to marry her."

"That's true, I do." He fisted his hands, hoped this was the right thing. She would never have told him herself, and it's eating their family alive. "She was pregnant."

The chair squeaked as Sokka moved. "Kurzu is your son?"

Zuko shook his head. "No. This child was Aang's. And it was years ago." He swallowed. "She lost it."

Sokka's jaw fell open. "What?"

"She miscarried. And their marriage…" Zuko made a crumbling motion with his hands. "Everything changed."

Sokka swore. He ran his hands through his hair. "I had no… She never…"

"I know."

Sokka's face twisted up to face him again. "Did you know?"

"She told me after… When we came back from Tetsushi."

"So that's when it started." Sokka sighed, stroked his beard. "All this time… Why didn't she tell me?"

"She was ashamed. She thought she had failed."

"Then why didn't Aang tell me?" Sokka picked up a piece of fruit and threw it at the opposite wall. "Damn it…"

"So the next time you feel it necessary to grab your sister and shake her and tell her how she can't possibly understand your grief because she's never had a family, you remember this conversation." Zuko's voice had hardened. "Do you understand?"

"Oh, man, she never told me, I didn't-"

"Do you understand?"

Sokka nodded. "I get it."

Zuko made to leave. At the door, he turned and said: "I don't know if Iroh told you, but the poison was meant for all of us. If Suki hadn't taken a bite when she did, we would never have known. Your child saved us all."

Zuko saw the color drain from Sokka's face. His beard twitched as his jaw stiffened. "My kids, too?"

"My uncle thinks they wanted no one left."

Blinking something from his eye, Sokka nodded. He set his shoulders. "We're finding these people." It wasn't a question.

Zuko nodded. "Soon."

≅

He stood before an assembly of his ministers. He made sure to make eye contact with Jiang. The man betrayed no sense of surprise or disappointment at seeing Zuko alive. Zuko folded his hands and addressed the men and women sitting at the long, polished table. "Thank you for attending me on such short notice," he said. "I regret to inform you of some sad news. Lady Suki, the Kyoshi warrior and sister-in-law to Lady Katara, has fallen gravely ill. She needs fresh air and relaxation in order to recover. Admiral Jee has graciously allowed the use of his property on Ember Island for this purpose. I will be escorting the family myself. We leave tomorrow afternoon. General Iroh will remain here in my place."

"When will you be returning, my Lord?" Minister Jiang asked.

"Sooner than you think, I'm sure," Zuko said. "The Kyoshi are strong. Lady Suki will need little time to recover her full strength. In the meantime, I plan on reducing the risk to our royal treasures by removing curious children from this household."

They all laughed politely. Zuko rose. The company saluted him. He saluted back. And then he was gone.

≅

The children were happy to hear about the Ember Island trip when he told them at lunch. Tom-Tom merely rolled his eyes and said: "Ember Island? Could you be more of a tourist?"

"How come we have to go to someone else's house?" Senzo asked.

"My family had property there, but I sold it," Zuko told him. "Besides, Admiral Jee has plenty of ostrich-horses. You'll like it there."

Katara slept in his chambers for the better part of the day, arising late in the afternoon just as he emerged from the tunnel with an empty basket. She wiped sleep from her eyes as he carefully shut the cabinet. "What are you doing?"

"Preparing," he said. "Can you bend by tonight?"

She frowned. "I can bend right now. Why?"

"You'll see. Just get your rest." He bent down over her prone figure and kissed her forehead. "Trust me. I'm going to make this better."

"I know," she said, still sleepy, and rolled over. Her voice muffled by pillows, she asked: "You're not making big plans without me, are you?"

"Who, me?"

"How big a plan are we talking about?"

"Um…"

"I don't like the sound of that, Sparky."

He brushed hair away from her face. "I'll make it work. Just try to sleep." He kissed the corner of her mouth. "You'll need it."

≅

He waited until the night-time shift-change outside the nursery door. Iroh distracted the new guards. Katara was already waiting with Kurzu, Toph, and Ling; Sokka had taken Suki to his sister's room on the pretext of a healing session. Tom-Tom accompanied Zuko. They swept into the room quietly, and split off to each side of the room and began awakening the children.

"Uncle Zuko?" Sora asked.

"It's time to go to Ember Island," he said.

"Right now?" she asked.

"Right now."

"But I'm tired."

"You can sleep on the boat," he said, lifting her out of the bed. "Let's go."

"I can't go in my pajamas-"

"Sure you can," he said. "I'm the Fire Lord. What I say goes."

Saya was shrugging on her dress. "Why do we have to leave now? It's the middle of the night!"

"Does our dad know about this?" Senzo asked.

"Your father and mother are waiting for you."

Siida's eyebrows lifted. "We get to see Mom?"

"Only if you're very quiet and do exactly as I say."

"Let's move," Tom-Tom said.

They sneaked out of the room just in time to see Iroh glancing down the long, empty hallway. Zuko nodded to him, and herded the children in the other direction. In Katara's room, the children rushed their mother. Suki hugged and kissed each of them, then pointed to some bundles. "You'll need those."

"Where are we going?" Siida asked.

Zuko opened the secret panel. "On an adventure," he said.

≅

Inside the tunnel, Sokka whistled. "Sweet setup. I've always wanted a secret passage."

Zuko opened the armoire into his own room. "Still think it's so sweet?" Tom-Tom asked. Toph smacked him upside the head.

"What's so weird about a secret passage between Aunt Katara's room and Uncle Zuko's?" Senzo asked.

"Never you mind," Katara said. Zuko buckled his swords and shouldered his own bag, pulled the hood over his head. He proceeded to the cabinet and pulled the scrolls. The cabinet swung open to expose the secret door. Moving as gracefully as possible with the extra weight, he directed a stream of fire down the dragon's mouth. Behind it, something groaned. Slowly, the golden door creaked open. Zuko pulled it the rest of the way. He turned and his family was staring.

"Man, you get the best toys," Sokka said.

Zuko lit a fire in his palm. "Come on."

The dark stairs led downward. Toph trailed her fingers along the wall, making appreciative sounds as she did. "Wow, it just keeps going," she said. "It's all connected."

"If we kept going, we'd hit the volcano," Zuko said. "Thankfully, we don't need to go that far."

"How far are we going?" Katara asked.

"Right here," Zuko said, stopping short where the stairs ended at a clearing with yet another golden door. To their right was a trap-door in the ceiling. "We're beneath the throne room," he said. "Stand back."

Unslinging his bag and swords, Zuko assumed a bending posture. Pointing the first two fingers of each hand, he let each arm stir the air -- the left to the right, the right to the left. Light sizzled in the path his fingers made. It flashed and he had to squint. The energies crackled apart, split, he lunged and blue lightning fizzed past his fingers and straight into the dragon's mouth. Something clicked. With a dull squeal, the door swung open the way the one upstairs had. Zuko straightened.

"Welcome to the vault."

"Wow," Senzo said. "Can we go in there?"

"Go right ahead," Zuko said. The kids moved first. They stepped into the vault cautiously, all eyes, and surprised him by refusing to touch anything. Zuko gestured for the others to follow. Sokka immediately turned his attention to the weapons. "If you need more, now is the time," Zuko said.

Sokka touched the sword at his back, the boomerang at his belt. "I've got all I need." He turned to Suki. "Honey? Feel like shopping?"

"The less we have to carry, the better," Suki said. "Senzo! Those are probably someone's ashes! Put it down."

"She's feeling better already," Sokka said, staring after his wife with pure admiration.

Zuko moved to his mother's jewelry cabinet, opened it, and withdrew a few small bags of gold. He was handing them to Toph when he felt Katara's footfalls behind him. His eyes immediately tracked to the blue sky opal hanging there on its string of pearls. Katara's voice was hushed. "Is that…?"

"Yes," he said. "Change your mind?"

"Did you carve it?"

"It's a sky opal. My family took it in trade from the Air Nomads when dragons still nested freely. It's a priceless antique."

"So you didn't carve it?"

He shut the cabinet. "There's no winning with you."

Toph tossed the little sack of money in her palm. "You could always marry me, Sparky. No carving required." She jerked a thumb at Ling. "And you'd get two for the price of one!"

Zuko flicked her forehead. "You've got quite the wandering eye, for a blind girl." He proceeded to a rug in the center of the floor. Plucking the tasseled edge of the nearest tapestry, he watched as the rug rolled back.

Sokka shook his fist heavenward. "Is there anything in this house that's not a puzzle?"

"Not really," Zuko said, and knelt. Gloving his hand in flame, he slapped his palm down into the handhold in the center of the door. It dipped down with a gritty sound, and the door slid away to the left, exposing yet another staircase. The air was less stale than it had been when he'd used the tunnels earlier. He led the way once more.

"When are we gonna get to the island?" Sora asked.

"And why isn't Shuzi coming?" Saya wanted to know.

"I gave Shuzi the night off," Zuko lied. In all likelihood, the woman was still recovering from her interrogation at Toph and Ling's hands. They had sworn that she passed the questioning, but Zuko thought they needed to travel light. Shuzi was nursing her own child. They couldn't afford to bring another infant.

"That's funny, she was in the nursery earlier," Saya said.

"Probably collecting her things," Zuko said. He held up a hand as they approached the next door. This one was much older, the stone worn and the dragon's head blackened with use. He turned back to them and held the fire closer to his face.

"This is the tough part," he said. "You all need to be absolutely quiet, stick to the shadows, and be prepared to run."

"What is this place?" Senzo asked.

"The Dragonbone Catacombs."

≅

Not for the first time, Zuko wondered just what exactly he'd been thinking when he devised this plan. It had sounded so simple, at first. Misdirect his ministers, get the family out, take them somewhere safe. Simple. And he'd convinced himself it would be easy because it was easy -- when it was just him and his bundles of belongings. He'd thought of it as practice.

But not everyone could just crawl along the ceiling upon hearing the sound of fire sages in the halls. Not everyone could breeze through the catacombs. Not everyone had seen the great cathedrals of bone.

"This is amazing," Saya said in a whisper, staring up.

"It is rather impressive," Tom-Tom agreed.

Siida was less excited. "Are those real dragon bones?" She reached out hesitantly to touch the enormous skull of a grandfather dragon. Her finger alit on a tooth and pulled away quickly.

"Yes, they're real," Zuko said. "We should get moving."

But Siida was already sniffling. "They're all gone…"

Suki half-hugged her, half-ushered her. "It's okay, sweetheart…"

"They were all alive and now they're dead…"

"It's all right, I'm sure they had lots of fun while they were still alive…"

Siida only cried harder. It was as though the last few hours had finally crashed in on her -- the terror of what had happened to her mother, the strange distance Sokka had maintained from all the children afterward. She sobbed into her mother's neck.

"Baby, you've got to quiet down," Sokka said, his voice impatient. He scanned the corridor. "I mean it, Siida, if you don't-"

"Oh, for…" Tom-Tom cursed quietly, marched forward, and crouched down in front of the crying girl. She stilled instantly. "If you shut up, I'll hold your hand the rest of the way."

Siida brightened, nodded, and stuck her hand out when Tom-Tom started moving. The youth turned back to them, his cheeks stained scarlet. "Well? We don't have all night."

Zuko turned to Katara. "Perhaps naming surly young rebels heirs to the throne should become a tradition."

"There's an idea," Katara said. She took his hand. "But let's make it out of this alive first."

They got two steps when Toph said: "Trouble."

Zuko pushed Katara behind him. Tom-Tom picked Siida right up off the floor. Saya, carrying Kurzu, melted back into the shadows. Ling reached for her hair-sticks. True to form, Toph, Sokka, and Suki took point positions. Zuko drew his swords. They waited.

Nothing happened.

"False alarm," Toph said. "I see two of them down the other hall. They're, uh, distracted."

Sokka relaxed. "You know what they say about sages…"

Toph promptly used the stones to send him to his feet. They kept walking. Zuko took the lead. He started feeling better. He knew the layout well enough by now. This time of night, the sages were mostly quiet. Few of them thought to patrol the halls. If they were to encounter trouble, it would most likely come in the form of-

-"Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

It was a small boy in peasant garb and dirty shoes -- possibly a pilgrim. He still had his finger half-stuck in his right ear. As he backed away, he opened his mouth and started shouting: "Intruders! Intruders!"

"Aw, damn," Toph said. "Sparky! We're gonna have company!"

Zuko heard the steps. The stones shook around them. "Run!"

Saya charged ahead, clutching Sora's hand. Tom-Tom followed with Siida and Senzo. He took the lead: "This way!" They disappeared around a corner.

"Do we stay and fight?" Sokka asked, drawing his sword.

A pilgrim woman skidded in from the opposite corner. "Shin! Where have you been? Why are you-" She stopped short and stared at Zuko. Instantly she was kneeling. "My Lord."

"Nice to know someone recognizes me," Zuko said.

"How can I serve you, my Lord?"

"You can act like you never saw me. And you can get up off the floor." He offered her a hand up.

The boy was staring. "Wait, you're-"

"I'm not here," Zuko said. He gestured to the others. "Get moving. Find the kids."

"My Lord, why are you-"

"Intruders!" the Fire Sages called. "Search the perimeter!"

"It's a long story," Zuko told the woman. "But I'm in your debt."

The woman smiled and shook her head. "We came here because it's the place for people who remain loyal. Your secret is safe with me."

"Find them!"

"This nation still belongs to you, my Lord," she said.

"No," Zuko said, already preparing to run. "It belongs to you."

≅

Zuko found that Tom-Tom had already opened the final door. He was ushering the others through, hooks out, eyes alert.

"You're a natural," Zuko said, levering himself on a stone lip and sliding through.

"Could you possibly have taken any longer?" Tom-Tom slammed the door behind them. Then they were moving down a damp, dark chute. Up ahead, Zuko heard the children squealing. They emerged on a dank embankment beside a pile of supplies. A river flowed at their feet.

"So, the secret river," Sokka said. "Is there a punchline in here, somewhere?"

Zuko turned to Katara. "Raise it."

Grinning, she braced her feet and lifted her palms. The water surged and suddenly the top half of a submersible craft emerged. Sokka's two hands came up to clutch his hair. "Sparky. You didn't."

"My father's engineers kept one after the eclipse," Zuko said. "They were thought too valuable to destroy entirely."

"Damn straight," Sokka said. "Kids, you're looking at a little piece of history."

"Sometime tonight, please?" Katara nodded toward the submersible. "I can't keep holding it forever."

"It still works?" Suki asked.

"She was in dry-dock for most of the time," Zuko said, picking up a few packs. "We made a few special modifications."

The kids were already clambering atop the craft. Tom-Tom un-twisted the hatch and popped it open. Crowing, Senzo slid down the ladder. Ling ushered the other children down. Toph followed, groaning: "I hate these things…" Sokka gleefully escorted his wife onto the craft.

Katara turned to him. "When you're good, you're really good."

"One does one's best."

Once inside the craft, Zuko re-sealed the hatch behind them. Katara let the craft sink again -- everyone groaned at the sudden lurch in their stomachs -- and prepared to bend them out of the harbor. "This would be a lot easier with another bender around," she said, gritting her teeth.

"About that," Zuko said, pulling aside a canvas sheet and unveiling the cockpit. It featured two new seats with pedals. He sat in one. Sokka took the other. The other man started pushing, and his face lit up.

"A flywheel motor! Why didn't I think of that?"

"You had waterbenders. We didn't."

"It's not too fast, but with Katara's bending…"

The craft lurched forward. "Need a push?" Katara asked, swinging her arms. And they were off.

"This is so awesome," Senzo said.

Toph curled up on the floor with her head in Ling's lap. "It's so not."

Zuko tapped the tiller. "She's all yours, captain."

Sokka's eyes practically glowed. He flexed his fingers before taking the tiller. His knuckles cracked. "Steady as she goes, Katara."

She snorted. "Just give me a heading, Sokka."

Sokka turned. "Where we headed?"

"North."

"But Ember Island's south," Tom-Tom said.

Zuko stopped pedaling briefly as he twisted in his seat. "We're not going to Ember Island."

≅

I hope you all enjoyed that! It was a long time in coming. Please leave reviews! And please rec the fic to anyone you think might like it! I had no idea what recs could do until Irrel rec'd "Mending" over at DA. Wow. That was a fun night. (Thanks, Irrel!)

Thanks again to all my reviewers and fan-artists! You guys make it worthwhile!