A/N: I'm not entirely pleased with this, but I've been fiddling with it for what feels like eons (my Sunday afternoon, big whoop). I played around with it for these last three hours, but I've finally settled. This is how it's going to be.
I kinda melded this from the idea Kimberly T. left me in her last review. It started nibbling at me and suddenly there was a chapter! Like magic!
Standard disclaimers apply.
x….x
So, breaking into the palace is sadly a lot easier than it should be. Sure the guards are practically swarming like ants, and there aren't a lot of places to not be seen when you and your blind friend are sneaking around the wall in a decidedly suspicious manner. However, they're both wearing white like most everyone who's milling around the palace walls and they move slowly enough around that it doesn't exactly look like they're sneaking.
They're just two mourners, like everyone else. They may not have candles or foods, pictures, heck, not even a letter for the Fire Lady's spirit to read and know how loved she was, but they are mourners.
Unlike everyone else, they are on a mission.
After three days, Toph and Sokka had reached the end of their admittedly short rope. Capital City was in a small uproar over so many different things that it was dizzying. Mourners for Mai seemingly came from all over the world. Rejoicing peoples came from just as far to celebrate the birth of her son. Devoted fans and anti-Avatar groups alike had come to swarm the large, elegant inn that the Avatar team had stationed themselves. It was manic and it set everyone on edge, and to put on top of all that…no one had heard anything from Zuko since he had sent out word of his wife's death and son's subsequent birth. No one even knew the young prince's name.
Everyone was still grieving the loss of their friend, but more than that they were grieving the absence of another friend who didn't feel that he could share in his pain with them.
They had done everything to get to him without resorting to sneaking in. Iroh had used his status as the Fire Lord's uncle, but the guards had only looked at him sadly and shaken their head while bringing their spears to make an 'X' before Iroh's nose. Aang had used his status as the Avatar, something he very rarely did, but they had looked at him balefully and again shaken their heads. They had each attempted something only to be turned away. Even Suki and Ty Lee had tried; Ty Lee had always been a welcome figure at the palace as she was Mai's best friend.
Nothing.
Sokka and Toph feel they have no diplomatic option left. They are breaking in.
Sokka's scouted the area, having spent all of yesterday on the inn's roof taking note of shift changes and which areas are least watched. That night, after most of the mourners had left and the rest of their group was getting ready for sleep, he and Toph had snuck out to find the iron grates on a little ditch in the wall. They hadn't bended then, as most of the crowds were away and he and Toph would need as much noise as possible to keep the groaning of metal covered.
Which is where they are today. The continuous chatter of grievers and celebrators is loud under the hot Fire Nation sun, so when Toph bends the metal bars far enough apart for them to squeeze through no one notices. The groan of flexing metal is lost in the din.
When they slip inside palace walls, Sokka stands, proud with the plan so far and super glad that Toph is who she is. "Have I mentioned how awesome it is having a metalbender for a best friend?" he asks exuberantly.
She smirks and flicks her bangs out of her eyes. "Not within the last hour," she says with a healthy dose of smugness in her voice.
He doesn't feel that it's a bad thing to feed her ego right now. He throws his hands in the air and declares, "It is awesome having a metal bender for my best friend!"
That earns him a punch to the arm and a heartfelt, "Thanks, Snoozles," but then it's all business again. She turns and hops out of the ditch, Sokka not far behind her. They'll have to be careful now. From the ditch to the relative safety of the palace walls is a good distance and they'll be two lone, white-clad figures streaking across a field of green. Not precisely subtle.
They make it by the grace of the spirits without being seen, and they quickly meander down into some of the servants' quarters. They discard they're soiled white robes, tinted brown at the bottom from the ditch water. It won't matter now. They throw they're robes into a waste bin and change swiftly, having no qualms about changing in front of the other, after so long travelling together.
Dressed in humble reds, they reset a path in the palace, heading for Zuko's rooms in the East Wing.
Sokka knows from his several different visits to the palace over the last five years that the servants will come to ask Zuko what he wishes to have for dinner about three hours before the fading sun. All they needed to do was convince the guard they were some of the help and that they needed to know their Lord's preferences for dinner.
Easy.
Only not.
"State your purpose," one of the guards stationed outside Zuko's quarters demands in a brusque, no-nonsense tone.
Sokka doesn't flinch. He supposes that after so long of being on the run with Aang and so many years just wandering and doing what had to be done to carry on, becoming a different person on the fly isn't much of a hassle. He dips his head, and knows that behind him, Toph hasn't even lifted hers once they were in the East Wing.
"We've come to see what the Fire Lord requests for his supper." He's heard the sentence so much when he visits that if he closes his eyes he can almost imagine one of Zuko's actual servants asked it, not him.
"Fire Lord Zuko wishes for turkey-dove. He gave no specifications for how it should be prepared," the other guard says.
Sokka mentally rolls his eyes. Of course Zuko would have told his guards what he wanted. He apparently hadn't been kidding when he said he wished to see no one. Very well. Nothing a good lie won't fix. "The cook is out of turkey-dove. The last shipment was spoiled. Might we ask if there's something else our Lord would be satisfied with?"
The guards are stoically silent for moments on end, and then the first one leans towards the second, whispering to him behind his hand. Like that'll do any good with Toph around, but they don't know that.
"Stay here," the second one says. "I'll inform the Fire Lord of this."
He opens the door, and that is apparently the point where Toph has had enough. She bends the guards' feet into the stone, then their hands as they reach down for balance and Sokka wastes no time in ripping off some strands of his tunic to create make-shift gags. He secures them tightly between each guard's teeth, telling the first one, "Don't worry. We'll make sure to commend your totally awesome guarding skills to the Fire Lord."
He smirks at the man, and is only offered a glare in return. He pats the man on the head, but Toph grabs his elbow shortly after that, hauling him into Zuko's rooms.
The place is as pristine as ever, and for a moment Sokka can almost pretend that this is a surprise visit. Mai is okay and she'll be holding her son while glaring at them for the disruption. Zuko will be at his desk, poring over documents, because even though the Fire Lord has a new son, doesn't mean the world-healing will be put on hold.
But the sitting room is devoid of life. Toph gives a dissatisfied grunt and heads further into the chambers opening a door on the east side with flourish. Sokka is right behind her in an instant, guarding her back like he's always done, even though there's no point at the moment.
The room Toph opened is what must be Mai's bedroom. Sokka for some reason or another knows that she and Zuko shared the same bed, but it is customary for noblemen and women to have separate bedrooms. He also knows this is Mai's room because of the knife marks in the stone walls, a set of files on the vanity, and some other small features that were purely Mai.
And in one of her love seats sits Zuko. He's devoid of his normal Fire Lord robes, but he isn't wearing white. It's the same style of outfit he wore when he joined Aang's cause. Simple peasant clothing from the Fire Nation. Beside him, there's a small bassinette and he rocks it gently.
Sokka feels his heart break a little for the picture displayed to him.
Mai should be sitting beside Zuko. She should be watching the bassinette rock with the same intensity Zuko does. Sokka can imagine that seeing her child would be one of the few times Mai wouldn't have looked so completely bored with life.
Zuko is surprisingly the first one to speak, slow dulcet tones rocking with the bassinette. "I should have known it would be you two who broke into the palace. I suppose I should be glad there are no holes in my walls."
Sokka smiles, only a little forced. "We were going for stealth."
A smirk hints at his features but fades just as quickly. "I wanted some time alone with him," he says, solemn and sounding like he used to when he first joined their group. He slows the rocking bassinette and peers in with a look of adoration and loss somehow mingling flawlessly in his eyes.
Toph steps forward. "What's his name, Sparky?"
She drags her feet, as if trying to get the bassinette to reveal the baby's features to her. She stops by the crib and stares blankly just past it. Zuko twitches, waiting to strike. It reminds Sokka of animals with their cubs. Toph presents no threat though. Right now she is just the earth, steady as she gently reaches out her hand.
The Fire Lord watches with a mangle of emotions flickering in his eye. Toph won't be the first woman to touch his son. Somewhere in the palace there are probably two or three wet nurses to feed the baby, but Toph will probably be the first one who will automatically love him upon first touch, something that should have been bestowed to Mai.
"Vayu," he breathes, somewhat choked. "We had decided to call him Vayu if she gave birth to a son."
Sokka takes that time to see the baby as well, walking up behind Toph, who gently strokes his cheek with calloused fingers. Vayu is…well he looks like a baby to Sokka. He's never been like his sister who can just look at a child and its parents and decide the child looks like the mother or the father. He can tell once they get older, but when they're this young…well the baby just looks like a cute, pudgy baby. They all kinda look the same to him.
Vayu has a mop of dark hair on his head, fine as silk from the looks of it. He's pale like both his parents, with a blush across his cheeks and rosy little lips. That's all Sokka can really see of the baby.
Sokka leans further over the crib. He feels like he's searching for something in the child's sleeping face, but he isn't finding any answers. He glances up at Zuko, whose complete attention is on his son.
Zuko looks like his entire life is now wrapped in fine silks. His life now revolves around a tiny infant that cries and screams, and makes big messes for someone so small, and can't even communicate to the world. It's a good look for him, and one he can't imagine coming from his ancestors. Sokka's gaze catches the scar across Zuko's left eye. No, he can't imagine any of Zuko's ancestors being this in love with their child.
"He rises with the sun," Zuko says quietly, his own hand reaching out to caress the baby's jaw, pale thumb dancing over Vayu's brow.
Toph lifts her hand away when she brushes it against Zuko's hand, a small blush gracing her features. She looks a little embarrassed to have witnessed such an adoring display.
Sokka gets when Zuko is saying though. Vayu will likely be a firebender. Vaguely, in the far reaches of his memory, he can hear a woman's voice telling GranGran that he and Katara were nightmares to get to sleep at night. He can hear the voice saying it was like the moon had some hold on he and his sister. He thinks it may have been his mother, but he isn't always sure.
Sokka puts his hand to the baby's belly, feels the strong rise and fall of his breathing. "He's a cute kid," he says, because he doesn't necessarily know what else to say. "The others would love to meet him…'specially Iroh and Aang." They are the two of the Gang Zuko feels closest to; Sokka knows that.
The Fire Lord nods. "If Toph releases my guards, I'll have them send for everyone."
Toph snorts. "Fine. I'll release the guards."
She then stomps off to unbind the two men left outside the rooms. Sokka stays though, his hand watching the rise and fall. He still looks to Vayu for answers to some unknown question, and though the baby doesn't have any resolve to give him he feels okay with that.
Suddenly Zuko speaks again; this time with just a trace of humor. "You look terrible by the way."
Sokka laughs, feeling his fading bruises; tries not to feel like this is a funeral for many things being held in a dead friend's room.
x….x
A/N: I tried to encompass many things for this chapter. I wanted to show that Zuko was grieving but trying to carry on for his child. I personally don't see him breaking down into tears, but I also can't see him throwing the biggest fit in the world anymore. I believe Mai's death would leave him a little numb to begin with. Also, I kinda wanted to focus on Sokka as a Plan-Guy rather than the man hiding the fact that he has some ability to bend.
Leave me thoughts and critiques. I'm open for all.
InnocentGuilt