The Meaning of Forever

The End of Eden

Chapter 4/?

By Paperkat

02/13/08

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Story Synopsis

Just because the war is over doesn't mean the story ends. Mainly Katara and Zuko centric.

Chapter Synopsis

Iroh has underestimated the power of repeating history.

Iroh had decided somewhere after his fourth cup of honeyed wine he rather liked being a Prince again. Of course he was not called a 'Prince', the very idea of someone of his advanced age having such a young sounding title was just plain silly in his opinion. Thankfully the new Fire Lord, his beloved nephew, had agreed and he was officially referred to as just Lord Iroh or General Iroh. Iroh really hadn't expected to be able to abdicate the throne this soon, but much had changed in the last seven months.

It had been originally decided by the remaining members of the ruling council after Ozai's fall that it would be easier for the nation to accept Iroh as Fire Lord than a Prince that was once banished, returned and then condemned as traitor all in a span of only three years. Plus, Zuko had still been a boy, and Ozai had never included his son on any matters of state, only Azula. Even if his nephew had have been given the crown, he would have had no idea what to do with it. But now Zuko was more than ready. The Prince had learned much in these nearly seven years since the fall of his father. Iroh felt a great swell of pride as he watched his nephew.

It still amazed Iroh the changes he had seen come over Zuko after Mai's announcement of her pregnancy. He had never seen his nephew so content with his life or so confident, and Iroh was not the only one that noticed. The murmurings of succession in the Council had almost been immediate after the formal royal announcement of an heir, as if this had been the sign that they were waiting for from Zuko.

The nation also took notice as the Prince took on a more hands on public approach to his duties instead of hiding behind the enigma that was the royal family. It was only two short months after the announcement before representatives from the providences started to report a sentiment within the populous for Zuko to take his rightful place. And Iroh had never seen such an enthusiastic response to his proclamation that he was stepping aside and putting Zuko on the throne. In the old general's eyes everything over the last seven months had been idyllically perfect, a welcome change to the first 17 years of his nephew's life.

The celebration was alive with music, dancing and true merriment. He blamed himself, of course. After the rather dull affair that had been Zuko's wedding (with the exception of Aang and Katara and the small group they were able to drag into dancing with them), Iroh had gone to great pains to make sure that fun was encouraged at social events. But today was Zuko's day and Iroh's nephew had set the tempo.

As was expected of the new Fire Lord, his nephew had been quietly stoic throughout the sunrise ceremony on the cliff side overlooking the sea. It had been the first time that particular ancient rite had been used in a thousand years, and it had only been through Aang's past lives that they had even known how to conduct it. All references to the rite had been destroyed for being unpatriotic in Sozin's time.

The ritual mentioned an ancient ledged of how the four elements came together to forge the Fire Nation; how the calming wind whispered to the turbulent sea to allowed the unwavering earth to rise above it and give birth to the first fire. It required his nephew to present himself to the other three elements when he declared himself Fire Lord, and if they found fault with him it was then that they should strike him down. Aang, Toph and Katara had represented their elements; the Avatar spoke of how the air would always take the Fire Lord's council, Toph declared that the earth was ever a friend for Zuko to rely upon, and Katara bowed promising that the sea was ever watchful over the Fire Nation. It had been the perfect way for Zuko to show the nations his dedication to restoring the balance the world had been lacking for over a hundred years.

Of course Iroh had expected for Zuko's reserved behavior to carryover to the celebration after, but to Iroh's delight Zuko was not only participating, he was having a great deal of fun. There had been a brief moment of melancholy when the Fire Lady had begged off from the festivity sighting her expanding belly and the rising heat of the approaching summer, but Mai had insisted that her husband enjoy himself and that was exactly what Zuko did.

No one was more surprised than Iroh when the newly crowned Fire Lord accepted the Avatar's challenge of a dance off. Poor Aang had to scramble to find a dance partner since Katara had left the celebration early feeling unwell and Zuko had snatched Toph up as soon as he had accepted the challenge despite Ty Lee's pout of being passed over. Aang had settled for Suki (after Sokka had shooed his wife away with promises of keeping their infant son, Otok, safe and entertained), and while the Kyoshi warrior was exceptionally graceful, she did not have the unconscious connection that was so obvious between the Avatar and Katara. Of course both young men had difficultly convincing their partners to let them led; Suki was a leader of warriors and did not easily give over responsibility and Toph… well, Toph was Toph and no other explanation was really necessary.

Ah, young Mistress Toph, Iroh thought with a lopsided, slightly inebriated grin. She was by far the closest of the Avatar's little gang to his mischief loving side. In a strange way she had always reminded him of Zuko, but with a sense of humor, a wonderfully wicked sense of humor. She, like his nephew, often perceived offers of help as a form of pity not as extensions of love. They were both fiercely independent and tended to learn better from their mistakes than from example. If fate were kinder, the earthbender would have been Zuko's sister.

Of course if fate were kinder these children would have never had to see war or experienced the losses they had suffered throughout their young lives. But it had been through these children, now young adults that their world had been saved. And it was these same children that had restored his own faith in his nephew.

Iroh was ashamed to admit it, but he had given up on Zuko after his betrayal at Ba Sing Se, and the old general had hardened his heart against the boy that had only ever wanted to be loved. After his escape, Iroh had been an active functioning member of the White Lotus and had been trying to free some core members from a Fire Nation prison when the Avatar's gang found him. He had been in minimal disguise as it seemed the his wanted posters never did him justice, and the plan had been to allow himself to be arrested and then to bust out with his comrades in tow. He had just gotten to the 'being arrested' part when suddenly around the corner came the fiery young waterbender, her brother and the earthbender.

Katara had been the first to notice him as she had been looking over the prisoners lined up there in the marketplace being readied for transfer to the prison. Her bright blue eyes had held such compassion and sorrow that Iroh felt great hope for the world with people like Katara in it. After all that she had been through, she still had enough love left in her heart for strangers from a nation that had done nothing but iflicted harm to her own people. When those crystalline eyes had fallen to him he had known instantly that he had been discovered.

Iroh remembered cringing when it appeared that the girl's first action was to shout out to him, but she had pulled back, grabbing her brother and Toph's attention, while not bringing any to herself. He had wished for a way to let them know that everything was fine, that he had actually needed to be there, but there had been no opportunity before the three of them had nodded their heads in agreement of something and had headed his way.

Katara and Toph were the first to reach where he had been chained to the line with the other prisoners. The young earthbender had allowed herself to be half guided half dragged to his side by the older girl as if she truly could not manage on her own. The both of them had approached with great wet tears in their eyes and they had whimpered quite piteously. The girls had lumber straight passed the guards who had been at a lost at what to make of the two seemingly distraught children.

"Grandfather!" They had both wailed as they threw themselves across his chest, one to each shoulder. To his great horror he had actually blushed at such an outpouring of affection, it had been a very long time since anyone had been that physically affectionate with him. Before he could even take in what had been happening, a new wail had erupted in front of him, and it had been like nothing Iroh had ever seen.

Sokka had howled a cry of pain and suffering so dramatic that Iroh was sure that the boy would be found out as a fake. But somehow the way the water tribe boy crawled his way across the street to the feet of the prison guards, tears and snot running down his race in impossible proportions only made Sokka's pleading that much more believable.

"Please, oh Please!" the boy had cried, latching onto the leg of the closest solider, his bottom lip had been trembling most comically. "Don't take our Grandfather away!"

At that point the girls had started rocking and pulling at him, crying all the louder in their 'grief'. Sokka had then launched into a long circular meaningless rambling plea as he went from solider to solider, begging, pleading and keeping the guards eyes on him and away from the girls. Small, strong calloused hands had then moved along his arm with alarming surety until they stopped at the shackles at his wrists.

"No wait," he had tried to plea, when he realized the earthbender's intention, but Toph had been too fast. Her fingers had made quick almost tapping pushes against the poorly forged metal, and Iroh had felt the maniacal give way at the hinge point like rice paper.

"We'll have you out of here in a minute," Katara had whispered with an encouraging smile, but then her arms and hands had moved along his reduced torso, most likely looking for injury, her blue eyes had frowned with equal parts concern and anger.

"They've been starving you!"

If the situation had have been different Iroh was sure he would have laughed out loud at that innocent statement. Here he had worked quiet hard at returning himself to the warrior he one had once been and she had assumed that his slimmer body was due to starvation. But at the time he didn't have the luxury of mirth.

"Stop, the two of you," he had pleaded gently, tugging their robes discretely to gain their attention. When both girls halted he had tried to explain.

"As much as I appreciate and am flattered by your concern it is unnecessary." When they had tried to protest he had given another sharp tug to silence them. "I am here for a purpose. And I must fulfill it."

"You're asking us to leave you here?!" Toph had exclaimed testily, the look on her face had been fierce despite her vacant eyes.

"No, I am telling you let me do what I must," he had pleaded though he saw that they had been unwilling to so easily abandon him. In that moment he had been quite sure the world would be just fine with these children to look after it. But he had needed to complete his mission and he had used the only leverage he thought he had against them. "There are people depending on me."

"Toph?" Katara had asked after a brief pause, as her piercing blue eyes had bored into him.

"He's not lying," the Blind Bandit had assured grudgingly. Iroh had been momentarily disappointed that they had not immediately believed him, after all he had done everything he could to help them up until that point.

"I would never lie to you."

"Yes you would," Toph had told him with a snort.

"If you thought it would keep us from harm," Katara had finished with a disapproving shake of her head as if she were scolding his childish behavior.

Iroh had been forced to concede that they were right with a nod. If it had truly been up to him none of these children would have seen war.

"Truly I will be fine," he had tried to reinforce his statement with what he had hoped was a winning smile.

The girls had sighed in defeat and that had been when Sokka had thrown himself on top of them, his long arms encircling all of them. Over the boy's shoulder, Iroh saw the guards wiping drool and other fluids from their uniforms with disgust.

"So, are we ready to bust out of here," the water tribe warrior asked as his shoulders shook to simulate crying.

"Iroh's staying," Katara had informed her brother, her mothering frown not diminishing even if she had accepted the old general's wishes.

"What?"

"Iroh says he's got some kinda plan," Toph had added when the water tribe boy didn't seem to believe his sister.

"Great," Sokka had grown. "Well, I'm not going to be the one to tell Aang and Zuko that we..."

"Zuko?!" Iroh had started in surprise. At that time he had heard vague rumors that his nephew was with the Avatar, but he had not truly believed them.

"Yeah, remember that whole inside/outside being good thing he had trouble with before?" Sokka had asked in his off handed flippant way that the retired general had always found to be most amusing. Iroh had clearly remembered the conversation with the water tribe boy before searching for Zuko and Katara in Ba Sing Se. He had nodded in understanding and Sokka had continued. "Well, he's kinda got it going on all over, so he's running with us now."

"Zuko?" he had asked stupidly.

"He's teaching Aang firebending," Toph had supplied smugly. Iroh had been stunned before it had hit him that he should have been concerned. He had loved his nephew dearly, but he would not have been Iroh first, second or ever tenth choice as teacher.

"By the Spirits we are all doomed."

"It's not that bad," Sokka had replied and Iroh had been taken aback by the boy's defense of his nephew. "I mean at first it was bad, he sucked actually, but after he learned that fire dancing move thing he's gotten pretty good in a good way, not like his bad way."

"Sokka, that doesn't even make any sense," the boy's sister had groaned, but Iroh had paid them very little attention.

"The Dancing Dragon," Iroh had whispered in disbelief. His beloved, hotheaded, impatient nephew had actually been judged by the Masters and found to be worthy. And better still these children had judged Zuko and had found him worthy. Iroh was uncertain he would ever be prouder of his nephew than he had at that moment.

"My Lord."

A servant at his elbow pulled Iroh from his memories and he quickly wiped the moisture from his eyes with the pretense of wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Yes?" Iroh asked the extremely nervous looking man.

"My Lord, the Fire Lady is requesting Master Katara."

"The baby?" Iroh immediately asked as he forced the alcohol from his blood with an expelling of steam, a trick he had picked up in his rather scandalous youth.

"I believe so, my Lord, but I do not see Master Katara and Lady Mai was quite adamant that a fuss not be made," the man told him and Iroh could see why the servant was so nervous, Mai, even in her more gentle mood since the conception of the child, did not suffer her orders disobeyed.

"Master Katara retired to her room earlier." When the servant jumped to leave, Iroh stopped him. "I will retrieve her, you return to our Fire Lady and see that she is comfortable."

The servant hesitantly moved off as if he was unsure if an order from a Prince would out rank one of a Queen.

"So, Hotman's gonna be Fire Lord and a daddy all in one day."

Iroh jumped in surprise to find Toph standing just behind him, a smug grin widening her mouth. Nature had been very kind to Toph in her developing years, and though the attitude and the smile were still exactly like the child he once knew the package had matured quite… abundantly. She was still petite but very proud of the fact she was at least taller than Katara, if only by a hair's breadth. It had truly been an honor to see that despite her dislike of such things, Toph had worn very formal robes to the coronation; of course she had promptly abandoned them for more comfortable and disturbingly alluring clothing for the current festivities. Iroh resisted his fatherly instinct of offering her a cloak to ware, knowing that it would not be received happily.

"Yes, it would seem that Zuko is to have a very memorable day."

"Well, let's go get Sugar Queen and get the real party hoppin'."

Iroh accepted the arm Toph offered him and only grinned when the young lady practically dragged him across the room. Just as he had been about to pass through the doorway, Iroh had caught his nephew's questioning look, to which he shrugged and pointed to the earthbender bodily marching him along side her. It was best that Zuko not immediately know what was happening. First babies were always long in coming and if his nephew's overprotective nature over the last seven months were anything to go by, their Fire Lord would be a nervous wreck before this was all done.

"I can't believe Hotman's Fire Lord and a dad!"

"Is it any different than Sokka?" Iroh had to ask. The water tribe warrior was younger than Zuko by just under two years, but he was recently elected Chief of his home village and his own son was more than half a year old.

"Please don't remind me," Toph said with a shudder. "I still remember when Katara was mending the holes in his pants and telling him not to lick things he found on cave walls. The thought of him raising a child is scary."

Iroh briefly wondered if the young lady beside him still harbored any ill feelings towards her childhood crush. She had been just sixteen when Sokka and Suki wed, but by that time Toph's feelings for the water tribe boy had been more obvious, it had been too late. But there had not been any bitterness in her words, just wry amusement; testament to how much she had grown in maturity.

"I am sure Suki is more than capable of looking after both of them."

"Yeah, more power to her. I wouldn't want…" Toph abruptly stopped, her face wrinkling up in distaste. "What's that smell?"

They had just entered the courtyard leading to the visiting dignitaries wing of the palace when the earthbender's nose had been offended. Iroh knew that the palace staff had done quite a lot of gardening in preparation for their guests, but he couldn't see Toph complaining about fertilizer and freshly tilled earth. He let the blind young woman led them with her nose, but it wasn't until they stepped off the walkway and into the full force of the high noon sun that Iroh smelled it too.

"It's like burnt sweet melons, or…"

"Rotting kiwi-berry root," Iroh supplied with alarm.

He knew that smell, had been trained to recognize it for the poison that it was and knew that if the smell was apparent then its victim was already in dire need. There was no wind in the courtyard to help give away a location, but Iroh's sharp eyes caught the glint of gold among the fallen fire blossoms near the back of the courtyard.

Toph did not protest when Iroh took the led, uncaring of the flowers that they crushed in his haste. Lying among the orange to scarlet red blossoms was a pair of gold and ivory hair sticks crafted to resemble the flowers they laid on. With mounting dread, Iroh let go of Toph's arm to lift the low hanging branches of the Fire Nation's most prized flora. Camouflaged there in an elegant dress in the same color as the flowers around her was the woman he had been looking for, but not like this.

"Toph, run to the hall, find Aang, tell him that Katara has been poisoned with kiwi-berry root," Iroh instructed as he knelt beside the waterbender, gathering her limp body to him. Katara's naturally dark skin was now ashen grey and slippery as if covered in oil, confirming Iroh's diagnosis of poison.

"What?" Toph gasped stunned as she fell to her knees beside them, her hands instantly roaming her friend's body searching for signs of life.

"Go now!" Iroh commanded harshly fearing that Katara would need every precious moment. No tears fell from Toph's sightless eyes, but the fear he saw there was enough to bring a sting to his own. The earthbender didn't hesitate a moment longer, and the ground quaked under her bare feet in her haste.

Carefully Iroh examined Katara's mouth and was relieved to find that her tongue had yet to blacken, a good sign that the antidote could be retrieved in time. It was an easily made and common poison in the Fire Nation, as the kiwi-berry bush was abundant all across the islands, and luckily its antidote was just as easy to come by. If the seeds of the plant were crushed into a paste and then applied to the gums of the victim before the poison reached the brain, then its affects were completely reversible.

It puzzled Iroh why Katara was here, so far off of the path, until he found her hands and the ground around her head to be wet when there was no reason for them to be. This was the only palace garden that did not boast a fountain because it had a natural spring running through it. During the rainy season a small brook would meander its way around the decorative stones, but now, at the height of the dry season, the spring had retreated underground. As powerful as she was with waterbending, Katara must have sensed the water below her and had instinctually sought it out but had been too sick to help herself.

"Where is she?!"

Iroh looked up to find Sokka frantically searching the garden, his wife and crying son beside him. It didn't take the Water Tribe Chief long to notice the rotund General and his fallen sister and just as careless as Iroh had been, Sokka marched through the already crushed flowers.

"How long has she been ill?" Iroh questioned, letting the distraught young man pull his sister to him.

"She's been acting strange for months," Sokka began to ramble distractedly as he swept Katara's loose hair from her sticky forehead.

"Today Sokka," Iroh clarified. "She would have been given the poison today."

"Just after the toast," Toph chimed in. "Before the meal came she said that she felt light headed."

"She hardly ate anything," Suki supplied, her son whimpering at her shoulder.

"All the glasses were filled at the same time and from the same pitcher," Iroh reasoned aloud, trying to process when and how this could have happened, under his own roof. "And no one else is ill."

"Mai left after the toast," Zuko added weakly, Iroh had not noticed his nephew arrive.

The old general's startled eyes met the Fire Lord's and he knew that they were thinking the same thing. The royal family, or any family of standing in the Fire Nation for that matter, was always concerned with the possibility of assassination, but with the prolonged good fortune they had been experiencing the thought had not entered Iroh's mind when the servant had come to him. But what better timing could there be. The palace was full of guests, many with their own servants accompanying them, the new Fire Lords's heir was as yet unborn and easily dispatched, the only thing that could have gotten in the way was having the most powerful healer alive in attendance and now she lay poisoned.

"Nephew, Toph and I were on our way to find Katara at Lady Mai's request…," Iroh started to explain to Zuko to inform him of all that had transpired this evening, but the Fire Lord cut him off.

"And you didn't see fit to tell me this?"

Iroh could hear the rage in the softness of his nephew's voice, and bowed his head in subjugation. "No, my Lord."

"I have the kiwi-berries," Aang said as he dropped out of the sky into the courtyard, his glider snapping shut before his feet touched the ground. The Fire Lord pushed past the Avatar, causing the younger man to drop some of the fruit tucked away in his shirt.

"Do you know what to do?" Iroh asked quickly coming to his feet, intending to follow Zuko even if his nephew did not want to see him at the moment. The Fire Lord was allowing his temper to override his good sense, something that had not happened in many years.

"Mash the seeds, coat the inside of the mouth and wait for fever sweats before giving any water," Aang said mechanically as if he were reading straight off a scroll, his hands already busy plucking the small black seeds from the fruit's fuzzy red surface.

"Good boy," Iroh absently praised, his mind already following Zuko towards the family wing of the palace. "Reserve a portion of the antidote, we may need it for another patient."

Iroh was already exiting the courtyard when he heard Toph and Aang exchange words.

"Who?"

"Mai."

"Oh no."

Iroh moved quickly down the halls, only stopping briefly to give the tense guards in the reception hall instructions to not let anyone, not nobleman or peasant, leave the palace. He also commanded them to send Jeong Jeong to guard the Avatar's group and instructed them where they could be found. When Iroh turned the last corner he found a croud of servants, some crying and many looking like they wished they could were outside the Fire Lady's private rooms.

"I SAID LEAVE ME!"

A blaze of golden red light preceded the royal physician out of the doorway. Two of Lady Mai's attendants broke the aging man's fall as he tripped over his own robes in his efforts to exit the room as quickly as possible.

"The Fire Lord has gone mad!" the royal physician declared, his once long and stately beard reduced to a smoldering stub on his chin.

"What has happened?" Iroh questioned trying to inject a sense of stability to the situation by remaining calm. It took a few seconds for the fear and shock to fade, but slowly the doctor collected himself and addressed the former Fire Lord.

"The Fire Lady fell ill after the new heir was born…"

"The baby lives, it is all right?" Iroh asked abruptly, feeling his heart start beating again at the unexpected good news.

"Yes, Prince Roku is fine and healthy," the royal physician stated almost proudly, motioning for a nursemaid over to them. She held out a tiny bundle that Iroh had not noticed earlier. The only part of the prince visible in the gold colored cloth was his pale face between his chin and his black eyebrows. Iroh could immediately tell that Roku took after Ursa's side of the family, making his given name in honor of his Avatar Great-Great-Grandfather that much more appropriate. When the infant opened his eyes they were the murky brown that all Fire Nation natives possessed until they settled into a shade between clear gold to medium brown.

"And what of his mother," Iroh asked when he reached out to touch his Grandnephew's pale cheek.

"I fear that Lady Mai will not make it to nightfall."

"Is there nothing to be done?" Iroh asked softly before adding what extra knowledge he possessed. "Master Katara has been found poisoned with kiwi-berry root, could this be what is causing the Fire Lady to fail?"

The physician shook his head and lowered his eyes.

"It is a poison to be sure, but nothing so simple as kiwi-berry root." The distraught man lifted his open palms before Iroh in a helpless gesture. "I have given our Lady all of the purging herbs that I know and nothing has worked. I had hoped that Master Katara would be able to help but if she has been poisoned…"

"There is a plot at work here, yes I know," Iroh agreed with the unspoken statement before he had to ask, "Is she suffering?"

"She is in no pain, but her heart grows weaker with every beat," came the reply.

Iroh knew the sorrow of losing a spouse. Though his wife had died in childbirth, not by an assassin's hand, he had been left to raise his son without his mother. His wife had been a lovely young lady of the court and would have been a perfect Fire Lady one day, just as Mai had been. The more Iroh thought about it, the more the old general began to realize how he and Zuko's lives paralleled each other. But now was not the time for remembering those that had passed, now was the time to help those that remained. With one last look at the peacefully sleeping newborn prince, Iroh took a deep, calming breath and steeled himself for what he knew he needed to do.

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