Author's Note: I'm not really big on author's notes but I suppose this can be considered part of the 'commercial break'. Just don't get used to hearing much from me directly; I prefer to let the story speak for itself.
That being said, however, I do want to take a moment to thank the 50 or so people who are bothering reading this fan-fic and let the half a dozen of you who actually post regular reviews know that I deeply appreciate your encouragement. If not for your kind praise, I'd be sorely tempted to abandon this little venture. Thank you so much!
To show my appreciation, I've decided share my first piece of Avatar fan art. I had such a clear visual of the 'new Smellerbee' that I couldn't resist drawing her. So if you'd like to go to www. sasartstudios. com/ samples. html (remove all spaces in the url) you can get a more appropriate example of what I tried to describe with mere words (Avatar is originally a visual medium after all).
And now, back to the 'show'.
The King and the General exchanged alarmed glances before looking back at the seething prince.
"Prince Zuko," began How nervously, "just calm down and hear us out-"
"I've already heard enough!" snarled the furious fire bender, stepping toward them menacingly. His voice was tight with the strain of trying to keep his tumultuous emotions in check. It was really just too much.
Only six days ago, he had awakened from a fevered stupor, feeling happy and relaxed for the first time in over three years. He'd been so ready to put his painful past behind him, to start over fresh and just enjoy a simple future with his uncle. And then Azula had shown up, wrenching him back into the chaos of his wretched life: poisoning his mind and robbing him, however temporarily, of his own humanity.
He'd been flung once more into the crushing reality of his heritage only to find himself caught up in a bizarre series of circumstances that made him finally acknowledge how much he craved that which he had been denied or refused to accept practically his whole life; friendship, family, love. And now that those things were finally within his grasp, he faced losing them all before he'd even had a chance to fully experience any of it.
"This isn't what you think!" cried Kuei hastily. This diverted Zuko's attention just long enough for How to make a move.
It wasn't the wisest course of action the general could have taken, and it didn't help that the enraged teenager was expecting some form of attack. So when it came, the banished prince was more than ready, and the delicate thread of reason fastened taught over his pulsing emotions at last reached its limit.
In short, Zuko snapped.
As How bent the stones up from the floor in an attempt to encase the prince the same way he had Iroh, Zuko quickly placed his hands atop the rising blocks, and swung his legs up from in-between them, flipping his body to get behind the stone jaws just as they slammed shut, empty of their intended captive. He no sooner landed on his feet than he was vaulting back over the barrier with an anguished yell and fists blazing.
The general drew up a brick to block the incoming burst of fire just before it would have blasted his face, and the stone was shattered by the force of the blow. As the prince alighted on the ground in front of him, How pushed up that section of the floor, interrupting the shot of flame that Zuko was about to throw and sending it harmlessly over How's head.
By now, the Earth King had gotten out of the way, and watched anxiously as the other two battled.
"I don't want to fight you, boy!" growled General How.
"It's a little late for that," spat the prince, and he whirled around in a powerful kick, flinging another blast of fire from his foot. A wall of stone spun up to deflect the flames, and then shot forward, directly at the fire bender.
Zuko darted to one side, letting the wall sail by him, but before he could recover from his dodge, four more chunks of earth were flying in his direction. He ducked under the first, slid between the next two, and smashed the last one with a burst of flame so hot that when it broke the rock apart into rubble, the smaller bits of it landed as hissing droplets of lava.
General How's eyes widened slightly as he realized he might have severely underestimated the ferocious power of his opponent's unbridled wrath. Frantically he sent more stones at the prince, trying to push him back, but to no avail. Every missile was met with a spectacular and messy end as Zuko knocked them aside with his blazing fists, shattering each one into red-hot debris as he pressed forward.
The four teens walked down the corridor after leaving Iroh's 'cell' in search of Zuko.
"Do you think he went back to his room?" asked Sokka.
"It's as good a place as any to start," shrugged his sister.
"Should we say anything about what Iroh told us?" wondered Toph.
"No," replied Aang slowly, "somehow I don't think Zuko would appreciate the fact that we know. He might be angry at his uncle for telling us."
"But that's just silly," reasoned Katara. "What's wrong with us knowing? It helped us understand so much about him, how can he resent that?"
"I don't think he'd resent it so much as be embarrassed," Aang explained. "I know it doesn't make any sense to us, but you have to remember that Zuko is ashamed of how he got that scar. He still thinks he doesn't have any honor because of what happened. Until he understands that's not the case, it's probably best if we keep this to ourselves."
"I suppose you're right," Katara sighed.
They walked in silence for a while, and then suddenly Toph stopped. Dropping low, she placed her hand down on the floor to get a better sense of the unexpected rumblings she felt ringing through the palace floor.
"Toph?" asked Aang, "what's wrong-?"
"I think I know where Zuko is," she said urgently, and she sprang back to her feet, darting down the hallway. The other three stood there for half a heartbeat, looking at each other in surprise, which quickly changed to worry. Without a word, they dashed after her.
As Zuko came nearer and nearer, the flying blocks of stone doing nothing to deter him, How realized that he was running out of options. In one last desperate bid to halt the advancing prince, he stomped his foot on the ground and raised his arms to send a ripple of earth towards his foe.
But the fire bender merely leapt up into the air and over the wave of uneven ground, pulling forth his pearl dagger as he did so, and hurling it at the General. With a loud thud, it buried itself into the pillar behind How, pinning the earth bender's arm by the wrist-guard.
In two strides, the distance between the two was closed, and Zuko ignited a dagger of flame in his hand. Pressing the length of his forearm against his opponent's upper chest and forcing him against the pillar, Zuko angled the fiery 'blade' back towards the other man's neck. The fire sizzled dangerously close to the flesh but was not quite near enough to burn him…yet.
How's heart nearly stopped in panic at the emotion he saw burning in the prince's eyes. It wasn't malice or hatred, or even rage. What he saw there was far more frightening and dangerous. It was pain: the pain of a loss so poignant that it would drive this young man to do the unthinkable…and simply regret it later.
This was the scene that the other four beheld as they skidded into the grand atrium of the palace. Their jaws fell agape and everyone held their breath, knowing that any false move might result in the end of a man's life.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you now, take my uncle, and leave," the prince rasped agonizingly. His whole body trembled beneath the sheer onslaught of his feral anguish.
"Because, if you do that," said Kuei gently, coming up behind Zuko to rest a hand on his shoulder, "then how will I be able to grant your Uncle amnesty?"
The flaming dagger dissipated instantly as Zuko spun around to face the Earth King with wide eyes.
"What-?" he gasped in disbelief. But before the king could answer, Aang and the others had come forward and interrupted.
"Wait, you're going to pardon Iroh?" asked Aang incredulously.
"As in, 'not guilty', 'you're free to go', 'case dismissed', 'live long and prosper', 'have a nice life', kind of pardon?" Sokka chimed in.
"That's the plan," said the general matter-of-factly as he tugged the dagger loose and freed his arm. Once in his hand, he looked at the blade with mild amusement. "Well now, this is something I never thought I'd see again."
Zuko turned away from the king to look back at How in bewilderment as the general held up the knife in his hand.
"I gave this to your uncle when we surrendered the Outer Wall," he explained as he handed the weapon back, hilt first, to the astonished prince. "I shouldn't be surprised that he gave it to you; he spoke very highly of you, even then. He said you were an incredibly loyal and fearless boy." How looked at the astonished prince and offered an impressed smile. "It seems you haven't changed much."
Zuko frowned and looked away at this last statement. He didn't want to think about how he had, or had not, changed. Instead, he focused on the current situation.
"You really…you intend to grant my uncle…amnesty…," he said hesitantly to the Earth King, still trying to absorb this new development.
"Ba Sing Se, indeed the entire Earth Kingdom, owes you all a great debt of gratitude for what you've done," Kuei replied earnestly. "Granting General Iroh a full pardon is the right thing to do."
"But, if you've already decided to pardon him," started Aang in a mix of perplexity and annoyance, "then why have a trial at all? Why make us…suffer…through all this?"
"This war has taken a heavy toll on the people of Ba Sing Se," explained General How. "They are worried, confused, and scared. But more importantly, their confidence in the King has been undermined due to recent events. If the Earth King were to suddenly acquit The Dragon of the West, the population might rebel and the entire city would be thrown into chaos."
"Why would they have to know about it all? Couldn't you just pardon him without saying anything?" asked Katara.
"Because if no one else knows about it, then people will still try to track him down," Zuko answered quietly with dawning comprehension, remembering when he had to rescue his uncle from Earth Kingdom soldiers once before.
"Exactly," nodded General How approvingly.
"The people need to see for themselves that General Iroh deserves absolution," Kuei added. "A public hearing will bring his recent deeds to light; make the population…agreeable to his release. He would no longer be a hunted man within the borders of the Earth Kingdom."
"But, why keep us in the dark about it?" asked Aang the King reproachfully.
The Earth King glowered at How, who shifted uncomfortably as everyone followed Kuei's eyes to rest on the general.
"That was my idea," he admitted wearily. "I didn't want to drag you kids into this little conspiracy; I wanted to at least keep you honest and unconnected to our…plan." He sighed heavily as he finished, "I realize now it was…an inconsiderate decision. And for that, I apologize."
The five teens nodded their acceptance of the general's explanation, as there really wasn't much they could say.
"I still have to ask, however, that you tell General Iroh nothing of this," How continued. "It is important that his reactions at the trial be genuine, lest people suspect anything is amiss and cause this entire scheme to fall apart. We've gone to great lengths to engender a sympathetic response to the Dragon of the West's situation. They have to see him as the man he is now, and not the threat he once was. Can you all promise me your silence?"
Again, they all nodded in agreement: all of them but Toph.
"I'll keep my mouth shut on one condition," she declared, "You've got to let Iroh make his own tea. This stuff at the palace is awful."