A/N: Plot beckons.
Here Be Dragons
Chapter 3
By the time Hiccup eaten, had talked more with Fishlegs over the Brightclaws' migration patterns, and had worked on every problem that'd been put in front him (which required drawing lots of schematics), he was pretty exhausted. So much that he didn't even have the energy for his evening flight with Toothless. That was fine with Toothless since the dragon was just as tired as Hiccup was.
That meant that he'd only managed a quick hug and a short conversation with his mother before washing up (he'd needed it desperately) and crashing for the night.
The next morning, however, was all theirs to spend together.
"How many eggs d'you want, Hiccup?" asked Gobber, holding his frying pan attachment over the firepit.
Well, the morning was theirs and Gobber's.
"I'll have two, Gobber, thanks."
Gobber didn't come by every day but he still swung by for breakfast sometimes or his mother would sometimes chat with him at the forge whenever she was home and not traveling herself. Hiccup was always glad to see it. The two of them were lonely with his father being gone - and with him away so often, if he was perfectly honest with himself - and he could tell they took a great deal of solace in their friendship with each other.
And they certainly enjoyed meddling in his personal business together.
"Sooo," said his mother as she sat with him. She was cutting his hair for him with a little knife, putting the discarded hair in a bowl to throw away. "Did you meet anyone nice while you were away?"
"Oh, here we go," Hiccup said and his mother laughed.
The only way this could've been worse was if Toothless was there to be amused at his discomfort, but his dragon was out eating breakfast at the feeding troughs.
"You and Astrid have been broken up for a while now," Gobber pointed out, as the eggs sizzled over the fire. "And you've been doing all that traveling. Is it any wonder that we're wondering if a pretty face has caught yer eye?"
"'Hey Hiccup, welcome home, let's totally ignore any of the interesting things you have to say about where you've traveled or the dragons you've seen, no, let's focus on your nonexistent love life because that's just so interesting and also we're nosy.' That's you. That's you guys. That's my impression of you guys."
"Fishlegs already told me everything about the Brightclaws while you were working last night - and it's all very exciting!" said Valka. "I'm planning on flying south with them to see where they're roosting and Eret's going to come along to help me with the map since we still have territory to add down that way. But I want to know what's happening with you."
It was somewhat remarkable how his mother and Eret had gone from tense distrust to actually getting along, but over time his mother hard started to take great interest in exposing him more and more to everything that was wonderful about dragons, taking relish in his transformation from someone that'd hurt them in the past to someone that cared about them and wanted to make up for all he'd done to hurt them. .
She was taking an interest in a lot of people now in general, which was good. For a while around the beginning, she'd had trouble adjusting, spending more of her time with the dragons than people, but she'd relaxed over time. It was almost like watching a dragon learning to trust people.
Her favorite person to take interest in was Hiccup, naturally, and her saying she wanted to know what was happening with him brought on the warm squishy feeling in his stomach it always did when his mother fussed over him. After twenty years of going without it, he was pretty sure he'd never be tired of it, of her taking an interest in his life - and of him taking an interest in hers. She'd flown so many places and learned so many things about dragons that she always had new secrets to reveal, just like she'd promised. After five years of having her back in his life, it was still a delight every day that he'd never be tired of.
And it helped with the ache of losing his father, the one that was not as bad as it once was, but still there. He was pretty sure he did the same for her.
"Okay, let's see, Toothless and I trashed an Outcast ship on the way to the Green Isles - just for funsies, you know how it is - and then when I got there, ol' Ironfist chucked an axe at my head even though Toothless and I were fifteen feet up."
"He seemed pretty keen on starting a war with us," said Gobber.
"He was, at first. Even with teaching them how to get along with the dragons, he was scared, I think, of the fact we've got such a large group of them set up for Berk's defense. Even if they're learning to trust their own dragons, they were a little wary of trusting us people."
"Well, that is the thing of it, isn't it?" his mother pointed. "It's not the dragon to worry about -"
"It's the people, I know." Good dragons controlled by bad people did bad things. "They were all settled in with them but still nervous about the idea of us, but I got him talking and it all went fine. Once I made it clear that we're looking for peace with surrounding tribes, and at most we wanted to open trade but were otherwise okay with leaving them alone if they leave us alone, he relaxed a bit. He signed the treaty and was open to the trade agreement, though he wants to keep it limited at first. They don't want us showing up that often near their islands."
"Better than being shot at with arrows," Gobber pointed out with a shrug.
"Better than being shot at with arrows," Hiccup repeated. "I'll take it."
"I don't know how you do it sometimes," tutted his mother. She'd finished cutting his hair and was braiding a few braids into it now. "Dealing with these people when they're so set in their ways."
"Eeeeh, they're not that bad. The key thing to always remember is that they're usually worried about the same things we are. Safety, having enough to eat, lasting through the winter... " Hiccup shrugged. "When it came down to it, Ironfist was just worried about his people the same as Astrid and I are. The same as dad always was."
"So back to the previous subject -" Gobber said, piling the eggs onto a plate.
Hiccup laughed at his persistence, taking his plate into his hands, shoveling eggs into his mouth.
In between chewing he said, "You just won't quit, will you? No, no, I didn't meet anyone." A pause. "Not in the Green Isles anyway. There was, uh, this...kinda handsome fella when we stopped off in Hopeless that was pretty chatty but I wasn't able to stay long."
There. He said it. The tribe generally didn't care about things like that. What kind of barbarians judged other people over who they took interest in? But it still felt strange to say. It was a new change for him, only brought on by exposure to other islands and other young men that weren't Tuffnut, Snotlout, Fishlegs, or Eret (who was very handsome but definitely not his type). And it wasn't exactly common, and the only person he knew that took an interest in the same sex was Gobber. And it was just the same sex. He knew that happened sometimes, and on Berk they never judged even thought it was unusual, but he'd never heard of anyone that was interested in men and woman.
"Is that so?" said Gobber, raising an eyebrow, as he removed his frying pan attachment and put on the one that had a fork.
Hiccup felt his mother's hands briefly pause in his hair but then she went right back to braiding.
"Well, of course he was interested, with how handsome you are."
Hiccup immediately relaxed.
"There was this, uh, really pretty girl my age in the Green Isles, too, but she seemed more freaked out by the whole riding on a dragon thing - which I can safely say is pretty much a dealbreaker for me," he said, with great amusement.
"I've said it before, our way of life isn't for everyone," said Gobber. "Even though a lot of our neighbors have learned to live in peace with their dragons it's still most likely going to take them a good while live comfortably with them. It's a very different thing."
"Yep. They're getting there, though. They were already setting up feeding troughs in the Green Isles and I saw a few kids with Terrible Terrors already. They don't seem to trust them enough to ride them yet, but they're at least feeding them and seem to coaxing them into doing things like setting their fires for them."
"What are you planning to do now that the storm wall went away?" his mother asked him. "Fishlegs said you told him it was completely gone."
"Well, Astrid and I think we need to be proactive there. The Brightclaws are coming from somewhere and there could be people out there. The last thing we need is some outsiders showing up, getting freaked out by the people living with dragons, and starting something with us or another tribe. Sooo we decided we should send a dragon rider out to see where the Brightclaws are coming from and see if anyone's out there."
"Wild guess here," said Gobber, waving around his fork hand, "but that someone's going to be you, isn't it?"
Hiccup felt his mother gently bat his shoulder. "But you just got back!"
Hiccup turned where he sat to face her. "I know, I know, but we figure it should only be one rider and one dragon so they don't get freaked out, and you know I'm the best one to do it. I have the most experience with diplomacy, I'm the one that gets the final say on our peace treaties and trade agreements." He gave her a crooked little smile. "I promise I'll be back before the next snowfall and then Toothless and I will be grounded for a while, okay? It's miserable traveling during the winter frost, anyway, so I'll spend a few months at home."
"I don't like the idea of you going alone," she said, her eyebrows knitting in concern.
"It'll be fine, mom. I won't be alone, I'll have Toothless. If anything gets dicey, Toothless and I will just make a run for it." He raised his eyebrows at her. "And then after the winter's over maybe you can go back there with me. If there is a new continent out there, even if people live there, it'll still be amazing to explore it and meet whoever's there. Once I've made contact so we know they won't, y'know, toss axes at us from fifteen feet below, you can come with me and we can see whatever's out there and add it to our maps."
That idea seemed to make her very happy. "If those Brightclaws are any indication, we could be looking at quite a few new species."
"Exactly. Me and you, we'll do what we've always wanted to do but just haven't had the time for the last few years. Find every last species, see everything there is to see. With everything going so well with our neighboring tribes and the rest of the world opened up to us we can do that now."
She smiled a bright smile at him, then bit her lip, and hugged him close. "I would love that, Hiccup."
"Me too, mom. Don't worry, everything will go fine and then I'll be back for winter, and then we can go back together. What could go wrong?"
"Basically, everything," Gobber pointed out wisely.
"Ssssh, don't ruin the moment," Hiccup said to Gobber as he kept hugging his mother, "we're having a moment right now. I love these."
His mother's laughter rang in his ear - one of his favorite sounds in the world.
After Katara had - reluctantly - arranged for Pakku to take over her class, she and Aang spent the whole trip to pick up Toph chattering with each other. They didn't even need to set down near her Metalbending school to pick her up, she heard them passing overhead and launched herself up to Appa with a rocky outcropping like she'd done in times past.
"Toph, it's so good to see you!" Katara said, as she and Aang gave her a giant hug together.
"Katara. Twinkletoes. Where are we going and who needs to get hit?" Toph asked cheerfully.
"Hopefully nobody," said Aang to the latter.
"But probably somebody," Toph said, "or else you wouldn't have picked me up."
"Did you even tell your students where you're going?" Katara said, looking down over the edge of the basket at her school.
"Eh," she said, as if it didn't really matter, picking her nose.
They explained the entire situation on the way to pick up Sokka. He was at the site of what they hoped would be a new city. It was Aang and Zuko's idea, establishing a city in the Earth Kingdom where people from all three nations could live in harmony. They could make it a place where people chose to live among the people of the other nations. After the success at some of the colonies like Yu Dao, the Earth King had agreed to the plan and they decided to work on the development and growth of one of the former Fire Nation colonies.
Sokka was there helping with some of the city planning. Aang checked in with him occasionally and whenever he needed to move back and forth between there and the Southern Water tribe, Aang gave him a lift.
He had spotted them while talking to some of the workers that were building a large building - firebenders and earthbenders working together - and was already running towards towards them before Appa came in for a landing on the street.
"Hi Sokka!" said Aang, hopping off of Appa and giving Sokka a hug.
"What's going on? Why are Toph and Katara with you?" Sokka asked, hugging Aang back but looking worried.
"Aang and Zuko have been having a lot of trouble with the Hu Xin provinces and they need our help," Katara explained.
"What, you mean you and Zuko haven't finished with that whole world peace thing yet?" Sokka asked Aang. "What's taking you?"
Katara rolled her eyes and gently whapped her brother upside the head.
"Good to see you too, Katara," said Sokka, and then he pulled his sister into a warm hug, lifting her right up off the ground. Even though she'd just whapped him, she gave him a giant hug back.
Sokka swooped in to hug Toph as well. She didn't hug him back but at least gave him a little grin to know it was okay and that she wasn't going to whomp him for it.
"Toph, I feel like I haven't seen you in forever! It's been at least six months now. How's it going with your school?"
"Eh."
"So where to next?" asked Sokka. "Is Zuko meeting up with us?"
"He had to take care of something with his generals. Home defense stuff. Hopefully, all that's taken care of by now. He wanted me to bring you back to the Fire Nation," Aang said,
"Let me go get my stuff and tell Minho where I'm going," said Sokka.
They all climbed back into Appa's basket. Sokka ran off and came back with his boomerang strapped to his back, his pack, and -
"Is that your space sword?" Aang asked, wide-eyed.
"It is!" Sokka squealed excitedly. "I took a field trip to Wulong Forest to look for it again. Tenth time's the charm!"
He hugged it to himself. "Oh, space word, I'm never letting anything come between us again."
Then he strapped it to his back and climbed up into Appa's basket.
Aang grabbed the reins and called out ,"Yip yip!"
"So this problem with the provinces - it's the same group that's been messing up what we're trying to build here, right?" Sokka asked, leaning back against the edge of Appa's basket.
"We think so. It's actually pretty bad," Aang said. "The Earth King is still supporting us but these separatists...they're not like a normal army. A lot of their support comes from the population itself. It's going to be really hard to fix this because it's not like there's an army to fight."
"Hey, whatever's going on, we'll have the whole gang back together, right? Minus Suki since she's doing her training thing," Sokka said, "How hard could it be?"
"Fixing this is going to be one of the hardest things we've ever done," said Zuko to his friends. "And you know I don't say that lightly."
Sokka was already regretting what he'd said earlier. Definitely regretting it. Why had he tempted fate? After Aang took them to the Fire Nation, they'd all greeted Zuko warmly and he'd led them into one of his war rooms. It was far less intimidating than it had probably been in the past, partly because it'd fallen into disuse and partly because rather than sitting in a great throne behind a wall of fire he'd simply joined them by sitting on one of the cushions at the table where many maps and papers were spread out, looking just as frustrated as they all felt.
"Isn't that a little dramatic?" asked Katara.
"No," said Zuko bluntly.
"Nope," Aang put in. "I don't think you guys understand. This is some really deeply ingrained hatred we're dealing with and while that hate isn't different than some of what we've seen, the way they're expressing it is different. These people are radical in a way we've never seen before."
"These extremists have already made an attempt to strike at the heart of the Fire Nation. A group of them snuck into the Fire Nation under the guise of being merchants and tried to destroy the Jiang Hui dam with earthbending," said Zuko. "The guards stopped them in time but the destruction of the dam would've wiped out Jiang Hui and six other villages if it hadn't been stopped. When we interrogated them they gave us next to nothing. All they said was that this wouldn't be the last we saw of them and they said that their organization is called the Earth Kingdom Liberation Army."
"Looking over the free papers they give out it's clear that they think if they get the population itself to rise up against all firebenders and the Fire Nation that they'll be able to force all the Fire Nation citizens out of the colonies," Aang explained.
"But if they keep pushing like this, doesn't it risk another war with the Fire Nation?" Toph asked.
"Yeah, if they keep attacking Fire Nation citizens, the Fire Nation might have to intervene, which could create tension with the Earth Kingdom," Katara pointed out. "That could risk restarting the war."
"A war is what they want, isn't it," Sokka said, mulling it all over. He was pretty sure he'd actually already worked out the angles here. "Because at this point, another war would destroy the Fire Nation."
Zuko hung his head slightly and breathed in and out deeply before speaking.
"We've fulfilled all our promises to the other nations of the world. I've demilitarized the country and cut down the army to what's only necessary for home defense. I've had most of the war balloons and other weapons decommissioned. I've offered reparations to the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes to help them rebuild - but it's cost us. We're fine as we are. After all the wealth my nation built up on the backs of the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, the least we can do is give some of it back, and we have enough resources for the Fire Nation to prosper despite that - but another war would destroy us. We don't have the military strength and it would bankrupt the country."
"They want to escalate the conflict to try to get the Earth Kingdom to invade the Fire Nation now that the country's vulnerable," said Sokka.
Zuko nodded. "They want us wiped off of the face of the Earth. Just like my father tried to do to the Earth Kingdom."
Aang chimed up, "To make things worse, the spirits are causing problems, too. They're being agitated by all the fighting and the anger. They're starting to attack people. And Zuko said some of his patrolling ships have even seen what they think look like dragons over the ocean in some places."
"Which is impossible," Zuko said. "All the dragons besides Ran and Shaw are dead and there are hardly any islands out there that my country and the Water Tribes haven't charted. We think they might be seeing spirits active in the ocean, something we've never seen before."
"It's worrying," said Aang. "This is starting to happen everywhere. I've already talked to some of the spirits in the Spirit World and they said that they can all sense that something's coming, some great change or conflict. They said the world's about to change somehow but weren't able to explain how."
"Sounds like a lot of hooey to me," said Toph, where she lounged on her cushions, picking at her teeth. "If they weren't even able to say what it was."
"It's...it's strange, it reminds me of something," Aang said slowly. "At least the sightings on the ocean do."
"Reminds you of what?" Sokka asked.
"When I was younger Gyatso told me this story, about these islands, past the wall of storms on the ocean northwest of the Fire Nation."
"There's nothing past the wall of storms," said Sokka. His father had told him about it once, about how it was an area that the Water Tribes considered unnavigable. "It's just a really bad patch of ocean. Fortunately there's nothing up there and there are plenty of other routes to get from north to south."
"I don't know, Sokka. Gyatso said Air Nomads used to have stories about islands that once existed there. A long time ago - thousands and thousands of years ago - supposedly a group of people traveled there, hoping to live somewhere where they didn't have to deal with spirits, because they couldn't live in harmony with them. Only it turned out there were still spirits where they settled - dragon spirits. The legend goes that they went to war with them until only one was left and it cursed them all to be caught in an endless war with the dragon spirits as they reincarnated over and over into flesh and blood dragons. He said that the story went that an Air Nomad was the last to see them before the curse went into place, creating the wall of storms so they could never escape - and that the only way it could be broken was if they learned to live in peace with the dragons."
"Was it supposed to be true?" asked Katara.
Sokka wondered that, too. So much of Air Nomad culture and stories had been lost that he'd never heard of this one before, but there were a lot of things they'd never heard of about the Air Nomads that only Aang knew.
"Gyatso said nobody was sure. It was such an old story that it might have just been a legend, a cautionary tale. But if it was true there might be something out there and that might be part of what those ships are seeing. It might all be tied together somehow."
"It's just bad weather," Sokka insisted, because the whole thing sounded ridiculous, when it just being weather was an easy explanation. "It's been like that forever, just like it's cold in the south pole or how it never rains in the Si Wong desert."
"Don't you think that's strange, though? That it's been that way for so long?"
"It doesn't have to be spirits, there could be a perfectly reasonable non-spirit-magic natural phenomenon going on there," Sokka pointed out.
"Like all of the other perfectly reasonable natural phenomenon that turned out to be spirit world stuff in the last few years that you've known me?" Aang teased, grinning a wry grin. "Natural phenomenon like that?"
"Hey, I was right with Aunt Woo, wasn't I? Sort of." Sokka insisted, taking a gentle swipe at Aang's head that he deftly dodged. "Anyway, we can't go jumping to conclusions -" he wiggled his fingers mysteriously "-that there's a magic, secret civilization there."
He raised a finger, his expression changing the way it always did when he was trying to point out sciencey things to the rest of them. "There are scholars at Ba Sing Se University right now that have theories about the weather. They think there are natural patterns that sometimes change not just with the seasons but that cycle through over longer periods of time. They call them 'climates.' Maybe that's just the way the climate is there."
"It doesn't matter what's causing it," Zuko asserted, looking impatient with Sokka's science lesson. "We have more important things to worry about. I can send out ships to explore it later. The sightings are probably spirits my soldiers are confusing for dragons and it's probably tied into the strange spirit activity. Stopping the conflict is our best chance at stopping it all, the first step we should take. We need to come up with some creative solutions to do that."
"Have you tried just sitting them all down and -"
"Tried it," said Aang and Zuko at the same time.
"You didn't even let me finish!" Sokka said.
"Anything that involves the community leaders coming together will do nothing," Zuko said. "Any past attempts fell through and they feel like it's pointless. They also have almost no control over most of the population. This has to be something that isn't obvious, something that engages the whole population so they consider putting their anger aside. If the Earth Kingdom Liberation Army can't get support from the people they'll lose their power base and resources and implode in on themselves."
"What about sitting all the people down?" Sokka suggested.
"What people?" Aang asked.
"All of them. Everyone in the colony. Find some way to get them all talking."
Aang pointed out, "Anytime they've been gathered together into crowds, giant fights have broken out that I've had to stop."
"So maybe the way to fix this," Sokka said, "is finding a way to bring them all together that makes them not want to punch each other in the face."
"Something that simple's not going to -" Zuko started but Aang's eyes went wide and he interrupted him.
"Actually, I think Sokka's onto something," Aang said. "What if we gather them all together in a positive way? Like in some sort of cultural festival where both sides can show off their culture and they can all enjoy it together?"
Zuko rubbed his chin. "The Fire Nation's forced its culture on others for the last hundred years, but only after losing touch with it themselves."
"Now that you have all those cultural programs, the Fire Nation citizens there actually have something to share with them and if they're sharing it openly instead of forcing anything, the Earth Kingdom people might see that coexisting with it isn't so bad," said Aang brightly. "And they'll also be able to see that it won't stop them from enjoying their own culture like they couldn't in the past."
"Maybe we could even get both sides to work together on a few things," Katara suggested.
"Yeah, like getting chefs from both sides to make food for everyone together," Sokka suggested. He suggested it purely because food brought people together not because he wanted to eat it himself, no sir. "Or artists collaborating on art to exhibition during the festival. There have to be at least some people willing to cooperate and it can help set the tone for the entire thing, it can show the people who don't think they can all get along that there's a lot both sides have to gain from each other."
"You could maybe get earthbenders and firebenders to do some metalwork together, like in Yu Dao," Toph pointed out. "They can make namby pamby pretty stuff that isn't weapons. Decorative things. People like that stuff, right?"
"That...actually might work," said Zuko. "That's what helped iron things out at Yu Dao, the fact they had their own cultural identity that was a mix of both cultures. But it doesn't have to be a mix in the provinces. They only need to be shown that the two can coexist."
That made sense to Sokka. They didn't have to blend entirely - just like the Southern Water Tribe's culture wasn't identical to the Northern Water Tribe's culture, but they were able to coexist peacefully. And so could the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom, despite their differences. They didn't need to melt together, they could just...mingle. Nothing wrong with a good mingle.
"Check this out!" Sokka said, gesturing between them all. "Eh? Eh? We haven't all been together in almost a year and we've still got it!"
They opted to rest for the night before making their way out to the Hu Xin provinces. Part of it was just wanting to spend time together, too, to catch up. Problem-solving was all well and good but they still all wanted to find out what was going on in each other's lives. Zuko was glad for their company but he hadn't been in a good mood for a very long time now and he found that he couldn't deal with the laughter for too long. It was grating. So he excused himself for a little and walked alone through the palace. Eventually he stopped at the hallway outside the courtyard, leaning against the railing and looking at the moonlight reflected on the turtle duck pond there.
Not far beyond it, Appa was sleeping comfortably and the sight of him resting so peacefully made Zuko smile at least a little, as he remembered the nights they'd all camped out together, under the stars, as he'd awkwardly won them over and been absorbed into the group like he'd belonged there the whole time.
It felt like such a long time ago and that thought made his heart ache just a little bit. They still saw each other but there would probably never be a time like that again, where they wandered around and camped out under the stars. He missed that feeling, like he was a part of something so much bigger than himself. He missed that sense of purpose.
He was fairly sure he was doing a good job as Firelord - other than some unruly elements, most of his people thought so, if only because now they no longer buried sons and husbands and fathers. He was popular with most of the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes, too. But it was still a slog, a never-ending series of problems placed before him and unlike the way it'd been back when they had to take out his father and stop the war, the end goal was never something so concrete and solid. It seemed like to would never end and like he was always balancing on the edge of a knife, constantly dealing in uncertainty and shades of grey.
"You're missing the party," came a voice behind him and he turned to see Katara had followed him. He could hear the laughter of Toph, Sokka, and Aang not far off. "Actually, it's more like the party's missing you."
"Not really in a partying mood."
"Are you okay? You don't really seem like yourself right now."
Zuko sighed. "I'm not even sure there's a 'self' I can be right now. I barely have time to breathe or think about anything other than what I'm supposed to be doing. I don't really have any time to be...to be Zuko. Just Firelord Zuko. If that makes any sense."
"It makes plenty of sense. I think Aang's going through the same thing," Katara said, joining him by leaning against the railing. "The rest of us get to be ourselves. Sokka gets to plan things and use that big brain of his, I've been able to train my Waterbenders, Toph gets to train her metalbenders. But you two have to think about everyone other than yourselves almost constantly. I know it's exhausting."
"It's a mess. And every time it seems like we're doing something right, some giant problem blows up in our faces."
"Have you been doing anything in your downtime to relax? Aang at least comes to visit me."
"'Downtime?' Sorry, never heard of it," said Zuko sullenly. "Even when I have free time I have to throw stupid royal parties for the nobility to keep them from turning against me."
"What about that girl you were seeing that you told me about in your last letter? What was her name? Yu Yin?" Katara said, smiling at him in a way that showed she was hoping for some gossip.
Zuko just cast his eyes on the ground.
"That crashed and burned." Like so many things in his life did.
"What happened?" Katara asked gently. "Unless you don't want to talk about it."
"Everything seemed to be going fine. We'd have meals together. We'd walk through the gardens. We went to a few plays. I should've known something was wrong. She laughed at basically everything I said. I'm not that funny." A pause. "I'm not funny at all."
Most of the time he was a giant sourpuss and he didn't even try to be anything else. He'd spent too much of his life hating himself, he wasn't about to pretend he was anything other than someone that was perpetually cranky. That was who he was and he had to just deal with it.
But he'd hoped his kindness had come through, because he had tried to be kind. Even though he'd been awkward as he so often was, he'd hoped that he could show off how gentle he could be. He liked talking to her about things, especially since she was fine with him avoiding talking about politics and his work. They'd talked about plays and art and things he didn't usually take the time to enjoy that he needed to pay more attention to. And she'd made him want to pay more attention to it. She'd seemed sweet and compassionate and she wasn't exactly a slouch in the brains department.
A little too smart. A little too crafty in the end. And nowhere near as sweet and compassionate as she seemed.
"I overheard her talking with a friend at one of the stupid parties I have to throw for the nobles sometimes. She didn't realize I'd gone back to my room to change because one of the guests got clumsy and spilled their drink on my robes, so I was nearby, on my way back. She was tittering about how she was only dating me for the status, hoping she'd become the Firelady. She said some things about how boring I was and how much of a stick in the mud I was and how she could barely stand to put up with me."
"Oh, Zuko," Katara said, reaching out her hand to rest it over his. "That's horrible. She's horrible!"
"I broke it off and told her she would never be welcome at any royal party again. Ever."
In the past his father might have done something like exile someone like that but he wasn't his father. Besides, saying she wasn't allowed at any of the parties and royal functions like the rest of the nobility was probably the worst punishment he could've inflicted on a power-hungry noble like her, anyway, if maneuvering herself into a place of better status was her goal.
"I'm so sorry," Katara said, and then she gave him a hug. His sour expression broke up a little as he hugged her back. Even though he was no longer fending off assassination attempts and dealing with all the vipers he'd had to contend with when he first stepped up as Firelord, he still sometimes felt like he was surrounded by leeches, always trying to suck him dry. It felt nice to be among friends again, to feel like he was actually cared about by someone. The only time he ever felt that way anymore was when he was with his friends or his uncle.
"It's fine."
"It's okay if it's not fine," she said, drawing away to look him in the face. "And you realize I can always tell when you're lying, right?"
"Okay, it's not fine," he said more honestly, leaning on the railing again, "but I'll get over it. I've got more important things to worry about, anyway."
"You deserve better than that, Zuko. And you will find somebody someday that treats you the way you deserve," she promised him. "Someone who isn't the worst, most horrible - ooooh, I can't believe she did that!"
Katara's rage on his behalf almost made him smile. Almost.
"It's not a priority right now. Finding someone."
Honestly, after this, it wasn't going to be a priority ever. There was no point. He ruined most of his own relationships and the times like this where he tried, where he did everything right, they never worked out anyway.
"I'm just saying, when it is a priority again, there's definitely someone out there for you, someone that'll understand what a good person you are, and see what we all see in you."
She smiled at him and he found that he was able to smile back at least a little. It didn't reach his eyes.
"Thanks, Katara."
"Do you want to come back with me? The others are wondering where you are."
"I'll be back in a bit," he said, "I just need some time to myself."
"Okay," she said, sounding unsure, "we'll be waiting."
He gave her another thin smile and as soon as she was gone, it flickered off his face again and he looked out into the courtyard.
Zuko knew his friends and uncle cared about him. He wasn't alone in the world. Sometimes he even thought that maybe he wasn't the worst ruler ever and maybe he was sort-of a good person. Kind of. Maybe.
And he knew that someday he'd have to choose someone to be the Firelady so that he had an heir. Maybe he'd even be lucky and find someone kinder than Yu Yin who he could at least have an amicable relationship with. Maybe he could find someone that could at least tolerate him.
But not love. He'd given up on that idea.
Who'd ever be able to love him? In a way that was real? He'd never find anyone that wanted someone like him, that wanted to be around him. He'd never find someone that didn't want something in return to make it worth it to put up with him. The best he could hope for was someone willing to bear him an heir in exchange for that wealth and status Yu Yin so desperately wanted that didn't hate his guts.
It was best to not bother with it. He had his people to take care of and the rest of the world to make amends to. He had to restore his nation's honor.
And when it came to love - always a confusing, messy thing - there was only one thing he knew for sure:
Love was something that happened to other people.
Aang felt a lot more energetic and well-rested when he woke up the next day, if only because them actually having a plan made it easier to get a good night's sleep. Zuko's servants already had Appa packed with what they needed before they even woke up.
Then all that was left to do was Zuko telling his staff what to do in his absence. By now, he had several generals and advisors that had proven themselves loyal and trustworthy so he didn't feel the need to call his uncle in every time he needed someone to cover for him, and he still always sent orders by messenger hawk with his personal seal while on the road.
Aang had met them before and some of them had done a good job of taking care of things while Zuko had come with him to resolve issues in the colonies.
"General Cho," he said, seeing one of them that he'd spoken to in the past. Aang bowed his head respectfully.
"Avatar Aang, always a pleasure to see you," said the general, bowing back. "You're doing well, I hope?"
"As well I can be with everything going on," said Aang, twirling his staff and balancing it across his shoulders. "But things are about to get better I think."
Cho was an older man with a grey beard and a very relaxed temperament. He had a gentle nature that reminded Aang of Iroh. He seemed a genuinely cheerful soul and Zuko said he'd been the only one of his father's former generals that he'd come to trust, as he'd always been most concerned with caring for the Fire Nation and had often opposed trying to gain new territory. When the war had ended he'd been happy about it, because now no more of his men would be sent off to die.
He was indeed the only general that Iroh had recommended that Zuko keep, because he and Iroh were old friends. He'd even once saved Zuko's life while on a trip with him and Aang to one of the colonies. An Earth Kingdom extremist had approached Zuko at a large public meeting and had tried to kill him with a poison dart and he'd done it so fast that even Aang wouldn't have reacted in time. Cho had seen it coming and destroyed it with firebending before it'd hit him.
"Firelord Zuko told me about your plan. I think it sounds like an excellent idea. It sounds like something Iroh would've come up with! That should've been your first clue that you're on the right track," General Cho said with a gentle smile.
"Are you going to be running things while we're gone?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. I promise I'll try to keep the place from burning down while you're gone," he said with a small wink.
"General Cho," Zuko said, walking over to him. "We're about to leave. Everything's in your hands now. Keep in touch by messenger hawk if anything - and I mean anything - comes up."
"Of course. Is there anything else you need from me before you leave?"
"No." Zuko inclined his head politely. "For now, honorably guard my home."
The general bowed in return, "As you command, Firelord Zuko."
With all the arrangements made, they piled onto Appa and took to the air.
"Are you sure you can trust that guy to take care of everything while you're gone?" Sokka asked, looking down at the palace as they flew off.
"General Cho's filled in for me before without any problems," said Zuko, "and he's an old friend of my uncle's, and he saved my life. The only person more qualified would be my uncle."
"I'm just saying. He's some random general guy that I've never seen before."
"I've met him a bunch of times, Sokka," said Aang. "He's pretty trustworthy - and Zuko's right, even Iroh says we can trust him. You can't really get much more trustworthy than that."
"Technically you could if you were trusting Iroh to do it instead, but okay. I'll take your word for it."
"I'm not bothering my uncle every time I need to leave the Fire Nation," said Zuko. "He deserves his peace and quiet." A pause. "Also, every time he covers for me he declares a new holiday for celebrating tea. No country needs four holidays a year dedicated to tea appreciation."
"Are you sure you'll be okay going alone?" asked Snotlout as Hiccup got Toothless all loaded up with a saddlebag of supplies and loaded a messenger Terrible Terror there in a comfortable little carrier. "I mean, not that I care or anything, but if you have to stomp somebody in the face you're really bad at it."
Hiccup rolled his eyes slightly at Snotlout insisting he didn't care when there'd been so many times that he'd demonstrated that yes, he did, but he didn't let him see it.
"Toothless can do all the stomping I need done, don't you think?"
"What if you need to stomp like a bunch of guys at once?" asked Tuffnut. "Toothless has only four legs."
"And a tail," Ruffnut put in. "Technically he can stomp people in the face with that. Kind of."
"Okay, he only has four legs and a leg-like...thing," said Tuffnut. "What if you have like ten guys that need their faces stomped?"
"Yeah, you'd only be able to do it to…" Ruffnut froze as she tried - and failed - to do the math. "...a bunch of them."
"Either Toothless will shoot plasma blasts at them or we'll fly. Away. Since Toothless has wings. Something you guys have apparently forgotten."
"Are you sure you don't want one of us to come?" asked Fishlegs. "Statistically speaking, the dangers of a quest across that wide a span of the ocean -"
"I am sure you have them calculated out to a very, very precise percentage," Hiccup laughed, "but I'll be okay. I was okay going out to the Green Isles, wasn't I?"
"But this is a lot farther," said Snotlout, aptly. He wasn't exactly the brightest of Hiccup's little gaggle of friends. In order of brightness, the top three were Astrid, Fishlegs, and Eret. But Snotlout was definitely brighter than the twins - which...really wasn't saying much but he could be oddly practical at times. "And you have no idea what's out there."
"Yeah, there could be a dragon that melts faces," Tuffnut pointed out. "That's different from the dragon we already know about that melts faces."
"Let the man get on with it," said Eret. "He can handle himself well enough."
"Thank you," said Hiccup, getting on Toothless' back, gathering up the large net he planned to use for them to hitch a right on one of the Brightclaws and fastening it where it needed to be around Toothless' neck.
"Sometimes a man needs his time to thrill in the danger of the unknown!" Eret said, gesturing dramatically. "Maybe meet a few pretty ladies, bust some heads -"
"Actually, I'm really hoping there's not any head-busting, seeing as this is potentially a diplomacy thing, nor am I looking for a date, but one outta three isn't bad, I guess," Hiccup jibed.
"Come back in one piece," was all Astrid had to say, as she stood there with her arms crossed. "That's an order. From your fellow chief."
"Yes, ma'am," said Hiccup, flipping her a little salute.
"Just to clarify," said Gobber, "She means in one piece without any bits missing from that piece - which is something you've had some difficulty with in the past."
"I do hereby solemnly swear that Toothless and I will come back in one piece each, without any pieces missing from those two pieces. Is that enough? Is that enough for you guys? Okay, then."
Before he could take off, his mother came over and took his hand. Unlike the others, she wasn't going to fret endlessly, it seemed, but she still had something to say.
"Please be careful, son," she implored him, looking up at him with wide, watery eyes, and he knew what she was thinking. He knew the exact thought in her head was that she couldn't lose him, too.
Because sometimes, when she was in danger, he thought the same thing. Rather than blowing her off like he was blowing off the others, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Before the first snowfall, mom. I promise."
That seemed to be enough for her because she let go, but her eyes didn't look any less scared.
He pulled on his helmet and flipped the mask down over his face.
"Okay, we're off then. Don't burn the village down while I'm gone - Ruff and Tuff, that is directed at you specifically, try not to start any wars, and remember to replace the water in the dragon wash because I swear to Odin I have to be the only one that ever takes care of that."
"Good luck," said Eret with a grin, looking a bit jealous that he wasn't able to come along.
"Here's hoping I won't need it. Come on, bud," Hiccup said, tapping Toothless neck, and he and his dragon took to the air. He saw his friends looking up at him from down below - and the rest of the village with them. They were all there to see him off.
Before they left the village entirely, they did a lazy flyby past the statue of his father.
Hey, dad. I'll try to make you proud.
It was probably going to take him being as strong a leader as his father was to make this whole thing work out well, if there were people out there he had to make a good impression on.
After that brief moment of solemnity, he and Toothless flew off and he watched the village shrink away down below and wondered how long it'd be until he saw it again.
Before the first snow. At least. That was the longest he'd let this take.
Toothless suddenly shot a celebratory plasma blast and Hiccup ducked down just in time to avoid getting singed too badly.
"Well, somebody's excited we're finding new places to fly to, huh?" Hiccup said, rubbing his dragon's neck affectionately. He sat up and looked out at the endless horizon, smiling behind his helmet. "I'm excited, too, bud."
"It's time to act."
"Why now, sir?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm just curious as to why you haven't acted sooner. You even saved Firelord Zuko's life."
"Well, I couldn't let him be killed by that Earth Kingdom extremist before our organization was fully in place, could I? Then Iroh would've become Firelord and we would've had a much more difficult time infiltrating our way into the many places we needed to, under his watchful eye. He's far more shrewd than his nephew."
General Cho was almost finished writing his letter. The instructions had to be very...specific. He was sitting on the Firelord's own desk as he did it, in his private study. There was irony there that the order to kill Zuko was being written in the same place he'd written so many orders that choked the life out of the Fire Nation, bit by bit.
"Now the Red Hand has infiltrated parts of the army, the courts, parts of the domestic forces," General Cho went on, "Enough for us to turn the tides. We've even managed to save many of the ships he wanted decommissioned and war machines he wanted destroyed - hidden them on uninhabited islands away from the Fire Nation."
"Is Zuko the only one to be killed, sir? Won't leaving the Avatar alive be risky?"
"No, the order's to kill them all. And make it look as if the separatists did it. Zuko, the Avatar, and their friends - they're so beloved by everyone that will be enough to kick off hostilities with the Earth Kingdom the way we need to. The Earth Kingdom will blame us, naturally - correctly so. We'll blame the Earth Kingdom. The Water Tribes won't be sure to blame. An opening volley." He finished up the letter, rolled it up, and put it in a container to be sent by messenger hawk. More poetically, he said, "A shot heard around the world."
"I'll see to it that this gets sent, sir," said the soldier.
"Make sure you do, this will be the best chance we have," said the general. "To end this...this degradation of our nation. To keep the Firelord and the Avatar from bleeding it dry. Our nation's future depends on this. It's our one chance to restore it to its former glory and this will be the best chance to kill the ones that would stand in our way all at once."
"Understood, sir. I'll send it right away," said the soldier, bowing. "Hail the Red Hand."
"Hail the Red Hand," the general said with a nod, and the soldier bowed, taking the order with him, leaving the general alone in Zuko's study. He pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking about all the loose ends that needed to be tied up. There were so many.
There was at least one he could start on right now. No one would think to search his person and he liked to be on top of things. He might as well write it ahead of time. He picked up the quill again and started to write:
Dear Iroh,
My esteemed and noble friend, it is with a heavy heart that I give you this news but I thought it best that you hear it first from a friend before anyone else. It is my painful duty to inform you that a report has come from the Hu Xin provinces that your nephew, Firelord Zuko, is dead...