In the hazy half-light before dawn, Prince Zuko kept watch beside the campfire and brooded. As the dead branches snapped in the flames, his thoughts drifted back to his stay in the White Lotus sanctuary, and to what his uncle had told him. At the time, Zuko had known nothing of the dreadful secret Lady Ursa carried. If he had, he would never have burdened her with his own sorrows. His own need for comfort could have waited. He might have even hesitated to break the news to her about Azula. At least Jee is with her, he assured himself, hoping that the considerate soldier's presence could heal some of the sadness he'd left in his wake.
Remorsefully, he closed his eyes and pictured his mother's flawless porcelain face, staring at his disfigured one with pity; her elegant hand, reaching out to touch him. I'm sorry, Zuko. I'm so sorry he did this to you. I wish there was some way…
There is a way. At least, there was one. I guess it wasn't meant to be.
Zuko covered his disfigured cheek with his palm and opened his eyes. A part of him wanted to be resentful; to blame the Avatar for taking away his one chance at erasing that hated mark from his face. But as he looked across the fire to where Katara lay sleeping, a warm feeling spread through his chest, melting away his anger. She left everything and everyone she loved. Her family. Her home. Her friends. Even the Avatar. Just to be with me. It was hard to feel ungrateful in the face of such devotion. She loved him just as he was, scar or no scar. Just like his uncle.
His gaze turned fondly towards the corpulent old man, who was lying on his back and sleeping soundly. Although Zuko's heart ached with the hard truth he'd related, he knew Iroh had only told him in the hopes that it would solidify his resolve, and lessen his regrets. Uncle is the one who's been a real father to me. The man I used to call 'father' never loved me at all. I was nothing to him but a pawn to be thrown away.
He remembered it as though it were yesterday. That sad night, when he learned that his cousin Lu Ten was dead and that a grieving Uncle Iroh was coming home. That shameful night, when he failed to match Azula's firebending skills and impress Fire Lord Azulon. That terrible night, when his sister came prancing into his bedroom to taunt him. "Dad's going to kill you! Really, he is." Lady Ursa overheard and dragged the girl away for a talk. At the time, Zuko thought it was to scold her for fibbing, as she so often did. But Azula hadn't been lying. She'd been telling the truth, and the truth was far more horrible than he could have imagined.
Zuko closed his eyes once more and pictured what must have followed. His mother, storming into his father's private chambers and demanding to know what was going on. Prince Ozai's icy smile spreading as he spoke calmly about murdering his only son. The shock on Lady Ursa's face as she realized the full extent of her husband's cruelty. The fear she must have felt as he outlined a plan in which he could realize his ambition - becoming Fire Lord in place of the rightful heir, Iroh, before the tea-loving, kindly Prince could return from the war. It was a plan she could not refuse, because it was the only way Zuko's life could be spared.
He could almost hear that cold, smooth voice as Prince Ozai dangled a vial of deadly poison in front of the beautiful, horrified young mother of his children. "I've arranged for you to take the Fire Lord his nighttime tea; a gesture of contrition, to atone for my boldness in the throne room. Three little drops. That's all it takes. The poison leaves no evidence; everyone will assume that the old man passed quietly in his sleep. No one but us need ever know the truth. Of course, as a traitor, you'll have to leave the Fire Nation immediately, but I intend to be merciful to my loyal wife. Once the deed is done, an escort will take you to the harbor and provide you with enough gold to ensure your comfort. Where you go or what you do from there is none of my concern."
According to Iroh, the remainder of the story was related to him by Zuko's childhood trainer of swordsmanship, Master Piandao. The expert swordsman had not been sent to the front with the army; his position training the elite among the new recruits at the Fire Nation Military Academy was deemed indispensable. Piandao had come to the royal city to examine some of the young nobility for potential talents. Upon disembarking, he saw the cloaked woman at the docks, crying in the shadows. He thought it might be a grieving widow of a Fire Navy officer. But when he came closer, he recognized her instantly - not only as Lady Ursa, wife of Prince Ozai, but as the niece of the man who had taught him the sword, Master Omi.
Piandao took her in and offered her sanctuary with the Order of the White Lotus, of which he was a member. He quietly arranged for her anonymous passage to the Earth Kingdom colonies. There, she would meet another exile from the Fire Nation - the legendary Master Jeong-Jeong - who would take her to a safe location where she could live in peace. Afterwards, he sought out the recently-returned Prince Iroh, a fellow member of the Order, and told him everything. Still in mourning himself, and no doubt appalled by his brother's evil schemes, Iroh made two very difficult decisions. One was to keep Lady Ursa's location a secret, even from himself. What he didn't know, his brother could never force him to betray. The other was to accept his brother's swindled ascension to the throne, for Zuko's sake, while he molded the next heir to be kinder and wiser than his father had been.
My father. Zuko clenched his fists and lowered his head, fighting against the pain. He was going to kill me. Me, a defenseless child - his own son! Just for the chance to be Fire Lord. He stole my uncle's throne. He practically forced Mom to murder my grandfather, and then banished her for what was really his crime. He challenged me, a thirteen-year-old child, to an Agni Kai just for speaking out of turn. He destroyed my face. He destroyed my life! The banished prince squinted his eyes shut. All those years, I would have done anything just to get him to love me. But I was a fool.
"You look tired, my nephew." Zuko's weary eyes fluttered open. Uncle stood over him, looking concerned. "Are you all right?"
"I couldn't sleep," the young man admitted.
"You should try to get some rest. A man needs his rest," Iroh gently reminded.
"You're right. You've always been right, about everything. But before I can rest, there's something I have to say." Zuko took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Uncle… I owe you an apology. You've spent years protecting Mom's secret, and protecting me, from… from him. I was wrong to doubt you. I'm sorry."
His uncle looked surprised, then touched. "Your apology is accepted, Prince Zuko," he said warmly.
"All this time, I wanted to please my father more than anything," the banished prince guiltily continued, "but I was trying to please the wrong person. You've been more of a father to me than he ever was. I yelled at you, disrespected you, even abandoned you, but you always stayed with me. Why, Uncle? I know I didn't deserve it."
"Because I love you, my nephew. And because even when you struggled and pushed me away, I knew that deep down, you loved me too." The old man's smile faded into the beginnings of tears.
"I do love you, Uncle," Zuko told him, the corners of his own eyes shining. "No. Father."
"Zuko…" Overcome with emotion, Iroh wept as he drew the youth into an almost bone-crushing hug.
Stirred by the noise, Katara sat up in her sleeping bag. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief at the image of the two men holding one another and crying. "What's going on?" she murmured.
As one, they turned to smile at her. "It seems I have lost my nephew," Iroh explained in a choked-up voice, "and, in the process, gained a son."
"What?" The waterbender's heart nearly burst with joy. The tense, miserable silence of the journey was gone. She could feel it. "Zuko!"
He reached out a hand to her, and she rushed into their mutual embrace. In that happy moment, Katara realized that she hadn't left her family behind at all. She'd simply become part of a new one. Whatever they had to face in Ba Sing Se, they would face it together.
ooo LL ooo
Toph's sightless eyes flashed open. She, Haru and Tyro had been asleep near the roadside for several hours, but drowsiness hadn't dulled her perceptions. The girl put a little square palm down on the earth. The vibrations weren't easy to distinguish at first, but it didn't take her long to figure out that two men trying to sneak up on them.
"Wake up! We're being ambushed!" she cried in alarm.
Toph rippled the ground underneath the nearer of the two intruders, trying to throw him off balance, but apparently the man was an earthbender. He rode the waving ground as easily as Katara could ride on a crest of surf. Slamming his feet back into the dirt, he thrust out one arm and sent a boulder sailing in her direction. Toph felt it coming and erected a pyramid-shaped fortress of earth around herself, which took the hit, then shot one of its panels back at her attacker.
Haru bolted upright. Adrenaline rushed through his veins with the sudden onset of battle. He grounded himself quickly, digging in his toes as the second assailant came at him. Masked in the manner of an assassin, the intruder lunged a massive stone at Haru, followed by several head-sized rocks he kicked out with his feet. Haru blocked his barrage with an easily-erected rock shield, then whirled round to hurl it in the larger man's direction. Unfortunately, the masked man easily crushed the rock shield to dust between his thick, muscular hands. Haru gasped as his opponent raised an enormous chunk out of the ground to launch at him.
Before Haru had time to react, Tyro jumped in front of him. His father's fists stopped the rock in its tracks, crumbling it into a hundred tiny bits. "Toph! Are you all right?" the bearded old man called.
"Fine," she yelled back, sealing the other attacker between two huge sheets of stone. "Need some help?"
"I think we've got things well in hand," Tyro replied. He and Haru grinned at one another. They had trapped the muscled assassin by shoving him into the earth from the neck down.
"Time to find out who these guys are," Toph suggested aloud.
"And what they wanted with us," Haru agreed.
But before they could unmask either of their opponents, a sound pricked their ears - the sound of someone clapping from a nearby tree. A tall, slender man jumped down from the lower branches and approached them in the moonlight. His walk was that of an expert bender. He barely made a ripple in the ground as his feet touched down. "Well done, earthbenders. You've passed the test."
"What test?" Tyro questioned, arching a white brow.
"My test. It determines whether or not you're ready to join the Stone Fists," the man replied. He eyed Tyro and Haru with approval. "You two seem to have some experience fighting. We welcome you. And as for you, Toph Bei Fong, I already knew you were supremely capable in combat."
"Already knew?" Haru repeated, glancing over at Toph.
"Who are you?" the girl challenged. "How do you know me?"
"My name is Chang Lao. I'm the leader of the Stone Fists in this area."
Toph shook her head. "I don't remember ever meeting you."
"I'm afraid we were never properly introduced. You see, I had the honor of fighting you in Ba Sing Se, when you were helping the Avatar."
Haru sucked in a sharp breath, taken aback by the realization. "You were with the Avatar?"
"I'm not with him anymore," the blind earthbender clarified, trying not to scowl at the man she now knew was a Dai Li agent. "I'm an earthbender. My place is here."
"Well spoken," Chang Lao nodded. "Now, may I please release my comrades?"
"Go ahead," Toph shrugged proudly. "If they attack us, we'll just beat them again."
"The Boulder resents that statement!" spoke up the masked assassin who was up to his chin in the dirt.
"No way!" Toph screeched as the Dai Li agent unearthed the former Earth Rumble star. "You made the Boulder a Stone Fist?"
"He had the right credentials," Chang Lao explained patiently. "We induct members based on earthbending skill, not personality. Otherwise, we wouldn't have considered tapping you."
Folding her arms in umbrage, Toph seethed.
"Now," the Dai Li agent continued, releasing the other Stone Fist from the stone slabs Toph had wedged him between, "if you'd be good enough to follow me, you can come back to our camp and get some rest. Your training starts at dawn."
As Tyro put out the campfire and they collected their belongings, Haru glanced awkwardly over at Toph. "You were with the Avatar?" he whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't want to talk about it," Toph mumbled, turning her face away. "Anyway, that part of my life is over. It doesn't matter now."
Haru bit his lip. He could tell that something was troubling his new friend, something that weighed heavily on her heart. On the road, she hadn't wanted to talk about her parents. Now, she didn't want to talk about the Avatar, even though she'd helped him in Ba Sing Se. The young earthbender couldn't help wondering what had happened to hurt the girl so deeply.
"I think it does matter," he gently disputed, shouldering his pack. "It sounds like you need to talk about it."
"How do you know what I need?" Toph argued, unaware that she was raising her voice. "You don't know me. You don't know anything about me!"
"I know that you're hurting," Haru pressed. "Please. Let me help."
Toph's fists clenched as she tried to stay in control. It was easy to be angry and stubborn, to earthbend out her frustrations until she was tired on the outside and numb on the inside. But she couldn't fight Haru. There was nothing about him to hate or resent. She could feel the honesty and caring in every beat of his heart, vibrating through the earth to hers and cracking the walls she'd spent a lifetime erecting to hide the pain.
"Stop it!" she burst then, unable to keep the tears from her sightless eyes. "Just stop!"
"What am I doing?" Haru asked, genuinely confused.
The earth quaked beneath their feet. Toph's emotions were getting the best of her. She felt as though she was transparent; as though not only Haru, but Tyro, Chang Lao, and even the Boulder could see her innermost fears and disappointments, plain as day. Allowing them to see her weakness was more than she could bear. Her fists shook as she took off running in the opposite direction.
"Toph!" Haru shouted, but to his chagrin, she didn't slow down. Hesitating only a moment, the long-haired young earthbender raced after her.
"What happened? The Boulder has never seen the Blind Bandit run from anyone!" the muscled man remarked, coming alongside Tyro.
And I've never seen my son give chase, Tyro thought, although he kept that to himself.
"We don't have time for this," Chang Lao complained, his brow furrowing with annoyance.
"That girl is the greatest earthbender I've ever seen," Tyro observed. "You need her help, and ours, or you wouldn't be here. Don't worry. My son will bring her back quickly."
ooo LL ooo
"It's happened." Someisa looked up from her meditation sharply. "He's ready."
Her mother, an Air Nomad named Tiangwe, had spent the morning harvesting herbs from the garden. She stopped her work and glanced meaningfully at the woman beside her.
Ursa looked up from her basket with interest. Tiangwe had become a close friend in her years at the White Lotus sanctuary. Coming from the Fire Nation, the former queen had known nothing of Air Nomad mysticism, but Tiangwe's companionship had opened her eyes to a very different way of life. Though she did not espouse the traditions of the Air Nomads herself, Ursa couldn't help but be intrigued by the spiritual mysteries of their culture.
Tiangwe turned on her knees and eyed her thirteen-year-old daughter carefully. The girl in yellow was rail-thin with a long, loose braid down her back. Her most striking feature was her eyes: large, serene pools of storm-grey that revealed her unearthly nature. She'd been having visions like this since her mother could remember. "What did you see?"
"The Avatar overcame his fears." The girl blinked rapidly, coming out of her trance with a grin. "He accepted his destiny. He's been reborn!"
"That is good. For the world, and for you." Tiangwe smiled softly.
It was difficult for Ursa to listen as they discussed the Avatar. While she understood that it was Ozai and not the airbending monk who was her son's true enemy, she couldn't help feeling some resentment towards him. "Do you really think he can end the war?"
"I don't know," Someisa replied honestly, lifting herself to a standing position using a current of air. "His future won't stay still long enough for me to see it clearly. He has too many decisions left to make that could change things."
"Each decision we make has the power to alter our course," Tiangwe explained. "The Avatar must have many choices ahead of him that could impact the outcome of his battle with the Fire Lord."
At the mention of her former husband, Ursa cringed. "Can you see anyone's future?" she asked the girl, wanting to change the subject.
"Sure can. Most people's futures aren't that hard to pin down," Someisa nodded. "Like yours. I don't even have to work to see that one."
Ursa's lips parted in surprise. "You've seen my future?"
"I've got a pretty good idea what it looks like," the girl smirked, folding her arms.
The former Lady of the Fire Nation stared at the girl, puzzled, until Someisa motioned over her shoulder. Ursa followed her gesticulation and saw Lieutenant Jee strolling through the cloisters that led out of the courtyard. The middle-aged soldier was barefoot, bare-chested and his brow was glistening, no doubt from a training session in the sun. Ursa blushed at the sight. As if he could hear their conversation, Jee looked up and met her gaze from the open-aired hallway.
"Ursa, your face is flushed," Tiangwe pointed out gently. "I think you've been in the sun too long. Go inside and get some cool water. We'll finish up here." The Air Nomad woman winked subtly at Someisa, who took the basket of herbs from Ursa's failing grip.
Shame-faced, Ursa stood and headed towards the cloisters. Since Zuko left, Jee had been kind and attentive. Had her son not been adamant that Ba Sing Se was too dangerous now, she would have gone with him. He probably left Lieutenant Jee here to keep me from going after him. At least, that's what she had been telling herself for the last week. She had thought of another reason, but it wasn't one she was ready to voice aloud. He looks at me like… Ozai never looked at me that way, even when we… Ursa shuddered as an unfamiliar feeling washed over her, one that was far from unpleasant.
"Ursa," Jee greeted as they came closer. His voice was as gritty and shy as her son's. He'd been carrying his shirt in his hand, but as she came nearer, he self-consciously shrugged it over his shoulders. "Heading inside?"
"Yes, I suppose I am." She covered her flushed cheeks. "I never thought a day in the Earth Kingdom could feel warmer than one in the Fire Nation."
"It is pretty humid." Jee was quick to offer his arm. "You should probably rest for awhile. Here. I'll come with you."
She smiled at him, touched by his thoughtfulness. Ursa looped her wrist so that her hand could drape in front of his elbow, silently noting the solidness of his build. Without warning, the gesture elicited a memory. A smooth, razor-edged male voice sounded in her mind, one that she sometimes heard in her nightmares. The way the Fire Nation perceives the royal family is everything. If we fail to present a united front, the people will see it as a sign of weakness. You speak very passionately about your feelings, but your personal wishes are inconsequential; only your duty is of relevance to me. Now take my arm, wife. We mustn't disappoint the crowd.
"Ursa?" The tenderness of Jee's gruff voice brought her back to her senses. "Are you all right?"
After twelve years as Ozai's obedient wife, she knew all too well how to put up a front. "I'm fine. Thank you."
But his arched grey eyebrow proved that he wasn't fooled. "You don't have to lie," he said quietly, covering her hand with his free palm. "Not to me."
"I don't know what you…" Ursa's false smile faded as she looked into his eyes. Beneath his fire-heated fingers, her hand trembled. "What did Zuko tell you?"
"Only that you've been unhappy," Jee replied. Interpreting her shiver as another symptom of too much heat, he steered her into the sanctuary where the air was slightly cooler. "I never understood why Prince Zuko was so angry. Then, his uncle told us what happened to him. I don't know what that man did to you, but if it's anything like what he did to your son…" The grey-haired man shook his head in disgust. "He has a lot to answer for."
The beautiful woman sighed. "I should never have left Zuko behind. I shouldn't have left either of my children."
"You didn't have a choice," he reminded her. "You can't blame yourself for what happened. None of that was your fault."
They sat down together on an inner bench beside a cool stone wall. "You've been very kind to me," she murmured. "It's easy to see why Zuko trusts you. You're a good man."
"I'm honored that you think so," he demurred gruffly.
"But there is something I don't understand. You care about Zuko as if he were family, and this is a dangerous time for him. He could use a trusted friend like you in Ba Sing Se." Ursa paused and drew a breath before asking the question that had been on her mind since her son left. "Why didn't you go with him?"
"Zuko asked me to stay and look after you," Jee admitted sheepishly, "but even if he hadn't, I..." When she looked away uncertainly, he hung his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"No, don't apologize. Talking with you like this has helped me." She turned around slowly. When she saw his chin tucked boyishly against his chest, her heart twinged with affection. She reached for his hand and twined her slender fingers through his warm, calloused ones. "I'm glad you're here, Jee."
"You are?" Surprised, Jee's chin jerked up so he could meet her gaze. His eyes were not cold as Ozai's had been, but warm and bright with devotion. "I'll be here as long as you need me," he promised, squeezing her hand.
"That could be a long time," Ursa warned him.
Caringly, the grey-haired soldier drew her head against his shoulder. "I sure hope it is," he whispered.