So first things first. You may have noticed that this chapter came rather fast. That's because we're approaching the part of the story whose scenes and narrations have long been ready or almost ready. The next two or maybe three chapters will be ready in a few months if not weeks because of this. They have been (almost) ready for publishing since at least three years ago. The bad news is that afterwards there's a gap of approximately six to seven chapters that are literally on its bones, I can't even call them drafts, they're mere notes or lists of events, so it might take a while before we get through those, the other good news is that after that gap the whole story is pretty much finished, there are some nine to ten chapters very advanced and just need to get looked over. Of course everything would be much, much faster if I had beta to help me check and revise this stuff. I actually go over the published chapters to look for typos, omissions and various errors. If I waited until I was completely satisfied before publishing we'd probably be in chapter two or three.
I have decided to add at the end of Chapter 1 a list of the names of the important noble families and its members, this list will continue to expand as chapters go on.
Do not forget to keep checking the updates of the map at undeclinable D OT deviantart D OT c om. And to consult the Map of the World of Avatar at the Avatar Wikia for further details.
And please do not forget to review, those things are what keeps this story alive!
Life for both sexes — and I looked at them, shouldering their way along the pavement — is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion as we are, it calls for confidence in oneself. Without self-confidence we are as babes in the cradle. And how can we generate this imponderable quality, which is yet so invaluable, most quickly? By thinking that other people are inferior to one self. By feeling that one has some innate superiority — it may be wealth, or rank, a straight nose, or the portrait of a grandfather by Romney — for there is no end to the pathetic devices of the human imagination — over other people.
A Room of one's own - Virginia Woolf
What freedom men and women could have, were they not constantly tricked and trapped and enslaved and tortured by their sexuality! The only drawback in that freedom is that without it one would not be a human. One would be a monster.
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
"Are you sure?" asked the man across the table.
"I'm positive, his highness must have had a moment of clarity for once. He's asked me to place under surveillance any nobleman who may oppose to the crowning of a foreigner". Said Gral. Yung, commander of the Royal Guard of Omashu, he took a sip of tea as the cold night wind passed through the window of the small establishment. It was not a place he would frequent in his normal daytime and that was precisely why he had chosen it as this week's meeting point.
He didn't look like an important man without his uniform, dressed in the rags of a commoner, he had even purposely spend half an hour walking through the mud before venturing outside the city gates into this small village, so as to avoid recognition.
"But how can you know that he's thinking about Gral. Fong?" Insisted his contact.
"Who else could he be thinking of?" Asked the general, feeling insulted at the very idea that his king might even consider any other man than the great Gral. Fong, the bane of the ashmakers. "His majesty has no sons, nor any male relative, he himself was adopted by late King Zhun and popular support of Gral. Fong is on the rise. The King may be extravagant but he has ruled us wisely, he knows he's old and he knows the threat the ash makers represent. Ba Sing Se will not intercede for the Earth Kingdom, they'll cower behind their high walls like they've always done. King Bumi knows that he doesn't have the strength to launch an attack on the ash makers, he's forced to sit and defend Omashu". Gral. Yung clenched his teeth in frustration, he hated the Fire Nation, he had endured for years the humiliation of being unable to help the other neighbouring kingdoms. The impotence he had felt when the Dragon of the West decided to head for Ba Sing Se instead of taking Omashu was his life's greatest shame, he knew that they could have done little to stop him from laying a siege and starving them out.
"King Bumi also knows that Gral. Fong needs legitimation, he commands his armies based on charisma and force, he's been forced to take hostages of kings and noblemen. If he were to be named King of Omashu his position would consolidate, he could expand his influence from the Senlin Mountains all the way through the Si Wong desert, the commanders of Zin, the free cities of the Plains, Gaoling. Maybe even Ba Sing Se, he could unite the Earth Kingdom once again and expel for once this fire pest".
"That doesn't mean that King Bumi is going to name Gral. Fong his successor". Continued the man, still suspicious about what could be the single greatest stroke of luck his general could get. He had been sent here after all to secure allies in King Bumi's court and to do all within his power to force the old king into supporting Gral. Fong's campaign against the Fire Nation. He knew that once the armies of Omashu were within Gral. Fong's influence he could win them over by charisma, force, bribery and above all by giving them something they wished more than anything: a sense of purpose, the pride of their nation and culture and most importantly victories against the red plague. But if the old King named his general as his heir, everything would be much more easy. Far too easy. He thought, life had not been kind to him nor to his general.
"We need confirmation". Said the man. "When can you get us more details?"
"My King is nothing if not shrewd and careful, he knows many will oppose to being ruled by a foreigner". A low-born foreigner. He thought, but dared not say. "Specially the nobility, if he's truly going to go through with this as I'm sure he is, then you will not find a single clue about his intentions, he'll probably pretend he's doing the exact opposite just to confuse anyone who might oppose until it's too late for them to react, that's the kind of man he is". Explained Gral. Yung.
"I doesn't sound very reassuring". Said the man,
Gral. Yung refrained from further arguing, he knew very well that everything his king did was suspicious, the more he tried to convince his contact of his kings intentions the more suspicious it would seem.
"I can try to set up a meeting with an envoy of Gral. Fong".
"Out of the question, it would compromise you, you're more valuable to us as an informant that as an intermediary, I will send word to you after I informed Gral. Fong about this situation, until then keep us informed about any developments via the usual contact". Said the man before standing and disappearing into the night.
Gral. Yung couldn't help but sight in relief even though he was still in danger of being discovered and executed as a traitor, dead did not scare him, he would gladly give his life for his people, what pained him was the fact that he was betraying his king, the man who had elevated him from poverty and honoured with his trust. But now he knew that his king was planning to do what he himself had wished so fervently: approaching and supporting Gral. Fong, the man he admired most in the world, the one man who could save the Earth Kingdom from the ash makers.
Like himself, Gral. Fong was a man on humble origins, born as a slave in the outskirts of the Kingdom of Jing, Gral. Fong had quickly impressed his owners with his intelligence and physical capabilities, they had sold him to the royal house, where he had won the trust of old king Hu, he had served king Hu faithfully and in reward he had obtained his freedom. When the Dragon of the West marched on Ba Sing Se it had been Gral. Fong, then a colonel, who had commanded the armies of Jing and killed Prince Lu Ten, he had effectively saved Ba Sing Se and brought honour to his king, but his new-found prestige and fame had brought him enemies. When old king Hu died a year later, a group of noblemen from Jing had attempted to murder him, resenting the influence he had at court.
Gral. Fong had barely escaped with his life, he had somehow convinced the ten year old king Huin, the only surviving son of king Hu to invest him with a military tally and send him on an expedition against the Fire Nation, a form of exile, but his victories brought him popularity, money and prestige. Two years later Gral. Fong felt strong enough to march on the royal palace of Jing and execute his opponents, since then he had kept the young king Huin as a puppet figure, using his name to expand his influence.
Like all the great warriors of the Earth Kingdom, Gral. Yung had been drawn to Gral. Fong's cause, he was their deliverer, only he could unite the many kingdoms in a unified front against the invaders. It had taken much tormenting doubt and hesitation, but Gral. Young had summoned the will to put himself in the service of Gral. Fong and protect his interests in King Bumi's court. He had feared that the day would come where his king and friend would force him to chose between his loyalty to Omashu or his loyalty towards the Earth Kingdom, now he was sure that that day would never come. It took him a moment to realise that he had begun to shed tears of joy. Yes, Gral. Yung was indeed happy, he would not have to harm or kill his king, as he had been prepared to do.
Prince Zuko looked once again at his hand still unable to believe it. Three days had passed since he had woken up with a feverish desire for sex in the middle of the night, he remembered clearly the agony he had felt, as if a man stranded in the desert desperately searched for water while his throat scorched him and the dryness of his mouth lacerated him to inhuman amounts of suffering, so he had felt at the lack of coitus, in that moment, reaching out for a searing log had been the only way to stop thinking about his hardened member.
He was much less surprised about the effectiveness of his solution, for he had been able to go about his duties without complaints ever since, as he was about the fact that his hand was completely unharmed, not a blister, nor a scar, no disfigurement not even a small discolouration and no trace of any pain or discomfort could testify to the fact that he had held the smouldering incandescent log for about a minute and gripped it so strongly that it broke in two.
Was it a dream? He asked himself, no he had clearly seen the ashes in his hand the following morning and outside his tent, in front of the fireplace were still the two remaining pieces of the log. Prince Zuko decided to give it a rest for now and continue to pay attention to the boring theoretic lessons concerning the Earth Kingdom he was forced to attend.
"All right ladies, let's go through this again!"
Prince Zuko sighted as instructor Lee decided once again to repeat the same subject that his uncle had already drilled a thousand times into his brain. He took a breath and tried to remind himself that most of his comrades were complete neophytes in matters related to the Earth Kingdom and they needed to get a good deal of background knowledge if they were to survive a day out there.
"The Earth Kingdom is a kingdom in name only, in reality it's a vast conglomeration of small kingdoms, principates, vassal states, free cities and nomadic tribes. The only thing they have in common is their language, religion, culture and a shared history of killing each other. Many of them hate their neighbours more than they hate us".
Zuko took a deep breath and tried his best not to appear annoyed.
"It's imperative that all of you memorise the many differences between us and the enemy for it will be your job to infiltrate enemy territory, gather information, sabotage and yes, if necessary assassinate those who would cause damage to our great nation. And you must complete these tasks while travelling undetected and sometimes living for unspecified amounts of time among the enemy without arousing suspicion". Said the instructor as Zuko silently prayed for this session to be over, he'd rather be outside practising close combat and knife fighting.
"Do you know what's the easiest way do detect a Fire Nation citizen among a bunch of Earth Kingdom mongrels?" Asked the instructor.
"No, sir, we don't, sir!" Echoed the response.
"It's the smell!" Screamed instructor Lee. "Ninety percent of the Earth Kingdom population are half starved farmers who shower once a month at the most. They do not wash their hands before eating or after going to the privy". A few chuckles caused the instructor to stamp his foot angrily, letting out a flame before him.
"Who believes this to be funny?". Asked the instructor in wrath, he went up to the cadet that had showed such disrespect. Zuko did not even turn to see, the poor bastard was probably a landless plebeian with no military tradition in his family, if he had even a family. Only thanks to his father's reforms where such people allowed to join the army and Zuko did not like that one bit.
"Is it amusing?" Screamed instructor Lee at the cadet's face. "Will you still laugh when your bones are crushed beneath a rock? When you are stoned to death or buried alive?"
"No, sir..." Stammered the cadet.
"Report to the quartermasters, as of this moment you are no longer part of this unit. Maybe you'll be able to better serve your nation by cleaning the toilets, now out of my fucking sight!".
After the cadet had left the room, instructor Lee looked at the rest of his pupils.
"Listen up! When you are out there you are all just one mistake away from being executed. You'll have to learn how to deal with the stench your miserable bodies will expel after working day and night under the sun among shit".
Zuko did his best not to sight as the instructor went on about the daily life of an impoverished Earth Kingdom farmer and described the common background knowledge that they would be expected to know once they were on a mission, the kind of submissive attitudes they would have to adopt in order to successfully pass as a common subject of the Earth King. Instructor Lee showed with great detail to how to bow, and make deference, how to speak and walk.
"Now, most important of all will be how you react to the many acts of savagery and barbarism that those bastards have for traditions. I have lost many good men because they could not tolerate the sight of people being sold, whipped and branded like cattle. Not a few missions have been compromised when a kind hearted idiot took pity on an innocent man executed without trial, or of a maiden being stoned to death because she's suspected of being disloyal to her master. It will be hard for many of you to turn a blind eye to all these injustices, you may even be forced to buy some slaves on your own and exploit them in order to pass unnoticed, but you must endure. By successfully completing your missions you'll be saving thousands of Fire Nation lives, and helping our great civilisation free the Earth Kingdom of it's primitive barbarism". Zuko heard attentively as the instructor explained the importance of learning fight without honour, using stealth and deceit to quietly kill the enemy without giving him any chance to react. He emphasised on the necessity of fighting bare handed or with normal weapons and avoiding at all costs firebending, for discovery was even worse than failure.
"And whatever you do". Continued the instructor. "Do not let your pity take the best of you, in the Earth Kingdom you'll see atrocities beyond your worst nightmares, famine, poverty, slavery, parents selling or even eating their children, innocent people publicly executed without trial, torture. It's very possible that most of you will feel the urge to intervene, you must not. It's true that most of the inhabitants that you'll encounter are innocent and even good people and they are in no way responsible for being born in their shit-hole of a country, but the only way that you can truly to help them is by defeating their rulers and forcing them to accept our laws and superior culture as a model, anything else is mere sentimental stupidity that will cost you your lives, those of your companions and very possibly those of your fellow soldiers and citizens".
Zuko carefully studied instructor Lee's expression as the man studied the reactions of his students. He had no doubt that they had understood what he had said, but he wasn't entirely sure that they had understood what it truly meant to follow the implications of the instructor's words. Zuko himself had not taken his uncle's words seriously enough when he was first warned about what he might encounter in his travels through the Earth Kingdom, his recent experience in Omashu with Katara and the slave dealers was a painful reminder of the stomach and discipline it took to refrain from acting like a decent human would and pretend to be an Earth Kingdom savage.
"Listen". Instructor Lee's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "We are a fortunate people, a great civilisation, most of our citizens wake up in warm beds, drink tea everyday with their breakfast and go about their lives... and good for them". The instructor walked through the rows of his kneeling students, careful not to hit the small tables in front of them.
"They deserve that life". Said the instructor with pride. "They deserve it not because they earned it as individuals but because we've earned it, as a nation, as a civilisation. But not all of us get to take that life for granted, our job is to identify and contain any dangers to it. It's a job that's not always clean or pretty or fun". The instructor took a pause and hesitated, Zuko could have sworn that he saw sadness in the instructor's eyes.
"I've left good men... kind men... men that had helped me and even saved me at the risk of their lives... men that considered me their friend... I've left them behind in shitty holes because that was the home they were born to. I don't know any soldier of the special forces that hasn't done something that gives them nightmares..." Zuko could tell that despite the firmness of his tone and the determination of his gestures as the instructor spoke he was hiding the stench of regret and sadness. "But we endure those nightmares..." Continued the instructor. "Embrace them even, so that the rest of our nation can sleep peacefully... that's why you're here, to dirty your hands by lying, killing, manipulating, betraying and destroying people who'll have you believe that they are simply protecting their country, some of them may be innocent of any crime, and yet remain a threat to our nation, our lives, our laws and culture... our fathers, our wives, our children".
For the first time in Zuko looked at his instructor with respect, however much he may dislike him there was no denying that the man had made a lot of sacrifices and endured much pain in the service of his nation.
"We are here to sacrifice our lives, our honour, our integrity and values, our principles and our very humanity so that our nation may quickly win this war and so that our countrymen and our loved ones never have to suffer what all of you are going to endure out there".
Zuko was enthralled by the passion flowing from the instructor's words, he couldn't figure how he could in essence say what his uncle had already explained, but in a manner totally opposite from what his uncle had used, instructor Lee painted all of it with a savage realism not devoid of a heroic light that was sure to motivate the men in times of doubt. His uncle had been so... relativistic, so understanding and even empathetic in discussing the subject, Zuko was under the impression that his uncle was describing him the tragedy of humanity, while the instructor portrayed it all as an obstacle to be surmounted, as a way to prove their strength and inner resolution, as a necessary sacrifice. As Zuko meditated on this he almost missed the rest of the lesson.
"All right time to train those weak bodies of yours!" Screamed the instructor as the lesson came to an end. "And do not forget to reflect on what I said, your missions will be so important and stealth will be such a necessity that you'll be provided with a small flask of poison when you set out. If you are discovered and unable to retreat or captured, you'll be expected to end your lives immediately, not only to protect the mission but to spare yourselves the agony those savages will put you through before burying you alive or drowning you with earth".
"Can you still move the fingers?"Asked Medical Corps officer Lee as he applied some ointments to the wounded captain.
"I don't think so doc". Answered Captain He Lee through gritted teeth.
"You've got lucky". Said the young medic after a few minutes of examination. "You won't lose the hand, but you may never recover full mobility of some fingers". Explained the doctor as he bandaged the wounded hand.
"One has to count his blessings". Said the young captain. Officer Lee could only agree, not a single day had passed since they had marched out from Pohuai that the doctor had not had to watch a young soldier die on his watch, even more painful for him was the screaming when he was forced to amputate a maimed arm or leg, product of a well placed boulder thrown by the enemy.
"I'll recommend that you be transferred out of the city". Said the doctor, even though he knew Gral. Bujing had ordered every available man to be at Najuan, ever since they had broken through the wall the death scale had actually tripled, Gral. Fong's forces were putting up tremendous resistance, it was hard enough to battle Earth Kingdom soldiers in an open field, now they were forced to bleed street through street, house to house, room to room. They were at an strategical disadvantage, they were inside a city made of rocks and fighting inside buildings made of stone, the enemy could collapse entire buildings on top of them, often through mad acts of suicide.
They used the sewers to get close to their camps and make them collapse from underneath killing themselves along with many of their soldiers. Thus it had been necessary to send firebender squadrons into the sewers with the order to kill everyone on sight. The men were calling this a rat's war. The whole city was in rumbles because of the damage their artillery had done before they broke through the wall, and whatever had remained the earth soldiers where using as a deadly weapon. The smell of rotting or burnt corpses was everywhere and it became sticky to the skin, the doctor had to get the wounded out of the city before disease and infection spread.
"Doc, would you write a letter for me?" Asked the captain.
"Of course". The doctor looked at his hands, they were completely covered in half dried blood, the water basin he used was also completely red and a few chucks of skin and even a finger were floating on it. This was also a big problem, the enemy had cut off all water from the sections of the city they lost; the doctor did his best to clean his hands before taking a bamboo sheet and a quill.
"It's for my uncle". Said the captain, the doctor knew that Captain He Lee was the nephew and heir of Lord Shu Lee and this was one of the reasons the doctor wanted to get him out of the city, his family came from the Xi province were the Lee family had ruled for centuries, the doctor himself had attended the Fire Nation Medical Academy with a bourse paid by Lord Lee himself, he would do everything to at least put his lord's son out of risk. They were at the deadliest city in the world right now.
Gral. Fong had issued an order not to retreat a single step to his men, and not only to his men, common folk with no experience or training had been forcefully conscripted and sent into battle, it was not uncommon to find even women and children digging trenches or slinging rocks at them, some would get close on the pretence of asking for help just to stab and kill whomever they could. Gral. Bujing had responded with the order of killing everyone on sight. The doctor had long gotten used to the screaming and nightmares from his patients suffering combat stress, many had had to kill children or women.
"Tell him that I'll keep fighting as long as I'm able". Said the captain. The doctor dutifully wrote as dictated. As he dispatched the messenger hawk with the letter, the doctor saw how the first heavy snow fell upon the city. He had a very bad feeling about it, even if their progress taking control of the city was steady, it was also agonisingly slow, they did not have enough provisions to keep fighting through the winter, in their initial bombing and storming of the city they had pretty much burned whatever could be burned in the city, if they did not expel Gral. Fong's forces quickly they would be facing even more extenuating hardships in the winter. Half of the city was already in their control, they needed to hurry.
Five years ago
"You should say something to him". Spoke Ty Lee to her friend.
"I don't think he wants to speak right now". Was the dry answer from Mai as she kept looking from the window. They had been watching as prince Zuko sat sorrowfully by the pond and fed the turtle ducks. He had barely spoken a word since his mother had disappeared two months ago, the palace medics worried about his meagre appetite and a few brave servants commented on the Fire Lord's cold attitude towards the prince. Azula's gloating attitude at her new-found freedom and her constant bullying did not help either, luckily she spent most of the time at the Fire Academy even if that meant that Mai and Ty Lee would be left to bore themselves to death since prince Zuko showed no interest in them nor in anyone else for that matter. The Fire Lord ignored them completely and left them to their own devices, without princess Ursa there was no one who could entice Zuko into spending time with them,
"What kind of wife are you going to be if you do not console your husband in times of need?" Asked Ty Lee prompting her pale friend to turn red as a tomato.
"I... I could ask the same of you". Was the answer that Mai managed to come up with. This time it was Ty Lee's turn to blush, even before princess Ursa disappeared the awkward subject of marriage would pop out, making all contact with the prince extremely awkward, Azula did not miss the chance to tease them to death about it, the inevitability of it all made all contact rather tense, one day Zuko would marry one of them.
"Well we gotta do something, his aura is grey as smoke". Spoke Ty Lee as she looked down trying to hide her reddened cheeks.
"And what do you propose?" Asked Mai, already back in control of herself.
"I don't know, but something".
"Jee, what a brilliant idea". Said Mai sarcastically. Ty Lee put her best pout, seeing that she had no effect on Mai she simply stuck her tongue at her.
"Beh!"
"Whatever, I'll go die of boredom somewhere else". Said Mai as she left the room.
Ty Lee kept looking through the window, unsure of what she would do next, it was not everyday that she got to take the initiative in anything, usually princess Azula or princess Ursa would tell them what to do, and in extreme cases Mai would venture out a suggestion that immediately turned to an order after getting Azula's approval.
With a gulp she jumped from the windows into the garden and had to stop herself from congratulating herself out loud for her perfectly silent landing. She sneaked up to the three behind the prince who was completely immersed in thought. Whatever doubts Ty Lee had were dispersed when she noticed just how bottled up his gray aura was, suitor or no suitor Ty Lee couldn't bear to watch so much misery in her friend.
"Hey what are you doing?" Exclaimed the prince as Ty Lee threw her arms around him. She did not answer, somehow she knew that words where not what Zuko needed, she held tightly and began to hum princess Ursa's favourite song, the Ode to the Red Plum Blossom.
"Stop it! Get away from me!" Screamed an exasperated Zuko as he struggled to break free of the hug. Ty Lee never stopped humming as she fiercely tussled to keep the hug, the prince was about to break free when a well placed strike at his neck left him limp and he fell into her arms.
"Let me go Ty Lee, that's an order!" Screamed the young prince helplessly, he knew that there was no escape from Ty Lee's pressure point attack unless she herself freed you. Ty Lee kept on humming, she didn't realise when she had begun to cry.
"Ty Lee, let go of me!" The young prince began to feel very awkward. He gulped as he heard Ty Lee's subs on his neck, he never realised when he began to cry as well.
Block, deflect, dodge, strike.
Block, deflect, dodge, strike.
Block, deflect, dodge, strike.
Col. Mal repeated in his head the sequence of the drill as he saw the special forces go through their daily knife combat training. The Colonel sighted as he saw a recruit collapse from exhaustion, it was a very common sight in Pohuai, the recruits spent almost sixteen hours a day doing some form of physical exercise, often they were purposely deprived of sleep and put under a lot of stress. This was more noticeable in the gruelling training of the special forces that focused mainly in preparing soldiers for real combat situations under the most difficult of situations, mainly finding yourself surrounded by the enemy.
"Faster, you lazy sons of whores!" Heard the Colonel as Cap. Yung screamed as he went through the lines inspecting their movements. He signalled a couple deficiencies on the moves to a cadet and proceeded to inspect the others.
The colonel kept watch of the training for another hour, focusing on one single recruit: prince Zuko. Like many other officers in the camp Col. Mak was baffled by the prince's decision in joining the Special Forces, it was completely unprecedented and the instructors were very much unsure on how to proceed. So far the prince had passed all theoretical and practical tests, the combat simulations and the military exercises without any trouble, what was most impressive was the ease with which prince Zuko had adapted to knife fighting and stealth combat, usually firebenders would be completely ignorant of any other form of fighting that did not include bending.
It was rumoured that prince Zuko had been a pupil of the legendary sword master Pindao, in any case it was obvious that he had been very well trained by Gral. Iroh. Under normal circumstances having a new recruit with such a skill would be a blessing for the instructors but the prince was not very communicative and the other recruits were reluctant to speak to him, they were either too respectful of their prince or too awestruck because of the whole volcano business coupled with the rumour that prince Zuko was looking for an excuse to kill anyone who crossed him like commander Zhao had done. These circumstances and the fact that there was little that the prince could learn in Pohuai had prompted Col. Shinu and the other commanders of the base to order him to be assigned a mission, once completed he'd be officially a man before the law, a full fledged soldier of the Fie Nation and a member of the Special Forces.
"Summon him". Spoke finally the Col. to his aide, and the young man went down the stairs from the platform from which they observed the training and transmitted the order to Cap. Yung. Prince Zuko left his training squad and joined Col. Mak.
"Sir, I'm at your command". Spoke the prince as he bowed. It was a weird feeling for Col. Mak to have his prince as subordinate, he could understand why the other instructors and recruits were so distant with the prince, they did not want to risk his wrath, he was a subordinate for now, but as soon as he cleared the military tests he'd be back to being a prince, a full fledged prince. The system was not perfect but at least it assured that their citizens even their royalty and nobility would know how to take and order and what it felt to be at someone else's command.
"Your performance had been most impressive". Began the Col. as he read the results and comments the instructors had written, trying his best not to say your majesty at the end of the sentence. "In light of your excellent results in all physical and theoretical tests it has been decided that you're ready to face the final test: take part in one operation of your unit".
"Thank you sir, I'm at your command".
"I'm exactly two weeks a small squadron will be sent to the forests of Gaipan, many groups of rebels have been stealing provisions and materials and assaulting travellers on the road. Your mission is to inspect the terrain, identify the rebels and if possible locate their hideouts, you are not to engage in combat but report your findings to commander Chet of Gaipan, he'll organise the cleanup operation. Do you have any questions?" Explained the colonel.
"None, sir". His answer further surprised the Col. he had expected the prince to be offended at the insignificance of the mission, it had been discussed at length that it would not do to risk the life of their prince and the wrath of the Fire Lord by assigning him a dangerous mission in hostile territory, so they had assigned him the easiest mission they could find, tracking a small rebellious militia in conquered territory.
"Excellent, until then you are granted a two week leave, you may spend that time in the city. Dismissed".
The colonel saw as prince Zuko bowed and left, he kept his gaze on him until he disappeared into the barracks to gather his belongings.
Eight years ago.
Prince Zuko had never been much of a people person, he disliked the awkwardness that surged when people talked about their feelings or openly expressed their emotions. Which is why he didn't know how to react to his weeping friend.
"She's been like this since she we found them". Explained Mai as she wiped the tears of Ty Lee's eyes.
Ever since they had found the owl cat's nest they had been visiting them once in a while to feed them and see how they were growing. That day prince Zuko had been unable to join them, he had his special sword lessons with master Pindao, so Mai and Ty Lee had gone on their own.
The mother must have died somewhere between their previous visit and that day, the small chicks had starved to dead and Ty Lee had not stopped crying ever since.
"You're drenching my clothes Ty Lee". Said Mai to her crying friend, she had been very fond of the cat owls but this was a bit too much.
Prince Zuko felt a pang of guilt down his throat, he had firmly opposed to bringing the nest with them to the palace, arguing that they'd be safer with their mother. Ty Lee had pressured them for weeks but neither he nor Mai had stood beside her on the matter, it was with much reluctance that they even accompanied her to visit the cat owls. And now they were dead and Ty Lee was devastated. Zuko couldn't help feeling he was somehow responsible for it.
"I..." Began prince Zuko, only to be stopped with a glare from Mai. Think about what you say! Was what the warning glare meant.
"I'm sorry". He said before walking away, the young prince had never felt so helpless in his short life.
Unknown or them, a malicious smile painted princess Azula's lips as she watched the scene from afar.
"That will teach them to keep things from me". She said to herself.
Prince Zuko woke up from his slumber as restless as he had ever been. Only two days had he been out of the Pohuai base and he had never felt so bored before. He had tried strolling around the city but the tormenting lust he felt when being around women would become unbearable.
He had begun considering consulting a medic about it but couldn't bring himself to. He knew that it was normal for young men to feel attraction towards women but he thought the acuteness and frequency with which the episodes of unquenchable lust he felt were unnatural.
While he had been at the training camp he'd had the respite of exercise, somehow only when he was focused on fighting or working out would he be safe from any lascivious impulses. The last two nights he had been forced to burn himself again in order to bring himself to sleep, he had tried pleasing himself but to no avail, it was like throwing water in the sand.
He looked at his hands again, still unable to believe that they were completely unscathed. It was just as impressive as the fact that he had been so desperate so as to actually bring himself to put his hands in the fire.
Prince Zuko went to the small chest his uncle had left him and searched through its contents, he couldn't believe his uncle had taken the time to collect all of this, there were some small paintings of his mother, of cousin Lu Ten, letters from his uncle and his cousin, tea recipes. Zuko blushed when he saw the written letter of consent form his grandfather Azulon to his marriage with either Lady Mai Sun or Lady Ty Lee, along with it were the letters of consent from their respective fathers. Zuko found it eerily odd that he just had dreamt about them, he quickly pushed those thoughts aside and found what he was looking for.
He took the knife his uncle had given him so many years ago, the sizzling sound it made as he unsheathed it was a testament to it's sharpness. Zuko took a long deep look at it and tried to bury the memories that came with it.
Never give up without a fight. It read.
He took a deep breath as he put the knife firmly against the palm of his left hand, he gritted his teeth as he closed the first around the knife and gripped with closed eyes for what seemed like and eternity before he released the grip.
As he opened his eyes he saw his left hand covered in blood and a nasty wound in his palm. It hurt like bloody hell and yet the prince could not help but sight in relief. He had feared for a moment that his hand would remain unhurt the same way it remained unburned after he touched fire.
After cleaning the wound and bandaging it he decided it might be wise to consult someone about it all. He thought about writing to Kori, but he feared her reaction at the kind of weird questions he would ask. Their correspondence was rather brief and sporadic, not at all the passionate love exchanges that the books and love songs portrayed. She would write him about her daily life, ask about his training and make the occasional, often unconcealed, complaint about the coldness of her bed without him. Zuko's letters were more formal still... and fewer in between.
If only uncle were here. He thought. It escaped him that if not for Kori and his uncle, Zuko had no one to turn to for advice.
He dressed in his uniform and prepared to exit the very humble inn in which he was staying, he would consult the local library for information, he decided.
The new city of Pohuai had originally been a camp of brothels conveniently placed ten kilometres away from the stronghold, it was relatively common to find out-of-duty soldiers in the many establishments of the red district. Because of its exceptional location and the security of having the strongest military base outside the home islands, the city had attracted all the merchants and commerce of the region, it had grown at an incredible pace since it's foundation in the early years of Azulon's reign, now it was possible to find all kinds of commodities and trinkets every big city could offer, including a Fire Temple, several Earth shrines and two public libraries.
Zuko marched right towards the medical library and consulted the librarian, doing his best to conceal his intention, he asked about firebending techniques that made skin immune to fire or diseases that caused episodes of extreme and uncontrollable lust, but there was no record of any of it in the library, at least not that the head librarian had heard of. The prince sighted and ordered all the books that could somehow be related to the symptoms he described. He spent hours reading about sexual and mental diseases, unorthodox firebending techniques but he found nothing that satisfied him. Prince Zuko briefly considered again consulting a medic but decided that it would be wiser to consult his uncle. He didn't want to be harassed again like he had been by the envoy in Yu Dao or the medics in Pohuai regarding the ridiculous business of the volcano.
Prince Zuko's eyes opened wide in realisation and immediately called for the librarian.
"Bring me anything you have regarding lava bending and anything you have on the history and geography of Mount Makapu". He said, and the even more confused librarian could only scratch his head in bafflement.
"So what do you think about it Yu?" Asked Lord Mek Kang proudly as he uncovered the eyes of his son.
"Woa! What is it, father? What is it?" Asked the eight year old boy excitedly.
"It's called a train".
"A train?".
"It's a machine meant for travelling and transporting. I saw it when we breached the outer wall of Ba Sing Se many years ago". Reminisced the young Lord.
"Did you take this from them?" Asked the awestruck boy as he touched the cold surface of the machine.
"No, the ones the Earth Kingdom has are much heavier, they're made of stone, only a specialist team of very strong earthbenders can push them, they break relatively often and need specialized maintenance from an earthbender. That's why they exist only in Ba Sing Se and can only travel for short distances." Explained the Lord as he lifter up his son so that he might get into the locomotive.
"This one". Said the Lord proudly. "Is much more efficient, it's not dependent on having unreliable earthbenders as power source, it uses steam instead".
"How long can it travel?"
"Depending on how much fuel you have, how well maintained it is and how much railway tracks are available and their quality, it can go on for thousands and thousands of kilometres at great speed."
"What's a track?" Asked the confused boy.
"You see… this machine cannot move on the ground alone, its tires would quickly get bent and blunt. Plus the different kinds of terrains would make it impossible to advance, that's why we first need to put these" Said the young Lord as he pointed towards the floor where the boy saw for the first time the flat-bottom steel rails supported on timber and laid on crushed stone ballast. "On the ground, so that the train can pass over it".
"When will we travel in one father?" Asked the boy after much pondering.
"It might take two years to prepare everything needed for it here in the Fire Nation. But I reckon that the once the war ends we could fill the entire Earth Kingdom with railroads in less than ten years. Then we could go to Yu Dao to Ba Sing Se in a matter of few days". The young Lord took the boy in his arms and sat him in his shoulders as he gave his son a small tour of the prototype of this construction.
"There you are! What kind of nonsense has your father been telling you?" Came a voice from behind them.
"Uncle Zhi!" Exclaimed the boy and was immediately put on the floor so that he could run at his great-uncle's arms. The old man lifted the boy up in the air before giving him a tender kiss in the forehead.
Lord Kang quietly smiled as he noticed how strong his old uncle still was. It had been five years since he had been driven away from court by Ozai and sought refuge in his native province. The old man had soon grown restless from inactivity, even despite his advanced age the old man still felt the need to make himself useful. Lord Kang had been more than happy to name his uncle Acting Lord Protector of the South in his absence, the old man got to spend his days travelling up and down the southern provinces ensuring the Fire Lord's law was kept, he attended official ceremonies in his nephew's place and often would preside over the local magistrates and local administration along with Lady Diao Shang, Lord Mek's wife.
This arrangement allowed Lord Kang to dedicate his time to court intrigue, the training and provisioning of the southern militia, now almost thirty thousand men strong, the negotiation, supervision and often leading of joint ventures with local industries for the developing of new technologies, like the train before them. It was something his old and stern uncle disapproved of, almost as much as he disapproved of Lord Kong's neglecting of his Lady Wife and his tendency to spend a lot of time in the company of attractive women of dubious reputations.
"When Xun Yun first proposed the tank, everybody called him a madman". Interrupted the young Lord as his old uncle explained to his son the uselessness of such machines, the old man was of the opinion that every penny should be invested in the people, building bridges and dams, and schools and hospitals, in things that were proven to work, not on fantasies.
"Only the Crown Prince Sozin was wise enough to see its potential". Continued Lord Kang. "Thanks to his foresight he was able to create in a few years the weapon that allowed him to launch an attack so swift, so effective and so terribly devastating that in a mere month he completely wiped out the Air Nomads and in just a few years he had conquered the kingdom of Taku, even now the Earth Kingdom has found no response towards our tanks. Imagine what will they do when we're able to move thousands of men, weapons and provisions over thousands of kilometres in just a few hours."
Lord Kang smiled to himself as he heard his uncle's counterarguments. It was good that his son learned from early age to hear and consider dissenting opinions. It was probably the only reason why he tried to bring the child with him whenever he discussed something of importance with his uncle, one day the small Yu would rule over Haishan, and be overlord of all the southern provinces as Lord Protector of the South. It was best that Lord Kang taught the boy to hear unpleasant opinions respectfully and weight on their merits, even if they were plain stupidity.
Ten years ago
Young Lady Ty Lee and her sisters Lady Ty Lin, Ty Lat, Ty Lao, Ty Liu, Ty Lum, and Ty Woo hurried on through the field in search of the missing goat dog. They had been celebrating their fourth birthday at their uncle's villa when they overheard their cousin He speak to some servants about a lost goat dog in the forest nearby, apparently the old animal had lost it's way in the hunting that had taken place a week ago.
It had been a very kind beast and the family had been very fond of it, they suspected it to be dead and cousin He wished to find it and give it a proper burial. The girls loved playing with their uncle's goat dogs, Ty Lao and Ty Lum would often sleep with them and more than once had they asked for one to take home.
When they found out about the missing animal they had all sneaked out of the house and ran right into the forest in the naive hope of rescuing the poor house pet.
They had barely made it through the first forest trees when Ty Lin began to worry.
"We should head back". She said. "Father and uncle will be worried".
Despite her protests and the hesitation of Ty Lat, they rest of the sisters kept going into the forest, after half and hour of wandering and calling for the animal, they were about to give up when they heard a wild growling near them. Only the spirits know by which fortunate decision they immediately began to run towards the open field and found the emptied cabin of the local ranger. As soon as they closed the door a loud impact was heard along with a savage growling, a beast was trying to get in.
Ty Lim and Ty Woo did their best to calm their sisters and held them together as they hugged in a corner of the room. Ty Lee would never forget the sight as the beast made a small hole through the door and tried its best to sneak in. It was the missing goat dog, the same one that had once played with them, on whose stomach Ty Lao has slept, the one who lovingly licked Ty Lum's face. But there was something different.
It had been hurt by other wild animals, it had starved and was desperate for food, the anguish and bloodlust with which it tried to enter was proof of how it feared for its life, it knew that if it did not eat soon it would die, hunger had made it forget even the strongest ties of affection.
Before the goat dog could enter the search party led by their uncle and cousin had heard the commotion and drove the animal away.
Ty Lee would never forget the agonising hunger and desperate craving mirrored on the goat dog's eyes, in that reflection Ty Lee had felt for the first time the merciless drive of nature to fulfil its needs.
Lady Ty Lee strolled through the busy street as she made her way towards the market. She kept her head down and did her best to pass unnoticed, fortunately her hood did an excellent job hiding her more obvious feature, her face. The street-lights allowed for some shadow in such a wide street, even though it was windy Ty Lee decided that the illusion of getting a bit of warmth by being near the street-lights was not worth the risk of someone seeing her, if her father truly wanted her found then every guard in every city would be aware of her already, her father was after all a very powerful lord.
She had so far avoided mayor cities and towns and kept herself hidden from anyone who might recognise her. It was truly aggravating, her father's men only had to say that they were looking for a beautiful girl and anyone who had seen her would immediately think of her, it was completely against her nature to hide herself, she hated it, her aura was totally dark. The growling in her stomach made her stop and carefully look around, she had barely enough money left to stay a week in a humble lodge so she had to mind her expenses.
She sighted as she looked at the many eating houses of the main street. The city of Pohuai was truly worthy of its fame. The smell of Fire Nation roast duck combined Earth Kingdom ramen made her mouth water. The street vendors would offer deliciously looking spicy Fire sausages with bread or Earth Kingdom meatball soup with almonds. There was even a chocolate vendor near the city's Fire Temple and of course Fire Flakes everywhere.
Ty Lee went into a corner and discretely counted the contents of her pouch, after much hesitation she decided that she could allow herself one last decent dinner before she began her search for Zuko the following morning. She still had no clear plan to infiltrate what was arguably the most secure and most guarded military base outside the home islands, or how she would find Zuko inside a place the size of a small city full of similar looking men wearing the same uniform... and masks, she thought. But then again, she didn't know exactly how Zuko was supposed to help her or even if he was willing to do so, she simply trusted that the many years spent together and their relationship, whatever it was, would count for something.
Much against her wishes she looked for a dim lit place with no curious looking costumers and sat herself in a corner. I have never sat in a corner before. She thought and with a sight ordered a serving of spicy chicken-pig escalope dressed in tomato sauce with nuts and a glass of strawberry water. The waitress gave her a quizzical look but proceeded to take her order without a comment.
I hope that no one...
"Hey there beautiful! What's a pretty girl doing on her own around here?" Asked an evidently drunk looking recruit as he approached.
Damn! She thought. Normally she'd be thrilled when men revolved around her, in fact it was probably what she enjoyed the most, on any other day she would have welcomed this opportunity to flirt and make an amiable conversation but today she wanted just to become invisible.
"I... I'm waiting for my boyfriend, hehe". She said nervously and kept on eating hoping for the young soldier to go away. She found somewhat annoying the fact that for all her social skills she didn't know how to make people leave her alone.
"What kind of boyfriend leaves such a pretty girl waiting?" Asked the recruit as he sat beside her.
"The kind that doesn't appreciate it when other people hit on her girlfriend". Ty Lee couldn't believe what she had just said, she had never before been so rude to... well... anyone really. The laughing and teasing that burst out from the men in the opposite table, friends of her suitor apparently, made her feel bad for the poor guy who immediately left in defeat with his tail between his legs to suffer the bullying of his friends for the rest of the night.
"You stuck up pretty good there". Said the waitress as she took away the emptied dishes. "Usually girls like you at least pretend to flirt around".
"I'm actually sorry for him" Said Ty Lee pretending she hadn't heard the girls like you thing.
"Don't be, these men have loose tongues and curious hands. After a day of hitting each other like brutes in the fortress they come here to pick up whatever piece of ass that lets itself fall for it... or they go to the red district which is kind of the same, life in here is just a stag trip for them. Do you want anything else?"
"More water please". Asked Ty Lee with a smile. It was getting late, after only a couple costumers were left she dared to ask the waitress. "Say, have you heard any news lately?"
"I hear news all day sweety, what do you wanna know?
"Have you heard of prince Zuko?"
"I thought you had a boyfriend". Replied the waitress said with a knowing smirk. Ty Lee looked away and hoped that her hood hid her glowing blush.
"I'm kidding, the man's supposed to be disfigured anyway". Explained the waitress with a laugh.
"Disfigured?"
"That's what the rumours say, some say that he was in a training accident, others that an Earth Kingdom soldier attacked him with a torch and there's those who say that he got burnt while swam in lava at Mt. Makapu. I've never seen him, he doesn't come out of the fortress apparently". She leaned closer so whisper in Ty Lee's ear. "Some say he's not into women".
"What?"
"I know right? But anyway the guys that do come in here for female company say he doesn't speak much, he doesn't get along with others and he's got a short temper".
That's Zuko all right. Thought Ty Lee.
"The soldiers can't stop talking about him, I don't know how much of what they say about him is real but I doubt anyone can stop a volcano".
Ty Lee was so focused on her conversation that she didn't notice the group of men that entered the eating house and sat by the entrance, only when the waitress left her to take their orders did Ty Lee turn to see them, she froze. In front of her where men wearing her family's sigil in their chest.
"I can't believe they lost Lord's Shun daughter, they should be thrown in a dungeon, our liege's daughter is alone an defenceless out there. What if something happens to her?" Complained a man.
"Apparently she's been seen travelling north towards Chenliu". Said another.
"Isn't she some kind of expert warrior?" Asked a third.
"She's still a child!"
"But she's managed to live on her own these last three years hasn't she?" Asked the man again causing the whole table to erupt in heated discussion.
"Imagine, a noble lady working in a fucking circus, what a disgrace!"
"What does she look like anyway?"
"I have a drawing here!" The men passed the small portrait around.
Ty Lee tried to make herself as small as possible in her dark corner and wait until they left.
"Hey doesn't that girl there look like her?" Asked one of her father's men. Ty Lee tensed.
"Idiot! How would you know? Her back's against us!"
"Well she's got an air... and besides isn't she a bit suspicious?". The whole table went dead silent at the comment, the tension could be felt in the whole place. Ty Lee felt the eyes of all the costumers at her back, after what seemed like an eternity one of the men finally stood up.
"Excuse me miss!"
Please don't be me! Please don't be me! Prayed the noble girl as she took a deep breath and prepared to fight. She felt a hand on her shoulder gently turn her around.
"I'm sorry to bother you ma'm but I was wondering if..." The man's voice died in astonishment, Ty Lee could have sworn that his eyes actually grew. Before he could react she launched a swift punch to his solar plexus and ran towards the entrance. Ty Lee actually winced as she heard the man's head hit the ground hard.
Maybe I shouldn't have paralysed him completely.
"My lady, stop!" Shouted the older of the men as the rest reacted to the attack and prepared to tackle her.
Ty Lee jumped and propelled herself from a table towards the men, she walked on a couple of heads taking great care to pressure the correct chi points to ensure they would not be able to follow her.
Three down, five to go. She thought as she landed in the street.
"Hey! Thief! She hasn't paid!" Screamed the waitress.
"Hey stop!" Screamed two Fire Nation guards as they heard the screaming and began running towards her, suddenly the whole soldier-filled street was looking at her.
Darn it! Thought the young acrobat, fighting was no longer a viable option. She dashed street down and hoped her lighter clothing and superior agility would give her the edge to evade her pursuers.
Think Ty Lee! Think!
As she turned towards a smaller street she passed a library, she didn't have the time to consider going inside because the men were breathing at her neck.
They must be at least twenty. She calculated based on the sound of the steps. With a series of last second turns to the sides she got a few dozen metres of advance, but she didn't know the city, it was only a matter of time before they caught up.
"There she is!"
Ty Lee saw a small group of drunken soldiers in front of her.
Time to put the beauty to use.
"Help! Those perverts are trying to grope me!" She screamed to them and pointed towards her pursuers, she didn't wait to see the ensuing struggle but kept running, she said the same thing to the other two groups of people that she ran into.
Finally she got to the part of the city were the alleys were narrow and dark and smelly. She just needed to get a bit of more distance and find a hiding spot. The alleys were so dim that she didn't notice that she returned to an equally bleak but more wide street. Ty Lee saw with suspicion that there were almost no perpendicular exists towards alleys, just big streets, she decided to keep straight until she found something, as she looked up she stopped in her tracks, only the city wall was there, it was a dead end.
She turned and tried to reach the last perpendicular street at her left, she was just a dozen metres away when some thirty men and soldiers appeared from the street to her right.
"We found her!" Screamed a soldier. She was trapped.
Ty Lee got into a fighting stance, it wouldn't be easy to beat so many trained soldiers and firebenders but she had to try.
"Surrender!" Screamed a guard that correctly assumed she would resist, at lest half of them looked dangerous, all of them had their guards up. Ty Lee took a look at them and patiently awaited for them to attack.
Two of her father's men were the first to run at her. Ty Le was ready to jump and deliver a knockout kick when a fireball as big as as a komodo rhino flew from the left street which she had tried to reach. It impacted the floor right in between her father's men and her. Ty Lee barely had time to jump behind and avoid the secondary impact of the flames, the men were not so lucky and got projected some two metres into the air and landed with a loud thud in the cold stony fool.
"Azula!" Said Ty Lee in surprise. What is she doing here? But then it hit her that Azula's flames were bright blue not bloody red like these.
"Leave her alone!" The scream echoed like thunder through the street and adjacent alleys, making her pursuers take an involuntary step back. The echoing steps seemed to cut through the night itself as a figure emerged from the street to her left, it was a soldier. He placed himself between Ty Lee and the men.
"Go back the way you came." He ordered with the voice of steel and an arrogant tone that could only come from a man used to rule, after a small pause of tense silence he continued. "Or die..." He said as he stamped his left foot on the ground and took a battle stance.
"Who are you?" Demanded a guard.
"That girl is Lady Ty Lee! We have orders from Lord Shun Lee to escort her back home!" Screamed one of her father's men as he help up a letter with a noble stamp and pointed to the sigil of the flying hawk on his chest while other held a torch on top of him so as to allow visibility. While this took place a solider, stupid enough not to realise the skills of his opponent based on the size of his flames, took a sudden step forwards and prepared to attack, hoping to catch his opponent off guard and that the others would follow to overwhelm the enemy.
A loud roar stopped him dead in his tracks and forced the rest of them to retreat another few steps as her defender lifted his hands and a three meter firewall rose behind him, separating Ty Lee from them, the immense amount of fire illuminated the street like a balefire.
"My name is Zuko. Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne!" Screamed the man, now perfectly visible for all to see, his flames shined in his leather armour and its golden embroidery. Ty Lee wasn't the only one to gasp as she heard his old friend speak. "I'll be escorting Lady Ty Lee wherever she sees fit, if anyone tries to lay a hand on her I'll kill him on the spot".
Normally this kind of threat wouldn't intimidate a Fire Nation soldier, much less a skilled firebender, but the raw strength that Zuko was currently displaying coupled with the knowledge that he had a recently won a reputation as a warrior against the Earth Kingdom, as the killer of Commander Zhao, the hero of Makapu village, a man who would beat a mayor's daughter to pulp in a fight and as Pohuai's most promising soldier, made his opponents gulp and hesitate.
"She... she didn't pay her bill at the eating house..." dared to speak up a guard while the other men muttered among themselves all sort of things about the prince,
"He drank the blood of the severed head", "Opened up Zhao's throat and smiled as the man drowned in his own blood", "Not even Col. Shinu dares look him in the eye". Was what Ty Lee could overhear from the distance.
"I'll pay her bloody bill!" Screamed Zuko at the guard who could only nod nervously in response.
It was only after the men lowered their guards in admission of defeat and the guards and soldiers began to disperse that Zuko lowered the fire wall.
Ty Lee then did the only thing Ty Lee would do when greeting a friend. "Zuko!" She screamed as she threw herself in his arms and hugged him tightly. "I've missed you so much". She whispered. She was safe now, no sane man would come close to her after such an impressive display of intimidation. Ty Lee could only wonder at how similar and yet how different from Azula Zuko was. The princess wouldn't have needed to actually scream or firebend, a simple look with her terrifying stare and a command with her ice cold voice would have cowed the men just as Zuko had. Ty Lee was always completely oblivious to the awkwardness that her long cosy hugs would cause to the people she hugged and in this case to the impression it gave the few men, guards and soldiers that had the courage to stay around.
As the sunrise showered his sleeping form and woke him with the gentle call of morning, prince Zuko slowly rose from the hard wooden floor in which he had slept and quickly realised the situation he was in, he prayed to the spirits that Ty Lee was still sleeping, he hadn't felt so embarrassed in many years and never for so many reasons.
The day before he had been reading himself blind looking for any information regarding his situation the whole day. The librarians had been actually embarrassed to tell him that visiting hours where already over.
As he began his slow return to the inn he caught a familiar scent, he couldn't for his life identify it but he knew it was important. He mentality chastised himself for forgetting to look up the symptoms of his smell in the library. Most of the time he would not distinguish anything abnormal with his sense of smell, but before or simultaneous with his episodes of itching lust he would perceive smells, specially women's scents with a limpidity and a force so overwhelming so as to make him tremble.
He turned in the opposite direction. As he went through the streets he kept hearing conversations about a chase, a thief and a girl. He paid no mind to any of it and continued to follow the scent, as the scent grew clearer Zuko tried to bring himself to leave it be and return home, nothing good would come out letting his cravings get the better of him, and yet this particular smell was different from anyone he remembered, it seemed so familiar, so enticing, for some reason Zuko felt a wet sense of nostalgia go down his throat and coldly flow through his lungs into his whole chest.
He had blindly wandered many streets and alleys like a half-wit until he heard the chase, the screaming, he smelled the sweat and the torches, he felt the hostility in the air. A strong and mixed smell of men was approaching the familiar scent, his scent. A sting of jealousy and anger took over him and his mind went blank, he had fuzzy and confused memories of running in anger through the streets. He remembered having launched a fireball and confronting some men. With a gulp he realised that he had threatened the men at arms of a lord, and fellow soldiers... and guards on duty.
Afterwards he remembered Ty Lee hugging him, most specifically he remembered the feeling of Ty Lee hugging him, the sweet lavender fragrance of her hair in his face, her tender and soft arms like a peach in his neck, her big smooth beasts pressed tightly against his chest.
Then his memory became foggy again, he remembered walking in stupor with Ty Lee at his side. Where we holding hands? He asked himself, they might have been, he couldn't remember, he was almost sure that Lord Lee's men and some guards had escorted them to the eating house. When the owner and workers discovered that the young lady was the daughter of Lord Shu Lee they had thrown themselves at her feet and begged for forgiveness, they had even refused the payment but Zuko had been adamant about paying. He remembered little to nothing about the conversation that took place, probably some compliments and pleasantries had been exchanged but who knew? Everything had mixed with the loud mumbling and gossip of the costumers and bystanders who approached to see what the commotion was about. There was one thing that Zuko was sure of though, after the waitress had prostrated herself at Ty Lee's feet for long enough and Ty Lee had convinced her to stand, the girl had said in admiration: "He really was you boyfriend!"
Back then just like now, Zuko had lacked the courage to ask what the waitress had meant, Ty Lee's blush had totally obfuscated his mind. At some point afterwards he had asked Ty Lee where she was staying and offered to stay with him when she quietly whispered about her lack of funds and openly refused to be let alone with his father's men. At the time Zuko had been so angry at the Lee's men not to realise that their disapproving looks and the unuttered protests, which Zuko had killed off with an angry stare, had been perfectly legitimate and justified.
Even if this city was know mainly because of its night-life, its red district and its loose morals, or precisely because of this, a young unmarried woman sharing room with a non related man unsupervised was completely unacceptable to the standards of Fire Nation Nobility, if the maiden in question as a noble herself and the man a member of the royal house then it was cause for a scandal of national proportions. Of course at the time Zuko had been too enthralled to think about it and Ty Lee had wanted to be as far away from her father's men as possible, nowhere would she feel safer than near Zuko, if she had thought about the impression they were giving she had not cared.
With extreme care Zuko rose from the floor and gave a sight of relief when he saw his friend still sleeping. He hurried towards the chimney and took one of the still warm logs into his hand and gripped. He needed to clear his mind from the vivid dreams he had had about Ty Lee, he needed to get rid of his hard-on member before Ty Lee woke up and the situation became more awkward than it was. As the symptoms remised he felt a bouldering tiredness descended in his shoulders, it had taken him a great effort to sleep. The previous night prince Zuko had had to wait until the lady in his bed was sleeping before he could burn his hands and get rid of the lascivious thoughts that kept assailing him and put to sleep his unquenchable desire along with his annoying erection.