Here it is, all shiny and new. Enjoy. :D
Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, this would be original work, not Fanfiction.
The sun's warm rays refracted off the glass panes, illuminating the small study Zuko sat in. The window was open, letting in both the welcome warmth and the melodic songs of birds perched in trees outside. Flowers blew in the wind, dancing intimately with the buzzing bees that pollinated his garden. The fountain trickled idly, its droplets flashing rainbows over the lush green grass. Zuko smiled fondly, memories of his childhood playing through his head as he watched the calm summer scene before him.
He let out a sigh and turned away from the window, returning his thoughts to the papers before him. Annual reports he needed to sign, request for audiences. The last thing Zuko needed right then was work, but he knew it had to be done. Running a country was no job for a slacker. But still... his gaze was pulled back to the scene outside. Why waste such a beautiful day?
Deciding that the country could wait just one hour, Zuko rose from his desk and strode to the door, his Fire Lord robes dragging along behind him. The outfit really was not built for maneurverability. He exited the study and walked the short way to the doors that led to the garden courtyard. He had chosen that room specifically for his study for a reason. He always liked to be near the garden.
Once he was out on the beautiful green grass, Zuko sighed plesantly. The sun's rays hugged him, siphoning all his worry away. He needed this - a moment to relax. To let his thoughts slide and just... be.
The past week and a half had been torture to him. With his sister wreaking whatever havoc on the world, and Aang off making sure their friends were okay, Zuko felt caged in. He wanted to help, to go with Aang and track Azula down himself, but he couldn't. He had sent people out to attempt to find any information on her that they could, but none of them had heard hide's whisper of her. She seemed to have disappeared completely, and it frustrated Zuko to no end. He knew Azula was doing anything but lieing low, but he couldn't do a thing about it.
Bending over a patch of lillies, he stroked the petal of one, bringing his nose down to inhale it's sweet fragrance. Lillies had been his mother's favourite flower. Many a summer afternoon she had spent simply tending to the lillies of the garden.
Thoughts of his mother brought Zuko to ponder his second frustration. Since claiming the Fire Nation and imprisoning his father, he had tried desperately to get his mother's location out of him. Ozai was stubbornly silent on the matter. He seemed to revel in Zuko's distraut state concerning Ursa. All Zuko could hope for was that his mother had heard of his succession, and was making her slow way to him. He refused to torture Ozai into giving him the information. That would give Ozai the pleasure of knowing Zuko was no better than he.
Sighing, Zuko straightened. A small bird fluttered down to the fountain, landing delicately on it's stone bowl. It chirped happily at Zuko, whom smiled faintly. Sometimes he wished he could be as carefree as a bird, worrying only about where he would get his next meal. He touched the pendant at his neck, the small Air Nomad necklace Aang had given him a year before, so that the memory of his people would live on. There was always a balance, the joy to offset the frustration. In the end, he supposed, he wouldn't give up his life to fly free like a bird.
"Fire Lord, sir." The voice startled Zuko out of his thoughts, and he turned to find a servant kneeling at the edge of the garden. The grasped a piece of rolled paper in his hand.
"Yes?" Zuko asked. When the man didn't move, Zuko sighed, ordering him to stand. Honestly, some of the servants took their deference a little too far. Another byproduct of Ozai's rule, Zuko knew. He had thought to replace them after he was crowned, but decided against it. They would probably end up killing themselves in shame.
The servant rose and held out the letter, a slight tremble in his hand. "This came for you moments before, Your Majesty. I was told to give it to you as soon as possible. It is from the Avatar."
Zuko took the letter from the man, dismissing him with a thank-you. The man all but scurried out of the courtyard, but Zuko hardly noticed. His attention was on the paper. Slowly, with slightly tremling hands of his own, he unrolled the parchment. Inside he found a slightly smeared letter in Aang's recognizable hand. Quickly he read through the letter, then again more slowly. An attack on Kyoshi? And a choker that inhibited his bending abilities? Zuko shook his head.
Sokka was right, of course. Those events were too close in line with Azula's escape. He didn't think there was a coincidence. Only he and Aang knew he would be on Kyoshi - and whoever Aang mentioned it to in the Southern Water City, but nothing could have outflown Appa to Kyoshi, especially with time enough to launch an assault.
But a collar that supressed Aang's powers? Even his Avatar state? Zuko couldn't imagine such a device existing. He wished his uncle was there to tell him what to make of the situation. Iroh was closer to Aang though, and Aang needed him more that Zuko did. Hopefully the old man could give Aang something to work with. Aang's inability to bend brought on worse problems than just his current quest. The world needed the Avatar.
There was one other person that knew that much about the world, and might have heard about such a collar. Zuko felt torn about the idea of approaching his father with such a question - he didn't want Ozai to get the satisfation that would come with learning that the Avatar was powerless. Plus, Zuko conceeded, the chances Ozai would help him were slim. But if there was even the slimmest of chances, the possibility that Ozai might reveal something in his joy over the news... After a moment's deciding, Zuko figured it was worth a shot.
The dungeon was cold and damp, purposefully kept so to discourage firebending. Zuko walked down the halls, his robes trailing in the slight film of dirt that covered the floors. He ignored the stench, and the moaning pleas for mercy. He had been down here dozens of times, and this was no different than any other. He hoped that perhaps this trip would end differently, however.
The cell where he had imprisoned his father was located deep within the complex. Many of the guards saluted him as he passed, and some went as far as kneeling formally. Zuko briefly nodded in recognition to each of them, passing quickly. In his hand he still held Aang's letter, and he stode with purpose. He might not be able to help Aang or the others on the field, but if he could only get something out of his father...
Approaching Ozai's cell, Zuko nodded silently to the guard. The guard pulled a key from his brestplate and opened the door wide, allowing Zuko entrance. The inside of the cell was bland - a small table sat to one side, and half the room was blocked by the bars that held the prisoner. It was no different than the cell that had held his uncle over a year ago. Except for one key detail.
Rather than his uncle's disappointed form, it was Ozai that sat in the cell, his body weak and hunched. Skin hung from his bones, and his face looked hollow, beaten. The man was a shell of his former self. Even after all his father had done to him, Zuko felt pity for Ozai.
Ozai lifted his face to meet Zuko's gaze, his eyes glaring scornfully. "What do you want, boy?" he asked in a wheezy voice. Zuko frowned. He knew his father had skipped meals, was purposefully wasting himself away. It suprised Zuko, in a way. He'd thought that his father would have taken imprisonment with an unbeatable self-pride. Dieing would be, in Ozai's mind, giving in to Zuko.
"I have a question for you," Zuko said, not able to keep all of the scorn out of his own voice. Pity his father or not, he held no respect for the man.
Ozai snorted. "I told you, I won't give you the satisfaction of a happy reunion," he spat. He turned his gaze away from Zuko as though dismissing him.
Sighing, Zuko motioned to the letter in his hand. "Aang... The Avatar just sent me this letter," he said. He really didn't know what the best way to tackle this was. "Azula escaped about a week ago, and now the Avatar has a collar around his neck. It disables his ability to bend."
Grunting, Ozai twisted his body, looking back at Zuko. His face was completly blank. Zuko frowned - he would have thought his father would be all but estatic.
"The collar..." Ozai mumbled. "Does it supress... his Avatar state as well?"
Zuko blinked. "Yes."
Ozai leaned forward. "Listen closely, boy, because I'm only going to tell you this once."
Surprised that he had gotten something from his father without even a little persuasion, Zuko leaned forward so that he could hear Ozai's words clearly.
"There is a group of people in this world that I hate even more than you and your friends," he said the word with disgust. "They are known as the Bloodsworn. As secretive as they are, I don't know much about them. They work using some sort of combination of Firebending and bloodletting. I-"
"Bloodletting?" Zuko interjected, the word leaving a bad taste in his mouth. He had never heard of such a thing before, but it didn't sound at all pleasant.
"Don't interupt me, boy, or I might change my mind about telling you this," Ozai snapped. Zuko nodded, and the former Fire Lord continued, "I had heard that they had created some sort of device that would stop the Avatar in his tracks. I'd been... skeptical. This collar though, it might be the same thing."
"The Bloodsworn..." Zuko said to himself. He glanced at the letter again.
"I should have wiped out that pathetic cult when I had the chance. I feared Azula might have become involved with them." Ozai looked Zuko straight in the eye, demanding his full attention with his gaze. "Destroy them. All of them."
The energy appeared to go out of him then. He slumped on the floor, his breathing growing methodic.
"Thank-you," Zuko said quietly before rising. He left the cell quickly, gripping Aang's letter in a tight fist. He had to get this information to Aang.
I have to apologize for this one being so short. I ended up deleting a scene that was tacked on at the end. The next one is bigger, I promise!