Four Elements
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or any of the characters.
I'm still bad at wording things, I just happen to have a strike of inspiration that led to me finishing this chapter. I work full-time delivering pizza for Domino's, they have some seriously delicious food there, Pizza, Bread Sticks, Cinna Sticks, Cheesy Bread, Not sure about the wing or the Kickers, but definately the Oreo Dessert Pizza. Try them and see what you like.
Chapter 3: More Revealed
In the Ba Sing Se holding cell Azula had cooled her head, and was wondering how she could lose to some nobody. 'Then again, the outcome was obvious the moment he halted my attack...' Azula then just realized something. It was this realization that led her to a deep train of thought. These thoughts kept her thinking for quite a few hours.
The clattering of a plate with food snapped Azula out of her thoughts and when she looked down, expecting to see normal prison food, she was surprised to see that the food looked delectable even from her perspective.
"Through suggestion of Master Usui, the king has ordered you to receive some of the highest quality made food in Ba Sing Se, and that includes the finest tea made from our top tea shop, I can't quite remember the name but your uncle is the one who runs it," the Dai Li member spoke. "And before you start having doubts, I can assure you that we would carry no benefits or pleasure from poisoning anything you or your allies eat, senseless killing only causes more conflict."
Although slightly surprised, Azula couldn't think of anything that would keep her from eating what was given to her, and she was quite hungry as it was so there was no point in letting the food go to waste. When she was finished she went back to her thoughts.
With Usui...
Usui was walking to the current room Iroh was staying when the Dai Li member that delivered Azula's food approached him and kneeled.
"I take it you relayed my reasoning to her about the food," Usui said.
"Among other things, she appeared to have been in deep thought when she received the food," the Dai Li member spoke.
"That's good to know," he responded, and then said, mostly to himself, "no doubt she'll figure me out before this week has ended." Usui the looked at the Dai Li member and said, "You've done well, go to the king to receive further orders."
"Yes," he said and left.
"You carry quite a bit of respect around here," Iroh said from behind Usui.
"I suppose earning it comes from teaching ones with whom had no future beforehand," he responded to the Dragon of the West. "I suppose you heard about my comment about Azula."
"Indeed I did," Iroh answered. "Although cold, Azula isn't stupid."
"Indeed," Usui responded. "Now, onto more pressing matters, completion of Zuko's training will need to be our highest priority. My time is almost up and if we can't finish everything before that, then my plans may have been all for naught."
"I will speak with him, but he can't complete his training until he finally lets go of his pride," Iroh said somewhat sadly. "I've tried explaining this to him but he just can't seem to grasp the concept or he can't let go of the past."
"Well Zuko has been a special case for quite some time," Usui stated. "I suppose that there is currently only one person who can truly get him to finally let go. I'll have to get her soon."
"And who might I ask would that be?" Iroh asked with complete curiosity.
Usui smiled sadly, "As much as I would like to say, word could leak out and disbelief would only cause Zuko to push everyone away, I will bring her tomorrow."
Iroh closed his eyes and nodded, "I do hope this works, there aren't many people in or outside of family that can get through to Zuko without much trouble."
"I was able to convince him to deceive Azula," Usui said simply.
"Yes but you carry a presence that is familiar to him," Iroh replied informingly. "One who is foreign to him or has proven themself to be untrustworthy to him will find it difficult to cooperate, no matter how much he would benefit. Azula and Zuko have had no physical conflict until several weeks back so Zuko was easily deceived. He still carries a yearning to be accepted by Ozai."
"As does any son to a father," Usui replied. "I have said what was necessary, so pardon my rudeness but I believe it is time for lunch," and with that he walked off towards the dining area.
'He seems to represent a male form of Toph who hasn't been sheltered from the world,' Iroh thought to himself as he followed.
With the king...
Kuei(The King) was walking through the prison, looking for a his former advisor's cell. He made a brief stop at some cells to see the how the Fire Nation nobility were doing.
"You three appear to be handling your imprisonment quite well," the Earth King smiled. "You most likely won't be in there for more than a few weeks, a month at most."
"So we're going to be executed," Azula stated when she was snapped out of her thoughts.
"That's not for me to decide," Kuei responded. "Besides, I don't like executions so we avoid them if possible."
"Then our lives are pretty much done for," Mai said hopelessly.
"You'd be surprised as to how little we actually execute prisoners," Kuei admitted. "Now I have a traitor to see to." And he walked off to Long Feng's cell.
When the Earth King reached the cell of his traitorous former advisor Long Feng looked up.
"What what, pray-tell, have I done to deserve this honor your majesty?" Long Feng spat out.
"I'm trying to keep as little conflict as possible between everyone," Kuei said, catching Long Feng's full attention. The Earth King smiled when he had it, "I have a proposition that will insure that you will have your freedom."
"I'm listening," Long Feng responded.
"Due to your traitorous acts against the Kingdom, nay, the entire world, you no longer have a chance as the advisor of any class," the king informed him. "However, I I am giving you the opportunity to not only redeem yourself, but also to gain the position and power higher than the King's Advisor," he paused.
"And what position, might I ask, would that be?" Long Feng asked, completely intrigued.
"Why the ruler of the Earth Kingdom," Kuei answered. "One week from today, you and I will have a bout of fighting ability. The winner will receive the throne and all honors while the loser will live the rest of his days as a civilian. The rules are simple, no assistance from anyone, no one is allowed to fight in place anyone, and no weapons of any sort, bending, however, is allowed. The loser will be the one left immobile, unconscious or, if there is no control over it, dead. What do you say to these conditions?" the King asked, though he already knew the answer.
"I agree to these terms," Long Feng answered.
"And the insure that you there will be no health issue, you will receive a complete medical check-up the day prior to the bout and any class food of your choice each meal time served by a Dai Li member," the king explained.
"You had better be ready to step down from the throne," Long Feng informed the king arrogantly. "Allowing me to bend will insure my victory."
"We shall see," Kuei responded and walked away.
At dinner...
"YOU WHAT!?" five voices shouted as the king told them of the arrangements with Long Feng.
"I believe there is more to this than it seems," Iroh stated calmly.
"You should know that although I don't like fighting in general, it doesn't mean that I can't hold my own against seasoned veteran benders," Kuei explained, calming the five(Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and Zuko) down. "And Long Feng is far from seasoned when it comes to any form of fighting."
"So you chose fighting because you knew that it would be the one thing that he 'knew' he could best you at," Iroh stated, completely unsurprised. As a member of royalty he knew about the requirements of fighting, you must be able to hold you own against, if not best, an experienced general before your teen years.
"It doesn't matter how much Long Feng thinks he knows about fighting if he's never faced someone on fair terms," Kuei said simply.
"That is a good point," Sokka said. "Now that I think about it Long Feng hasn't once fought us face to face."
"Always hiding behind tha Dai Li," Kuei stated. "Now it wasn't until recently that the Fire Nation has shown itself to be a great threat since Iroh was leading an attack. The citizens come to Ba Sing Se because of its safety, if they were to know that we were nearly penetrated by the Fire Nation there would be complete panic, which is why I let Long Feng do as he wished. Besides, if I hadn't, he would have been more inclined to fight and therefore would have gained more experience in his bending," he finished making his point. "Now if there is nothing else to discuss, the food has arrived."
And the rest of the day went uneventful.
The next day Usui went back into the caverns far beneath the city to retrieve who came for.
He walked to tall who was alongside a beautiful, middle-aged woman. "We are in need of your assistance," he said to the woman. "If you both will accompany me back to the palace everything will be explained there."
Both of them nodded and picked up there cloaks to keep from being reconized.
They arrived at the palace while keeping a steady walking pace.
Iroh was waiting, patiently playing a game of Pai Sho against Kuei, who appeared to be winning.
"I can only guess that one of the two you've brought will be helping Zuko with the final achievement of his training," Iroh stated.
"We've been partially informed that it was to help Zuko out, we just don't know how much," tall spoke.
"Zhao!" Iroh said with venom in his voice as he moved into a fighting stance. "Why are you here!?" he demanded
"I am under the orders of my lady here," tall, now revealed as Zhao answered, indicating the one standing next to him.
The lady lowered her hood revealing the last person Iroh thought to ever see again, "You're..."
"We'd do well not to reveal her name until we find Zuko," Usui stated. He snapped his fingers, a Dai Li member came forth and he asked politely, "Would you please tell me where Zuko is?"
"He is currently in the gardens working on his meditation," the Dai Li member responded.
"Very good," Usui said. "We should get going."
The lady nodded and put her hood up to keep Zuko from running.
"And your majesty," Usui said.
"Yes," Kuei answered.
"You'd best put a lower piece here to remain ahead," Usui indicated one specific place.
"I'll do that," Kuei answered and did so.
"Looks like my loss," Iroh stated. He's not one to complain over a loss of a game.
Usui was guiding Zhao and the lady towards the garden.
When they reached the gardens they found Zuko in deep concentration.
"Learning control," Usui stated. "Definately a good idea."
"I learned that the hard way," Zhao admitted remebering his blunder with his boats which he sunk.
"ZHAO!!!" Zuko yelled jumping into a fighting stance like Iroh did. "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE!?"
"That's a story best left for later on," Usui stated.
"Why are you here?" Zuko asked, calming down when Zhao made no move to attack.
"I am here under order of protection," Zhao answered.
"Who did father order you to protect and why?" Zuko asked.
"It wasn't your father who made the order," Zhao stated.
"It was me," the lady specified.
"But due to Zhao's position as admiral only member of the royal family who still have power are able to give that order," Zuko said. "Neither uncle nor I can give that order and Azula doesn't know if your alive or not, that means..."
The lady lowered her hood to reveal the one person Zuko missed more than anyone else.
"MOTHER!!!" he yelled as he rushed over to hug her with tears in his eyes.
"You have grown to be a fine man Zuko," Ursa said as she hugged him back.
Indeed, the lady of the Fire Nation and Fire Lord Ozai's wife, Fire Lady Ursa was back in Zuko's life.
End of Chapter...
People revealed, I left quite a distinct hints for those who didn't see this coming. R&R