Prince of the Fire Nation and Shadows
Chapter 10: Scars Don't Heal
Osamu groaned as he dragged his feet through the palace gardens, hands rubbing against his face. He had bags under his eyes, strands of hair coming loose from his ponytail, and his clothes looked slightly disheveled. Yep, Osamu was a tired mess that was ready to fall over at any moment. Thanks to the title of Crowned Prince, Osamu was forced to get up early every morning to attend his many duties and new lessons. He cursed the day that Azula discovered his shadowbending. Despite warning Azula that she had better not tell, she went and tattletaled to their father two days later about his ability and now he was never able to relax. His father was obsessed with the discovery of shadow bending and kept questioning Osamu in hopes of discovering more shadow benders. He also forced Osamu to train daily in bending shadows, hoping to speed up the process of him mastering shadowbending.
Osamu snarled at the happy sunshine that stubbornly beat down on him from the sky.
"I can't keep going like this. I want to sleep, damn it!"
"Osamu, my dear nephew, please watch your language."
Barely suppressing the jolt of surprise that ran through him, Osamu turned around to see his Uncle Iroh sitting in the garden with some tea. The last time he had seen his uncle was a few days ago, but it felt like years and he could not help the sigh of relief at seeing the man.
"Sorry, Uncle Iroh," he said, his frustration already disappearing. "I'm just tired of ...everything. I miss being able to sit back and relax. Father is being such a drag."
"Your father can be a... difficult man but he's just so proud of you, Osamu. He only wants to help you to become the great man you are destined to be, even if his way of doing it is not the best."
Osamu scoffed, letting his hair down before attempting to fix it.
"I am not his only kid. He's been neglecting Azula lately and barley spares Zuko a glance. I need to get away for a while. Travel a little, experience the world that I have yet to see with my own eyes. I don't want to leave my siblings, but I really need this and it will only be for a short while. Do you think you can help?"
"A short vacation will do you some good. I am sure we can get your father to agree if we can get him to see what a good experience it will be for you. But first, how about some Ginseng?" Uncle Iroh asked as he already began to pour another cup and pass it to Osamu.
Months Later
Osamu stood on the ship's deck with his uncle as they arrived back in the Fire Nation. Osamu had really enjoyed traveling again, even if it was not on foot like he was used to and he was being guarded instead doing the guarding. But, hey, a lazy guy like him was not going to complain. He was able to unwind and relax, while learning about the the other two nations. His uncle had even taught him some waterbending moves that worked with his shadowbending. He made more progress and had more freedom sailing the seas, but now it was already time to return home.
As Osamu expected, The Royal Guards were waiting at the docks to escort them home. When they arrived, both his brother and sister were waiting to greet them.
Azula was the first to run toward him, looking happy, scared and angry all at once. This shocked some of the Royal Guards since Azula was usually so composed.
"I'm so,so sorry, Osamu. I know I had no right to tell father your secret, but I did it anyway without caring how you would feel," she said softly, her head lowered. "I understand if your still angry, but please don't leave again."
Osamu let out a sigh.
"Troublesome little sister. I did not leave because of that. I left because I wanted some time to just laze about, you know. Thanks this vacation, I've gotten to sleep, learn about the other nations, sleep, better master my shadowbending, sleep, and watch the clouds go by," he said proudly with a lazy grin.
"You said sleep exactly three times," Azula muttered, one eye twitching in annoyance and anger. "Did you leave just so you can sleep?"
Osamu's lazy grin slowly morphed into a smirk, which resulted in Azula chasing and throwing fire balls at him. The Royal Guards stood by in confusion. No doubt wondering if they should step in while Iroh and Zuko chatted like nothing was wrong.
The Next Day
Osamu felt like he was on fire. Osamu was sick: his head hurt and it felt like it was stuffed with straw, he was burning with fever, and his mouth felt so dry that he wouldn't be surprised if he found sand in his mouth.
'What a drag,' he thought. 'I really don't need this right now... I was invited to listen in at the war council today and I doubt father, Fire Lord Ozai, will let me skip because of a cold.'
Poor Osamu was practically out of it by the time the war council started. He felt like he was either going to blackout or throw up. Neither one was a good option with his father present.
'Get it together,' he sternly scolded himself. 'I just need to focus and-' He slowly lifted his hand to stare at it, not noticing that Zuko and Iroh were there or that one of the generals wanted to sacrifice an entire division of soldiers.
'Why is there a tiny Temari in my hand yelling at me? Hi there. Oh, now there is a tiny Naruto shouting,"Believe it!'' How weird.'
He eventually blacked out after all, never hearing his twin brother's outburst or about the Agni Kai. By the time he had awoken, he learned from the servants that Zuko had an angry fire burn on the left side of his face. A punishment from their father to serve as a reminder about respect. Ozai had burnt his 13 years old son.
'I should never have left for that trip! I would have never gotten sick and could have stopped this. No, I should have stopped this. Measures should have been taken to ensure Zuko was not present for that meeting. What was uncle thinking when he allowed Zuko to come?'
As soon as Osamu was told about what had happened, he was racing towards his brother room, berating himself as he did so. He quickly threw open Zuko's door to find his twin bald with the last of his hair still in a ponytail, bandages covering the scarred flesh around his left eye, the right eye filled with so many emotions: anger, hurt, confusion, sadness, and shame.
"Oh Zuko..."
Yep, I decided to let Zuko get the scar anyway, but had to find a way where Osamu could not interfere. What should Osamu's next move be? Should he give up the title of Crown Prince to stay with Zuko? Will he go off on his own to plot against his father? Will he stay behind with Azula? What do you think?
