Author Notes: While the progression of the story roughly follows that of the show, many events are changed, arranged in a different order or omitted. This is fan fiction, after all.
"Kuei! Kuei!" Mitsu tried to pull his brother out of the seat, but seemed rooted to it by a force even bending couldn't dislodge. Bosco' s joining only made the effort more taxing on the both of them, and both fell with a thump to the ground.
"I can see…is that Chameleon Bay? That's…the town of Chin...I can see Ba Sing Se!" Kuei' s hands trembled at the sight of his ancient throne being sat on by a Joo Dee.
"See? What do you mean?" Mitsu still pulled at his brother's arm.
"I can see their forms, their faces, their animals…this is amazing!"
No Earth King has sat on this chair since the early days. A voice rumbled through the chamber.
"Who is that?" Mitsu summoned his staff and Bosco stood on two legs.
It has not been in the hands of the Earth King since the days of yore. You do not know my voice, but I know yours, Mitsu Ishihara brother of the King and friend of the Avatar.
"Who are you?" Kuei felt drugged in the chair.
Who am I? I am Lode, the Earth Spirit. I came here in the earliest of times to give life to the world. This chair is but a way to receive me. Long ago I founded the Earth Kingdom from the bones of the world and the bowels of the earth.
A glowing apparition hissed out of the ground and took the shape of a man wearing a mask and holding a giant staff that resembled a big tuning fork. Mitsu recognized the mask as the same one he wore against the Fire Nation drill, which he always felt compelled to wear against them.
Now you know my face, Heretic? You have worn it in my name even though you knew it not. The King would do well to listen to my words, as it is the season of spring when your people are strongest. Do not fear the Dream Chair, Shin Kuei! It is your birthright to sit in it and your blessing to see through the Earth. Far too few of your people do so these days and thus often see nothing.
Bosco pointed to his eyes, but the spirit shook its head.
The eyes can see, but for people of the Earth the feet can also see through the ground and in some cases the sand. This chair, Shin Kuei is attuned to all the crystal and rock in the Kingdom. You can see anything within the Kingdom as your ancestor the fifth Earth King did when he carved it for my pleasure. No one could surprise the kingdom when he sat on the Chair, bar from the air although those people were always friendly to us.
"There is another Earthbender who sees with her feet, Great Spirit," Mitsu bowed to t Lode. "Her name is Toph Bei Fong and she is teaching the Avatar Earthbending."
I am aware of that and am pleased. Yet only one may sit on the Chair, and that is the true Earth King who has lost his throne. Rise, Shin Kuei and reclaim your kingdom. The Path of the Lode will help you. If you can, find this Toph and learn how to see without the chair. Like your brother has said, you are also in need of instruction.
"We need to secure the kingdom first, plus I saw many people at Chameleon Bay with some ships in dry dock. Someone is planning an invasion, and I think the Bei Fong lady is with them. We need Omashu, Great one. I cannot turn to them yet. And the Path of the Lode is but one, great as my brother is." Kuei got up and the glow disappeared from his eyes.
The spirit stirred and weaved around the Earth King and his bear. "Those who walk the Path seldom declare it, as they do not know it when they move the Earth. Earth needs a center, Earth needs a focus. Those who follow their own path are Lode Masters like your brother. You may take the City of Two Lovers, and you will have help. You have my blessing and my love. Should you need clarity and rest, you may sit on this chair and dream of peace," the Spirit waved its hand and made the seat glow. "Not you," he waved a disappointed Bosco away. "I think you sleep quite enough, Pure Land animal."
"I never got that Pure Land stuff," Mitsu shrugged.
"Pure Land animals are direct descendants of the Spirits who came here long ago," the Lode sat on the chair. "His ancestor was a friend of mine, though we have not seen each other for twelve Avatar cycles. The ones that people know best are the two Water Spirits Tui and La, who yet dwell in the North with the Water Tribe. I sensed a death and rebirth among them and much tragedy, but the Avatar stopped it all with the aid of a great sacrifice from another. That was their weakness and their strength, being mortal and seen. I dare not do that, as I have spread throughout the lands in the form of the very stuff of the earth.."
"Thus you can never be destroyed," Mitsu rubbed the bear's head. "Neither can our spirit. Thank you, Great One." They all bowed as the chair stopped glowing and the Lode disappeared.
"You have your throne, Shin Kuei of the Earth Kingdom," the spirit's voice echoed as its form faded, "now earn it, and earn your birthright. The Dream Chair will await you when you complete this cycle of fate. Now set your eyes on the first seat of your people after this- the seat of the South, what you call Omashu."
"What did he mean by the cycle of fate?" Kuei turned to Mitsu after the lights came back to normal.
"Every elemental scripture has an idea of things being in a cycle. We have no idea though, what our cycles are. I can only hope the Avatar and us are in the same cycle, and that our fates meet again. But you heard the spirit, we are to head to Omashu… after lunch." Mitsu rubbed his hands. "I haven't tried your exploding buns in almost a decade!"
"Wait for it to cool, both of you! I am still the King! King of the kitchen, at least." Kuei raised his eyebrows and ran right for the kitchen, where the waft of smoke was coming from. It was a strange way to segue from a spiritual meeting to real life, but for once the Great Rock reverberated with the laughter of two men and a bear. Kuei had discovered the kitchen when fooling around with Bosco but had already ordered the pots and pans in neat rows with bread warm in the oven.
"Wow, that's impressive…where are those exploders?" Mitsu tried to hold himself back. A glint of gold caught his eye, although there was no golden cutlery in the kitchen to the best of his knowledge.
"Oh, I found this in a cupboard," Kuei picked up the golden tipped object, which had a red rim and a golden pin set in between. "It looks like a Fire Nation hairpiece, although I have no idea if the cook was a Fire Nation man. It looks really old, I thought it was a bottle opener or something!"
Mitsu took the headpiece out of his brother's hand and examined it closely. The gold was crafted to look like two flames pushing back while ornate characters were engraved on the pin, stuck through a round horizontal hole. It was solid but flexible, seemingly meant for a growing boy or girl of high rank.
"I'll look into this. You start making the exploders, now!" Mitsu pretended to slam his fist on the kitchen table before he waved his hand around and found the switch that led to the lower (formerly upper) levels of the library. Kuei shrugged and pulled some ashen bread out of the oven. Bosco leered blankly at his master, who moaned as he pulled out what looked like fresh flour.
"What are you looking at!?" Kuei raised an eyebrow. One drop of drool was all Bosco could muster.
Mitsu literally dived into the red-hued section of Fire Nation articles, a sole purple time crystal being his only light in a sea of darkness. The smell of buns wafted into the room as Kuei tried to dodge the flying books, but otherwise Mitsu had no distractions as he held up the hairpiece. It looked somewhat familiar to him, though the Fire Nation books he had were largely poetry, swordsmanship, royal lineage and forgotten techniques of the Fire Sages. Kuei dropped the tray besides his brother and ran back to the kitchen, hearing Bosco howl in pain from grabbing a too-hot bun too soon. Mitsu felt an overwhelming urge to tear through the books, but few had portraits let alone hairstyles. His half-dream was a hint that this thing was important, and he felt compelled to find out why for some unfathomable reason.
"You should know what that is," a female voice echoed through the chamber.
"Hey, who is that?" Mitsu extended his staff and held up the purple crystal. His force felt no other crystals in the vast catacomb, nor did it feel anyone was around. Yet there was some uneasy weight in the air around him, plus his eyes were glowing brighter than usual.
"That hairpiece once belonged to princes and princesses," the voice rumbled through the racks, "it was offered to me once by a prince, but not of my people."
"I know who you are now," Mitsu sat cross-legged on the floor. "Zhan Ming, honorable predecessor, I am honored to hear your voice."
"You have good rapport with the spirits, that is how you know me," the shape of a woman began to appear in the darkness. White robes were all around her, covering her except for her golden-backed amber eyes, while her face was still served by the room's darkness. "That hairpiece is the hairpiece of the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation and has been worn by few outside that family."
"Which includes you," Mitsu closed his eyes as Zhan approached him in the darkness, washing over him like a soft tide.
"Quite true, but more importantly the Avatar was gifted it once. It was Roku's prize possession until his very death. Like for me and Chao it was a symbol of friendship, but for Roku it was only a reminder of old days with old friends. Now the Fire People stand at a crossroads, and only the ones worthy of this headpiece will make that choice."
Two white wings of fire erupted from behind her as she said those words, but nothing seemed to be burning although the room was bathed in light; Mitsu kept his eyes shut but felt the intensity of the light.
"The Crown Prince? The old one …or the young one?" Mitsu saw images of Iroh and Zuko in his mind.
"It matters not but certainly not the woman," Zhan's wings wrapped around her, "they say it is a curse for a woman to wear it, but I did not listen. My poor Chao earned it after an Agni Kai he fought with his bare hands. I was lucky his people knew how to heal him," her voice began to break. "I almost threw it into the ocean and never wanted to go home, lest I burned my entire nation to ashes in my anger."
"The Fire Lord at the time was nothing like now, I bet."
"He forced his son to apologize for allowing a Water Tribesman to fight him in an Agni Kai and gratefully accepted the headpiece back after I offered it."
"You are the only Firebender to have ever left the Fire Nation to live with the Northern Water Tribe, and the only woman to have worn the Crown Prince's headpiece? You've done a lot, White Phoenix," Mitsu used her nickname at the time.
"If you want to know more, you will find our resting place on Ember Island. Chao is the only Water Tribesman to have ever been buried on Fire Nation soil as well, you know," she smiled but sighed afterward. "Kari's son was honorable enough to let us live there in peace. He was the one who rescued the headpiece from Roku's Island, you know."
"I know," Mitsu got up and bowed. He felt her warm hand rest on his shoulders, although they could have passed through if she pushed down. "Faithful friend to the end, even to a decaying dead body. Here I am, miles away from my own friends in this empty tower with my brother and his circus bear," he punched at the wall, remembering Aang and the others.
"This tower was practically your prison for six years. That is not how our people live, even Kari's son left his Air Temple to travel with, and ultimately bury Roku. You have to open your eyes and your heart… like one stubborn, angry Firebending girl who saw too little in too many people once upon a time, until she met someone who made sure she was never lonely or afraid again," she blushed slightly at the memory of her husband and sighed. Mitsu slowly opened his eyes as Zhan's form faded into the spirit world, the headpiece rolling around on the floor.
"You see, even the spirit world wants you to find a girlfriend," Kuei picked up the headpiece.
"You saw that?"
"Everything," Kuei grinned, "Seems we have an artifact here, but the Fire Lord hasn't been looking for it- you think he's forgotten about it?" Kuei pretended to plant it on his head.
"How did you see the White Phoenix?" Mitsu ignored his brother's deflection tactic.
"That chair kind of spoke to me back then, I tried it out while Bosco was boiling the pot. It's actually pretty user-friendly once you get the hang of it. Bun?" he tossed his brother a fresh muffin.
Mitsu caught the pastry and took a big chomp out of it. "You're taking this pretty leisurely, you know."
"I can't help it; this is the pace of my life!" Kuei shrugged. "Since we're down here, maybe you could show me some maps? I'm curious as what the kingdom used to look like, plus we have to find Omashu soon. And err; Bosco wants to spread his legs outside."
Mitsu looked at his bespectacled, slightly scruffy looking brother and something in him stirred, leading him to wrap his arms tightly around the former Earth King in what seemed like a killer hug.
"Don't ever change, bro," Mitsu s eyes began to well up.
"I don't intend to, because I have no idea how to be anyone else," Kuei sounded as casual as he could. His brother just held him tightly and gripped the fabric of Kuei's shirt as he silently cried slow tears. Big brother Kuei was his sunshine, he used to say. That was what the other Heretics always sought for the most part; the solace of the still night, the heartening effect of a bright day, the calm desert sands or the serenity in a forest. Kuei gave a knowing nod to his brother as he returned the hug. All that running and only now they could actually express their relief of being together again; Kuei had no tears as a lifetime in the court of the king made sure he never wept unless the state called for it.