The Mechanist bent over his workbench, trying to focus on the final adjustments he needed to make. "Just a few seconds more, Teo."
Teo was sitting on the floor next to the workbench, his useless legs stretched out in front of him. The seven year old was tinkering with a few gears and a rubber gasket, amusing himself by coming up with new ways to fit them together. The Mechanist was constantly surprised by his son's intelligence. Sadly, Teo would probably grow up here, in the service of the Fire Lord. He would not know of anything outside of this workshop. The thought caused his hands to still for a moment before he shook himself free of the memories.
Unfortunately, Teo was still unable to walk. No matter what the Fire Lord's best healers said, he still believed that his son was special and could overcome. "Teo? Are you ready?"
"Yes Dad," the boy put down his makeshift toys and grabbed the bench he'd been leaning against and levered himself up and onto it. The child then picked up his legs one by one and lay them straight on the bench on front of him. The Mechanist then unwrapped the bandages from his son's legs and checked them for bruises and sores. Once that was finished, he re-wrapped his son's legs and fastened the metal and leather braces around them.
"How's that feel, son?"
Teo squirmed and shifted a little as he pulled the pins that held his legs out straight and dropped his legs over the side of the bench. "They fit much better now, Dad." He still couldn't walk, but the braces ensured that his legs grew straight. And Teo had grown like a weed these past few years.
"Good. Do you want the chair?" The Mechanist had done several drafts of a wheeled chair so that Teo could move easier. And it was much better for all parties involved if he didn't crawl everywhere.
"Yeah," the boy replied. They had designed it together and it was made of some metal scraps leftover from one of the larger projects. Teo had been skeptical at first, but once he got the hang of moving the chair, he was zooming and spinning around the workshop. Teo was soon settled in his chair once more and happily playing at the low table next to his father's work bench.
Now that that task was completed, the Mechanist stretched and started his next task. Fire Lord Azulon kept him very busy building irrigation systems, transportation vehicles, tanks and weapons for the Fire Nation's war. He had just begun to concentrate on the latest revision of his tank design when he heard shouting outside his workshop.
The Mechanist's current guard, Chey moved to investigate, but was pushed aside by the small Fire Princess. Azula marched through the cluttered workshop and looked up at the inventor. She thrust a small box up at him. "I order you to fix this!"
Chey and a contingent of the Princess's guards all had eyes on the Mechanist. With slow movements, he took the small box from the eight year old and carefully opened the lid. The music box was stuck, the little fire dancer's movements had stopped and the hinge was broken. "I'll start right away, Princess Azula. It may take some time though, I will send it to you when I am finished."
The Mechanist was wholly unprepared for what happened next. The Princess opened her mouth and wailed, clutching her fist in his pants and tugging. "I order you to fix it now! Now! Now!"
The bewildered inventor stole a glance at the soldiers in the room and then back down to the inconsolable princess. "Right away, Princess Azula. Would you like to supervise the process?" The Mechanist moved around his main worktable and sat on the floor beside Teo. He then grabbed a stool and moved it to his other side so the princess could sit and watch as well.
Teo remained silent through this process. He'd never seen any of the royals before. Not since they arrived here.
Azula glared at the stool for a moment, as if it offended her somehow, then carefully picked up her robes and sat down. She refused to touch anything else in the room. Her guards took a step closer, hovering over their shoulders.
"Now first, I will fix the broken hinge. Teo? Bring me the parts box." The Mechanist stet the music box down on the table and stood, retrieving a few small tools and a polishing rag. Teo pushed his chair towards the shelves that lined the room and pulled a small box onto his lap. He returned and set it carefully beside his father. "Thank you, Teo," the inventor quickly removed several sets of small hinges and laid them out in front of the Princess. "Princess Azula, I cannot match the existing hinge, but I can replace them both. Which of these pleases you the most?"
Azula scrunched her face up in concentration and pointed to the third set.
The Mechanist set to work replacing both hinges and then carefully oiled them, opening and closing the box several times to be sure they did not squeak. "Now for the important part!" He put on his magnifying monocle and looked inside the box's mechanism, then used tweezers to remove the tiny dancer's arm that was wedged in there and set it aside. He applied just the smallest dab of his fast-drying glue and reattached the limb, then turned the key in the back of the box. The music started playing and the dancer spun in her circle and the Princess's eyes lit up. For the first time since she had entered the workshop, she looked happy.
"You fixed it!"
The Mechanist closed the lid gently and gently wiped the varnished wood with a polishing cloth before presenting it back to his Princess. "It was my honor to serve my Princess."
Azula stood from the stool and nodded her head before running back out of the workshop, her guards trailing behind. The Mechanist looked at Chey and sighed, though the young guardsman didn't seem to have much clue either.
"Was that really Princess Azula?" Teo asked quietly.
"Yes, son. You will always be polite to her and let her do whatever she wishes."
Azula ran back to Mai and Ty Lee, clutching the box in hand. "I did it!"
"He was there? Was he scary?" asked Mai, who had just thought the Mechanist was a palace rumor.
"I hear he has an automaton that rolls around his workshop!" Ty Lee chimed in as well.
"I hear he's missing a hand because one of his inventions blew it off!" Mai added, because the servants and staff often whispered about the strange goings on in that part of the palace.
The girls crowded around Azula as she opened the music box and it worked just like new. "He was just a man, nothing to worry about at all. He's not even a bender! He is only missing three fingers on his left hand. And he does not have an automaton, it is a boy in a chair with wheels. He was younger than we are though."
Ty Lee frowned, she wanted to see what a real automaton looked like. "Did he say anything?"
"No. He looked Earth Kingdom though, so he must belong to the Mechanist," Azula stated.
Zuko walked over then. Azula glared at him until he ducked his head. "Azula, I apologize for breaking your music box," the Prince said, because their mother had told him to apologize for damaging his sister's music box.
"Zuko, what do you know of the Mechanist?"
The older boy shifted on his feet and looked up to the sky. "His workshop is off limits. And he is not to be disturbed. Why? What have you done?"
The Fire Princess scoffed and waved off her brother. "You broke my music box, so I ordered him to fix it. Did you know there is a boy down there?"
A shake of his head sent the Fire Prince's hair askew. "No. I have never been down there."
"You're no help at all!" Azula pouted and crossed her arms.
"Why? Did he anger you?" Zuko was suspicious of his sister's motives. She often liked to play wild pranks. And he was usually the focus.
"No! I should know if there are any other children living in the palace," Azula's logic seemed sound to her young mind.
"Uncle Iroh knows everyone in the palace. You should ask him."
"I think I will." And the music box was abandoned carelessly in the grass as the Fire Princess made her way to her Uncle's suite.