A/N: The Following is rated W; for worrisome.

It contains dialog, where appropriate, from S2E17 "Lake Laogai"

Reader discretion is advised.


Chapter 15 "The Things we do for Love."


Early Summer, year 11 in the reign of Fire-Lord Ozai

Katara made it clear before she left, as she had before in the badlands and in no uncertain terms, that she could not, absolutely could not, come and see Zuko every day. People, notably her brother, would get suspicious. Even Aang, as tied up in knots as he was about Appa, would catch on. The previous excuse she used in the badlands, that she was practicing alone in the moonlight to gain insight into its nature, wouldn't fly in the densely packed city.

Zuko just nodded in acceptance, mind still somewhat muddled in a nearly cheerful fog. He would take whatever time she could give him, as little or as much as he could get, as long as she felt it was safe for her. She didn't owe him anything, and the fact that the woman he loved was here, in the same city as him, and actually wanted to… to… pass the time with him was an unexpected and terribly wonderful thing. He couldn't even begin to express how stupidly in love with her he was.

Not that she had said it back.

That was a troublesome thought that Zuko had as he leaned against the doorframe of Lady Xian's the next day; his zanshin forgotten for the moment, most of his focus on Katara and what it meant now that she was here. Zuko had told her he loved her ages ago, but at no point had she said it back. It seemed a trifle, she had just had sex with him after all and he knew what that meant to her, what the had to mean to her. But…

Don't be stupid. Of course she loves you. Why else would she-

Because she is cautious, and an expert at misdirection and redirection, answered the part of his brain that still remembered a life fraught with intrigue in the royal palace. You could be a powerful ally… if you could be TURNED.

Zuko's frown deepened behind his straw hat.

You are being stupid. I can trust-

Trust is for FOOLS. His sister's voice. Everyone ALWAYS wants something. That is the nature of people. They USE one another to get the things that they want. Those who are not useful are either put to the side until they ARE useful… or discarded.

Azula always had been a lot smarter than him.

Katara is an HONORABLE woman. She would not… she just WOULDN'T.

"To subdue the enemy, WITHOUT fighting is the acme of skill," Akodo had said, another of the foundational lines of LEADERSHIP that had given birth to the Scorpion dojo. And if you know ANYTHING about the girl and her little bald friend, they LOVE winning without fighting.

If Zuko could have any scowled harder he would have, but he had already reached a level of scowling previously unseen by humankind and several potential customers, unremarked by Zuko, had suddenly changed their minds about walking into the Palace or even within several feet of him.

why can't my life EVER be simple?

/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\

"I must say, nephew, I never thought that we would do so well for ourselves," Iroh said as he continued to organize his, no longer meager, belongings into assorted baskets for transport.

Zuko just grunted in agreement.

While Zuko, despite his uncle's best efforts, still thought of tea primarily as "hot leaf juice," it was clear that the citizens of Ba Sing Se, both the high and the low, had a different opinion. It hadn't even taken Iroh a week to develop a reputation for fine tea brewing and excellent tea ceremony which drew clientele in from far and wide.

After Zuko's very public duel with Jet, business had practically exploded.

Formal tea ceremony was considered an art form in the Fire-Nation and, among the stable well-ordered citizens of the Earth-Kingdom, it was considered one of the highest. Precise movement and exacting control of temperature, the positioning of the teacups and pot, the timing of the pours and their angle all had to be carefully controlled by the server, and when done correctly the ceremony itself was believed to have spiritual benefits to those who partook, bringing order out of chaos and peace to the troubled mind.

The fact that Iroh was able to perform the Art of Tea Ceremony in a rickety lower ring shop and without firebending spoke volumes.

The patronage and tips Iroh had brought in had allowed him to, after his usual fashion, pepper their smallish apartment with odd knickknacks and woodblock paintings. He had even bought another tsungi horn, as well a variety of painted screens and innumerable fans, in a variety of colors and styles, all of which he bid Zuko give to Lady Xian as tokens of his "esteem."

Zuko was beginning to suspect that he did it just because he enjoyedmaking Zuko uncomfortable.

Zuko's own belongings were just as meager as they had been in the days before he was called Ping. Simple, functional, austere and, most importantly, highly portable. He had been packed in five minutes. Iroh was fast approaching five hours, musing over each item and telling Zuko a story about it, intermixed with ideas about potential names for his new tea shop.

Five interminable hours in which Zuko helped a small amount by moving full baskets to the door and in which he deflected leading questions a large amount.

"So, you were out late last night nephew…" Iroh said musing over a painting of several doves in flight over a cherry tree.

"Yes uncle," Zuko said as he hauled a decorative urn over to the door where a group of hired workers were transporting things down the stairs and out to a cart which would convey Iroh to the upper ring.

"You know, I had a painting like this back in the palace?"

Let me guess, you got it from an ex-girl-

"One of my lady friends was a painter," Iroh continued, unaware of Zuko's inner monolog. "The things that woman could do with a brush," he finished wistfully. "This was before I met your Aunt of course."

Zuko, now eyeing the tsungi horn and wondering how his uncle had even gotten it through the narrow door in the first place, just grunted in acknowledgment.

"Your Aunt was something special you know? Beautiful, graceful, excellent tea sensibilities… it is important in life to make sure that one knows a person before committing too deeply."

"Assess the enemy's strength in detail," Zuko quoted, turning the tsungi horn in his hands as he eyed the doorway irritably. "A known enemy is not half so fearsome as a mystery."

"Yes, well… that's as may be but… it is also wise to appeal to one's elders for advice. Especially when one's elders are so… experienced."

Oh, good spirits.

"How did you even get this thing in here, uncle?" Zuko said hefting the horn and glaring at the door attempting to change the subject.

Iroh's eyes widened and he grinned. "Patience and a gentle disposition, nephew. When the door is ready, it will open. If you attempt to force it through that is a good way to get your horn caught in a slamming door."

Oh… just… gross.

"Now if you want more specific advice I will need to meet the lady in question. Do you think she is more of a jasmine drinker or-"

"Uncle!" Zuko snapped. "Horn-" he shook the instrument in his hands- "Door." He gestured at the narrow doorway to their apartment.

Iroh blinked. "Oh. It separates," he said, gesturing at the bell of the horn. "Things are not always as complicated as you make them out to be nephew."

"I rarely find that anything in my life is simple," Zuko growled twisting and pulling at the horn to separate it.

"Yes, well, nothing in the world is more complicated than a woman. Once you figure them out even Pai Sho…"

Spirits save me, Zuko thought.

/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\

It turned out that, despite her vehement protests to the contrary, Katara met him after work almost every single day. A basket of food in her hands and a happy smile on her face that, for the length of her stay, banished any doubts he had.

Zuko had attempted to protest the food, once again on the grounds of not accepting charity. Katara, her smile flashing to irritated frown as quickly as lightning, asked if he was suggesting that her food was bad. How his words had been manipulated into implying that was unclear but, apparently, they qualified as a near mortal insult in the eyes of the female population of the Water-Tribe. And so, the Unicorn's favored daughter then implied, a murderous glint in her eyes, that if Zuko thought he was too good to eat her food then maybe, perhaps, he might just be too good for her as well.

Zuko decided that, perhaps, his pride could take a small hit. Just the once. Just for her.

He discovered that she made the best food anyway, which they would eat together back at his new "apartment." The food she made was simple yet filling and reminded him greatly of the lifesaving bowl of stew he had had back in Haiya. He had mentioned as much a few nights after moving, on the instance that she did in fact bring stew.

He had looked up from his empty bowl to discover that she was furious.

"How DARE they?" she growled. "You come back, you fight those… ruffians, you SAVE the boy, and then they throw rocks at you? I've half a mind to go back there and…"

Zuko was touched but, despite the warm fuzzy feeling her indignant-on-his-behalf wroth engendered in him, he found himself defending them. "To be fair, 'it is the evil one knows that must be chosen over the evil one does not.' After Matomo… well… I'm surprised my own people tolerated my presence."

"Hey! I'm defending you here!"

"And I am grateful," he said taking her hand from across the low table. "But you do not have to-"

She leaned away from him, crossing her arms beneath her breasts and looking just shy of livid. "Third rule, Zuko. Besides, how is anyone going to hold you accountable for what you while you're being possessed?"

"Katara…" he put his spoon down gently, "I'm insane. Not… not…"

"I've been traveling with the Avatar for almost two years, Zuko. I know what spirit possession looks like. And if that sort of thing counted even Aang would have blood on his hands."

"He does have blood on his hands," Zuko said his tone going dark. "Do you have any idea how many people he killed at the North Pole?"

"That was the Ocean spirit!"

"Which HE CALLED DOWN ON US!" Zuko roared. "Thousands, Katara. Thousands of people, dragged under the water, frozen solid, because he couldn't win conventionally so he… he… cheated!"

"Yeah? Kinda like Sozin did huh?"

Zuko's mouth dropped open in astonishment as Katara flushed and looked away. "That… that is a fair point," Zuko said quietly, "but did you just compare the Avatar to my great-grandfather?"

"We're not supposed to be… I don't want too… can't we talk about something else?"

Zuko reached to the side of the table and slid it out from between them, then scooted forward. "We don't have to talk at all," he said, gently taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

Katara smiled softly and squeezed his hand back, then clambered into his lap, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Zuko said wrapping his arms around her.

"You don't have to apologize. We were both being…" she paused trying to find the right word, "stupid. We're both stupid."

"Yes, very, but I should not be yelling at you like that. I… I love you, you know?"

Katara only made a happy sound and snuggled closer to him.

It does not matter. I know how I feel. It changes nothing.

He would take what he could get.

/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\

Time passed in something that, if one squinted at it, from a distance, almost seemed akin to domestic bliss.

Katara would arrive with food near sundown, beaming brightly at him and his customary scowl would lose a few degrees of potency. They would walk back to his place and then they would eat and talk. Conversations over a meal often led to one surprising revelation or another, often followed by shouting.

Or sex.

Or sometimes both.

Despite his desire for tranquility with his girlfriend, Zuko was often brought to shouting. Although, after that first time it was never about the Avatar, or fact that they were, in his case tangentially, on opposite sides of a war. Katara was a passionate woman; and defended her beliefs, whether about bushido, philosophy, or the merits of whale blubber over hippo-cow, tenaciously and at high volume. Zuko was just plain obstinate and at some level he enjoyed sparring verbally with her. She would shout, he would shout back and revel in being in love with a woman who was not only a match for him in ferocity but was at absolutely NO level afraid of him.

The night she brought a blubber and barley soup, Zuko was also treated to the discovery that she would be absent the following night owing to the need to celebrate her brother's nineteenth birthday. Zuko found himself surprisingly irritated that the idiot was in fact older than him.

Katara's first, and only marginally successful, attempt at wontons led to the revelation that they had found the mythical Wan Shi Tong's library in the Burning Sands. Inside she had discovered this particular recipe and other information. Zuko noted how quickly she changed the subject, and the subtle flush on her cheeks, when he asked what else she had found inside. He didn't press, but it was obvious it was something to do with the war, or his people. There was very little else that she wouldn't share with him and to tell her it was alright he simply wrapped his arms around her from behind as she prodded at the oddly shaped dumplings and kissed the spot on her neck that he had discovered she liked.

So, to be fair, the wontons being burned was mostly his fault.

Later in the week hot pot night was almost ruined by the information that his sister had punched a hole in the Kaiu Wall.

"She did WHAT?!"

"Yes, she and your friends had a giant drill. It's ok. We stopped it," Katara said, still idly stirring the pot over the low flames Zuko had bent into existence. "And no, no one was hurt, that I know of."

"How is that possible? If that had happened the entire city would be in chaos."

"The Dai Li," Katara snarled, her stirring growing more vigorous. "It is the policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within the walls. Idiots."

Zuko took a deep calming breath, gathering himself for the fight that he knew was imminent.

"If this is so… you need to leave."

She glared at him, her fists at her hips, one still clutching a wooden spoon. "What? Are insulting my cooking?"

"I'm sure your hot pot is delicious, like everything else you make. Don't change the subject. If my sister here… you need to leave the city."

"I already told you we stopped her from-"

"No. No, you did not. You may have stopped that scheme, but there will be another and another and another. Azula does not stop."

"And neither do I!" Katara said brandishing the spoon at him.

"Katara, she has been preparing for this nearly her entire life, the both of us were before my banishment. This is the last hurdle, the final step between my family and world domination." Zuko sighed. "I had expected a few more years before it came to this. She must have been really pissed after Tu Zin."

"But… we stopped her drill!"

"I think you misunderstand. I assure that was not her drill. It was most likely commissioned by one of the older generals, and a Lion to boot. Azula is not a Lion, she is a Scorpion; and tearing down walls, a frontal assault, is not their way. They come at you sideways, it's how they think, how they move, how they win." He shook his head. "She is probably already in the city. Ba Sing Se is no longer safe for you. You need to leave."

"You… you're being paranoid, and arrogant!"

"You called them assassins Katara, and in many ways you were fundamentally correct. The idea that a wall could keep them out is beyond ridiculous. It is not a matter of if, but of when."

"They I will need to stay and stop them! We've done it before, and we'll do it again."

"This will not BE like before!" Zuko shouted, slamming his fist down on the table and making the pot jump. "This is a battleground for which Azula is not only prepared, but which favors her! You will never even see her coming. She will not challenge you to a duel, or roar a battle cry and charge. She is not me! She will kill you while you sleep!" Zuko leapt to his feet and began pacing nervously. "You need to be careful, very very careful. We will have to move you to a new location, somewhere in the lower ring. The boy is much too visible, he-"

"Your concern is touching," Katara snapped. "But I am not moving house, I am not leaving this city without Appa, and I am NOT afraid of your frostbitten sister!"

"You should be, and that's part of the problem! You judge her by me, but I'm a failure! She is a hundred, a thousand times more dangerous! If she finds you…" his heart rate spiked at the merest contemplation of what Azula would do if she found Katara, and what he would have to do in return, and his hands began to shake as he dragged them through his hair.

"We beat her before, Zuko. You can't seriously think that-"

"She will kill you," Zuko whispered, eye wide and glassy in panic. "And then… then… I'll have to k-kill HER." His voice grew louder and darker as he continued, "I will BURN this entire wretched hive to SLAG and her along w-with it! I'll… I'll…" his face twitched violently.

Katara dropped the spoon and moved to him, her face and voice going entirely calm. "Zuko? Look at me Zuko," she said firmly, turning his face to hers, establishing eye-contact. "You are here. Here with me now, in this place. And there is no one here but us." She wrapped her arms around him and held him there making soft shushing noises, as though rocking a baby to sleep…

…and the something HISSED angrily inside Zuko's mind and vanished, taking the mindless rage with it.

What- what the fuck was that!? Zuko thought, going stock still as his hackles rose off of his neck in dread.

He had never felt, never even conceived, of a sensation like that. Anger was his constant companion, he was as used to it as he was used to breathing. The sensation he had just felt was much like discovering that one of his lungs had been operating at someone else's command. There had been something there. Something that wasn't him, something angry and dark and malevolent, inside his mind.

Ash and bone, she was right! What the FUCK WAS THAT? But then she- she-

"What… what was that?" Zuko said aloud.

"Just something I read in a book," Katara murmured into his chest. "Are you ok?" she said looking up at him.

"I… I'm fine," he said sounding surprised at the truth of it. "I'm just… worried. About… well… everything."

"Well… stop it."

"I'm sorry."

"And stop apologizing!"

/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\

The Dai Li had Appa

Katara had implied as much, and after Zuko ventured a few cautious questions Lady Xian had all but confirmed it.

"If there were a sky bison in the city I would know about it, darling. Unless of course, the Dai Li has him. They're the only ones who are any good at keeping secrets around here."

Getting the bison now became Zuko's priority one. Katara (and the Avatar, Zuko supposed) wouldn't leave the city without the creature. Zuko could admire their loyalty if not their strategic idiocy and decided that if Katara's little family of morons couldn't find the creature themselves then he would just have to do it for them.

The only safe place for Katara was as FAR away from his sister as possible and so Zuko needed to have a chat with a Dai Li agent.

Normally the biggest obstacle to the operation's success was the fact that the agents of the Grand Secretariat always operated in pairs. Capturing a bender of their skill level was already a challenge in and of itself but trying to subdue one while there was a second attempting to grind your bones to dust tended to exacerbate things.

However, that first and deadly hurdle was removed by a stroke of good luck, brought about by the Avatar of all things. The Dai Li were out in force a few days later, all-hands-on-deck, and spread perilously thin throughout the massive city. Spread out and gathering, and suppressing, leaflets bearing the phrase "Have you seen THIS bison," which had been plastered on walls and had fallen from the sky. They even had the Avatar's address in the upper ring on them and, had Zuko still the urge to murder him, he would have known right where to go to do so.

Idiot.

But it presented Zuko with an opportunity and so he scrambled to clear the other hurdle, which what to DO with the man once he had caught him.

This is can NOT be like the North Pole. I need an exit strategy.

He'd settled on the simplicity that was a well-insulated basement in an abandoned house and a stout unbendable chain. That accomplished he set out, wrapped in his grey woolens and Grey Ghost mask, to find a likely victim.

Zuko was actually rather surprised, and mildly disappointed, at how easy it was to subdue the man.

Perhaps they're so used to being feared they've forgotten to maintain their skills? He mused as he dragged the unconscious body away from the alley he'd ambushed him in.

/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\

"Good evening," Zuko said.

The Dai Li agent awoke with the look of surprise that can only be found on the face of a man who wakes up naked, suspended upside-down, in unbendable chains.

"What… what…" the man narrowed his eyes at Zuko. "Do you have ANY idea what you've done."

Zuko ignored this and thought back on his lessons in intelligence acquisition, the first rule of which was to never think of your subject as a person. That way led to empathy and eventual failure.

Address the subject as dispassionately as possible, make their position clear.

"I will be blunt," Zuko rasped, "I have no taste for this sort of thing and so I will be completely honest. You are going to die tonight."

The subject glared at Zuko silently.

"Silence is acceptable at this point. Soon, however, I will begin to ask you some very simple questions. You will answer them. Once you have answered all my questions you will be allowed to die."

"Oh, I will! But much sooner than you think!" the subject snarled and worked around in his mouth for…

"Looking for this?" Zuko said as he held aloft the false tooth he'd removed earlier. "Poisoned false tooth? Crude."

The subject began to sweat.

"So, now we come to where you must make a decision. You will be dying tonight, but the manner is up to you. Either you will answer my questions satisfactorily, and I will return your little 'escape hatch.'" He gestured with the false tooth. "Or you will die without honor or dignity. You will die-" he gestured, creating fire in his other hand- "SCREAMING."

"I won't… I won't talk."

It is important to remain calm when making threats. Threats made from a place of anger are easily ignored. Be calm, and very clear, and very CERTAIN about the fate that awaits those who do not co-operate.

"Foolish. You will talk. Everyone does… eventually. You will scream the answers as I burn the skin away from your bones."

The subject seemed transfixed by the red flames in Zuko's hand.

Make the future certain, but allow for a glimmer of hope, a way that everything will be alright, a pathway to the peace of the grave.

"I think my questions will surprise you. I have no interest in conquering your city, no interest in harming your King or your people. You really should hear them before you make up your mind."

The subject nodded his head slightly, eyes still on the flame.

"Where… is the Avatar's bison?"

/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\

Lake Laogai. Even the name sounded sinister, and as Zuko, his mask firmly in place, skulked through the tunnels under the water he found it immensely appropriate. Green luminescent crystals embedded in the walls illuminated the halls of the complex and gave everything a sickly hue, as though the air itself was poisoned and dying. Fire-Nation reports had touched briefly on "re-education" camps in Ba Sing Se, but they had not fully explained, or grasped, the magnitude of the program.

They were brainwashing people.

Even without a long history of conflict, without the implicit challenge of the Kaiu Wall, for this alone the Fire-Nation would have come roaring in Ba Sing Se had they known. Zuko's people were a superstitious lot and ancient legends from the days of Akodo's unification spoke of such things. Of the people of fire's first real human enemy, the tainted bloodspeakers and their shadowmen. Honorable warriors stripped of their minds and will, made to do… things, things beyond forgiveness. Akodo had united the people of fire into the Fire-Nation and destroyed the bloodspeakers, root and branch, for their sacrilege.

The idea that the Earth-Kingdom was doing something similar, to their own people no less, filled Zuko with both a superstitious dread and a deep, bone-shaking rage.

Hackles on end, Zuko crept past rooms full of women, chanting in sync as they recited propaganda. He saw men and women strapped to chairs waiting for their turn to have their memories stripped away. He found a room that, while clean and devoid of life, had a floor drain that had the stink of death about it so strong that even he had to fight back a retch.

This… this is OBSCENE.

That's a little hypocritical coming from someone who was prepared to torture a man to death no more than two hours ago.

That was for Katara! This… this is INSTITUTIONALIZED. Besides I'd never take another's MIND away. Without free will, there can be no honor. This is just… wrong.

More wrong than cold-blooded murder?

Zuko, still moving forward silently, hiding in shadows as he ducked past patrolling Dai Li agents, pushed the conflict into the back of his mind. Inter conflict could wait, it did him no good at the moment. It took him the better part of an hour to find the largest octagonal door that the Dai Li agent had described to him and with a muffled grunt of effort he rolled the door open and revealed its contents.

A sky-bison chained in the very middle

Each of Appa's legs was chained down to a separate iron pillar which almost spread-eagled the creature. As Zuko rolled the door shut the creature began to rumble in its deep basso voice at him.

"Settle down, creature. I'm not here to-" Zuko cut off, hand flying to the scabbard of his katana in its place over his shoulder as the door he had entered only a moment before swung back open.

Revealing Iroh.

"So, the Grey Ghost," Iroh said, somehow being both genial and sarcastic at the same time. "I wonder who could be behind that mask?"

"What… what are you doing here, uncle?" Zuko said, jaw going slack behind his mask.

"I was just about to as you the same thing. Were you-"

"NO! No no no. You do NOT get to turn this around on me!" Zuko roared as quietly as one could as he pulled off his mask and glared at his uncle. "What in the Sun's holy name are you doing here? I had to capture and force the location of this place out of a Dai Li agent, then swim to a secret tunnel in the lake, THEN sneak past about a million guards. How in the burning pits of ASH did you get here?! I swear, by all our ancestors, if you try to pull that inscrutable old man schtick…"

"There's a service entrance," Iroh said dryly, stepping through the door and closing it behind him.

"…a service entrance?"

"Yes. Sometimes things aren't as complicated as you make them, Zuko."

"…shit."

"So, now you have captured the Avatar's bison?" Iroh said wearily. "Are you going to keep him locked in your new apartment? Should I go and put on a pot of tea for him!?"

"First I have to get him out of here. Then-"

"And THEN what?" Iroh said darkly. "You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole! You HAD him, and then you had nowhere to go!"

"He can go through the skylight!" Zuko said in sudden realization. "He seems mildly intelligent, he should be able to find his way back to his master from there."

Appa made a growl of discontent at being called "mildly intelligent."

"Find his way… and you are planning to track him back to the Avatar?" Iroh now sounded confused.

"…No."

"Then why?" Iroh said now more confused than angry.

"I… just want them out of the city," Zuko said quickly. "Azula is here uncle, and she'll…"

"What that to do with you?" Iroh didn't even look surprised by the fact that Azula might be in the city, he simply wore the focused look of concentration that he normally had when considering a challenging Pai Sho puzzle.

"It's… complicated," Zuko said.

"Only because you make it complicated," He paused for a moment stroking his beard in thought. "You want 'them' out of the city?" His eyes grew wide. "It's the GIRL! The Shinjo girl!"

Ash and bone I must be transparent, Zuko thought, his shoulders sagging.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Iroh danced gleefully on the balls of his feet. "This is fantastic! Now I don't have to pay Taro back!"

"…I beg your pardon?"

"I bet him ten koku that you'd eventually figure out you were in love with her! This will cancel out the whole thing where you never figured out about Rin and Bo!"

"You knew?!"

"Of course I knew! When you lost your mind at Tohin Wo you were practically the spitting image of your father whenever anyone insulted Lady Ursa. AND you had basically just proposed to her."

"It was an ACCIDENT!"

"No need to get so worked up, you can't be expected to have…" Iroh trailed off, considering his nervous nephew for a moment. "What did you do?" he asked slyly.

"NOTHING!"

"You didn't actually propose to her, did you?"

"… it was an accident," Zuko groaned.

"Zuko! You didn't?"

"It just sort of… slipped out."

Iroh began to laugh loudly. "Oh, spirits! It's just like me and your aunt Ocha'hana! You know she tricked me into saying it?" he continued laughing. "You're lucky she doesn't know what that means. Your aunt said it back immediately then dragged me in from of my father, demanding satisfaction."

"Zuko sighed heavily and began to massage the bridge of his nose.

"She DID?! Oh my, oh MY! Wait til I tell-"

"You will tell NO ONE!" Zuko snarled. "Things are complicated enough as it is."

"But… how am I supposed to collect my winnings if I can't tell anyone?"

"Uncle. Can we please, please, just focus on getting this damned animal out of here? Before the entire ash-spawned Earth-Kingdom intelligence community finds us in here discussing my love life?"

"Of course, nephew," Iroh said, still chuckling.

/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\

Zuko found himself rather surprised at the intelligence of the sky-bison.

The thing obviously recognized him from his days of trying to chase them down, but the deep basso growls cut off almost immediately after Zuko rammed his blade of fire through one of the chain posts. After he was free Appa took it upon himself to vigorously thank Zuko by licking him, his enormous scratchy tongue smearing foul smelling slobber all over the now irritated ronin. He then permitted Zuko and Iroh to climb on to his back and flew towards the sealed skylight, which the two firebenders made short work of.

After depositing them on the ground the bison took a long moment to look over Zuko, sniffing at him expansively. Zuko, not knowing what else to do, scratched him between the eyes. Appa licked him in thanks once more then flew off, a joyful roar echoing over the rolling hills in the Earth-Kingdom's rice lands.

"So…" Iroh said, watching the Bison disappear as the sun rose over the Kaiu Wall, "when do I get to meet her?"

"…Later," Zuko said tersely.

Much, much, MUCH later.


A/N: Hello hello and welcome to this caffeine-free Zuko Sunday. (seriously I am out of caffeine here send HELP!) Should you find spelling errors know that I blame them, in their entirety, on my substance addiction. Also, why this is about 2 hours later than I normally post.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my rendition of Lake Laogai, as viewed from the Zuko perspective. If you didn't OR if you did please comment/review/talk about it to strangers on the subway, because writing is meant to be shared and discussed. Well, mine is anyway.

BITS of the META variety.

The Conflict: Canon!Zuko and Akodo!Zuko have a great many things in common besides a first name, both have a sort of crippling sense of doubt about the fact that they deserve love. Who among us can say that they haven't questioned the way people view them? Putting yourself out there is risky and nerve-wracking. You most assuredly CAN get hurt, the risk is usually worth the reward however. That being said, Zuko, who grew up in the super-villain homeland can think of a dozen reasons why Katara might be faking on him. I, the author, am certainly NOT implying that she is however. Zuko's doubts come to him, as doubts tend to do, while he is alone and brooding. Highly skilled brooder that one.

Tea Ceremony: A VERY big deal in L5R, the art(skill) of Tea Ceremony is a High Skill, on par with all the other fancy arts and stuff that can net you heaps of honor. It also can restore something called "Void" points which I realize, just now as I type, is something I haven't discussed before so…

Void: Void is the FIFTH element. It is, by its nature, mysterious and yet fundamental. It allows great focus and yet those who study it have a tendency to go mad. We might call it spirit or soul perhaps. For the purposes of this fusion, one can attribute Aang's energy bending to Void. But everyone has Void, just as everyone has, at some level, all the elements. Katara may not bend fire but her temper certainly does, Zuko may not bend earth but his personal resilience may be attributed to that element. Void is no exception, having high void might be a found in people who have a Zen-like personality. Guru Pathik, Huu and even Iroh definitely have higher void. Anyway, back to…

Tea ceremony(take two): Being good at Tea Ceremony helps restore balance to a person and helps them achieve (in a rudimentary way) enlightenment. This is WHY Iroh is so into it and yet another example of why this fusion made so much sense to me.

Sozin: I hope nobody is too upset with me comparing Aang to Sozin? I imagine that, outside of the Fire-Nation, bringing up Sozin is the equivalent of Godwin's law, effectively ending any conversation. Katara is thoroughly embarrassed by the comparison, but I feel she's the kind of person that might say something like that in the heat of the moment. But let's take a look to examine the situations. Both Aang and Sozin used, as Zuko puts it, non-conventional powers to achieve their goals, this is true. The difference being that Sozin went looking for a fight where Aang had the fight brought to him. I don't have a problem with what Aang did at the North Pole, Zuko, on the other hand, is going to be less than thrilled with the outcome. Either way the Great Kami of the Sea showing up is a HUGE deal, which will be continued to be discussed further, in scope and scale it should be considered equivalent to the power of Sozin's Comet.

Spirit possession: CONFIRMED. This is the chapter in which I final confirm, even in my own mind, the possession angle. There is something there, in Zuko's mind/soul/what-have-you. It is not nice and it likes to burn things. Feel free to speculate wildly. I encourage it in fact.

The Service Entrance: Real talk here people, how DID Iroh get into Lake Laogai? He just shows up in a narratively convenient way. We can assume that he follows Zuko in canon, but HOW did he get in there? He doesn't strike me as super sneaky, I assume that, once again, he uses his Grand Lotus powers to do stuff. I just wanted to point out, via my boy Zuko here, how utterly ridiculous it is that Zuko, stealthy badass makes it in, all stealth like, and the Iroh, hands in his sleeves and humming to himself follows behind.

Bloodspeakers: Blood magic in L5R is EXTREMELY taboo, it has to do a lot with the Buddhist taboo of not touching blood. That said the blood speakers, in L5R were basically the evil shukenja of the evil people. They had a tendency to taint and corrupt good samurai and turn them onto the path of Shourido, the EVIL version of Bushido. All of this happened in this fusion in the distant past, but as the Fire-Nation is a bit obsessed with their ancestors and the past it's still a powerful motivator. But seriously, the fact that the Dai Li were brainwashing people is one of those things that, in hindsight was REALLY fucked up. To me anyway. YMMV.

Wow, that's a lot of author notes!

Sorry about that, I guess a lot of stuff happened in this chapter!

Again, and as Always, feel free to ask questions if things were unclear or you just want more details. Obviously, I'm not going to spoiler anything but I do love engagement.

You guys are the best!

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NEXT WEEK on a very special "Avatar: The Last Dragon"...

There is a great many heated discussions, and Zuko comes to a "Crossroads"

TUNE IN. Same Zuko time, Same Zuko channel!

Original post date: 18 November 2018