The guard she had sent to further investigate his story reported back to Azula after her meeting with Ozai. The family did indeed live in the capital, and they did indeed lose their daughter twenty years ago. They were a noble family with a few men in service of the navy. They also were a fairly tall family, which was a point in their favor on this matter. The guard had talked with them about their potential missing family member and they were apparently very eager to find out if they had an extra grandchild.

So Azula, like her father had asked, went to check on the boy. He cleaned up well, all things considered. His hair was long enough for a knot, and he was dressed in nice, if simple, clothing.

"Ah, hey, Azula, how do I look?", a smirk plastered on his face as a thin veneer to hide his awkward attempt at small talk.

"You look perfectly passable as not a barbarian," which was true, "and I see you learned my name, well done. But it's princess Azula to you. Now, about your mother," his smile fell, "does the name Mahka ring a bell to you?"

He scratched his chin as he thought, "Well, my mother was called Valka up north, they sound similar, I guess."

"Well, her family lives here in the capital. Mahka went missing about twenty years ago, around the time when you seem to have been born, and in the same direction."

Hiccup stood stock still, mouth gaping open like a fish. "I may have more family?"

"Yes, that is what I said." Azula rolled her eyes, a gesture Hiccup noticed was quite common for her, "They're a noble family, now, if you would, please come with me. I'll take you," looking over at Toothless, "er- you two."

Hiccup followed her out, surprised to discover that he had been in the palace complex the whole time, which had their own dungeons underneath of them it seemed. As they approached the palace gates, a palanquin awaited which Azula entered. It was fascinating to Hiccup, the fire nation was obviously rich and powerful, and their elite especially so. They even had people whose job it was to carry the nobility in luxury. Impressive. That level of wealth along with the technological prowess that was obvious from the ships he had seen from above, the fire nation was shaping up to be a place of wonders. Hiccup walked next to Toothless following next to the palanquin. As they moved through the streets, people gave them a wide berth, whether because of the dragon, guard entourage, or princess he wasn't sure. But after minutes of walking in silence, the awkward silence started getting to him.

"So, Azula, how old are you anyway?" He was honestly extremely curious, she held the air of authority of a general but looked young, the makeup obscuring her true age.

"I'm 14, though I don't quite know why it matters to you," she simply stated, "I'm assuming you're around 16, you look around the age of my brother."

"15," he corrected, "so you have a brother, is he in training to be the next Firelord? Or does succession work differently here?" More information about this place would be helpful, as he was still mostly in the dark about how things operated. He hoped that his supposed family here could fill him in on things.

"Actually, he was banished years ago by our father," before Hiccup could question what happened there she continued with obvious scorn. "He angered our father who in retribution challenged him to an Agni Kai. But he was such a shameful coward that he was banished and sent to capture the Avatar if he ever wanted to return. He was always a failure, and my uncle fatso went with him." Agni Kai? Avatar? Each answer he was getting was only opening more questions. Before he could continue the line of questioning they drew to a stop in front of a sizable house. It wasn't nearly as grand as the palace, but still large, many times the size of the chief's hut in his village. The place was also pretty close to the palace itself, but she did say they were nobility, so that lined up.

Their guards knocked on the door and an elderly woman answered. She had white hair tied up in a bun and stood close to his height. Her eyes had a golden tint similar to many of the guards and Azula, but flecks of green. She scanned the newly arrived assembly with clear apprehension before her eyes locked firmly on Hiccup, their eyes met as tears began to well up in her eyes. He was gestured forward and approached the woman, his body shifting awkwardly and his hand began scratching the back of his neck.

When Yuna had heard that her long lost grandchild might have returned, she didn't know what to think. Hiroshi was skeptical, but Yuna was hopeful. They never knew what happened to their daughter, but to hear that her son may have made his way back on a dragon? It was shocking. But they had agreed to meet the boy. There was always a fledgling of hope it was true. And as she looked into the eyes of the boy in front of her, her eyes, Mahka's eyes, she knew it was true. He looked so much like her. She couldn't hold back the tears any longer as she reached out and hugged her long lost grandchild.

Hiccup didn't quite know what to do. He was suddenly being hugged by this woman. Though, in a strange way, it felt right. He could see similarities between her and him, most notably the eyes. But as he looked into the house he saw a man approaching. He too was old, probably her husband, but when he looked at him he could see even more bits of resemblance, and the man obviously could too. This all felt so surreal, but at the same time, he was starting to believe it. The man approached him slowly as if Hiccup was a ghost that would disappear if he moved too fast, and the woman never let go of his hands, like she feared he might bolt the second she let go. He was a bit taller than Hiccup, but not by more than an inch. When he got within arms reach, he too pulled Hiccup into a hug. Hiccup returned the embrace and he felt his cheeks start to get wet, eyes prickling with tears.

Azula watched the sappy display with utter disinterest. It was so utterly useless in the grand scheme of things, the only dynamics that were truly stable were ones built on fear and order, none of that wishy-washy family love, but she supposed it was an interesting enough scene to watch unfold. It was useful to her long-term plans to have Hikroh here. She raised a hand to signal her servants to start walking but was stopped before she could. Holding one of her hands was a wet faced Hikroh, what could he possibly want?

He looked at her, eyes shining with tears, a smile etched on his face. "Azula, thank you." That was certainly not what she had expected. Every other person was holding their breath, knowing her reputation, but she guessed she could let this slide.

"You're welcome." With that, she pulled her hand away and was off.

Now Hiccup was standing out on the road with his two grandparents he didn't know existed and Toothless. An awkward silence hanging in the air after the first intense emotional moment they shared.

Hiroshi was the one to finally break the ice. "So, you're Hikroh." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, I guess that's my name, here at least," he rubbed the back of his head at their confused looks. "I guess that's what mom named me, be it wasn't what they called me back ho-, I mean in the north." Berk was an odd subject for him. He broke their most sacred law and befriended a dragon, and if he returned he would certainly be exiled. But it was still where he grew up. "Back there they called me Hiccup." That got an even stranger look from them. But what better way to break the ice than a one-ton dragon, as Toothless started sniffing at his grandmother. "Oh, and that's Toothless." He grabbed Toothless in an attempted headlock and he gave a gummy smile. And like most people, that was enough to win their hearts as they showered a delighted Toothless with pets and scratches.

Yuna still seemed to be on the verge of tears every time she looked at him. "Oh, dear, you look so much like your mother. Come in, we want to hear all about where you come from." Hiccup was led into a spacious living area of the house. Hiroshi called over some people, servants from the looks of it, and commanded them to make 'tea' whatever that was. But wow, servants. Nobody on Berk was rich enough to have servants, let alone multiple from the looks of it. Hiccup sat down with his grandparents and Toothless curled up around him. The servants brought over a steaming pot of liquid and some cups and placed it on the table in front of them. Hiroshi poured out three cups and gave one to Hiccup. Hiccup looked at the drink confused. It smelled like herbs, and why would you serve a drink steaming hot?

"Are you not going to drink your tea? It's quite good," Hiroshi interjected, knocking Hiccup out of his thoughts.

"Oh, um, I'm sure it is. It's just I've never actually had tea before." he averted his gaze as they both looked at him like he had three heads.

"How have you never had tea before? It's everywhere!" Hiroshi made a large gesture with his arms, almost splashing his cup.

"They just never had it back where I'm from," he said as he took a tentative sip of the tea. It was sweet and it tasted like herbs, nice herbs though. Definitely preferable to mead.

"Well, this is jasmine tea, there are a whole variety of teas. Best drink around," Hiroshi gave a laugh, "but what about you Hikroh, what's it like where you're from, and how did you end up down here." It was strange to hear someone sound genuinely interested in what he had to say, but it gave him a warmth inside that had nothing to do with the hot leaf juice he'd just consumed.

"And if it's not too much to ask, what about your mother," Yuna asked, voice full of apprehension.

"Oh, uh, I don't really know. Back on Berk, the village I'm from, she went by the name of Valka. But she disappeared when I was a baby. Think the only thing I have left of her is my signature, and that's how Azula figured out my name. I didn't even know it. I heard rumors though, about how she was a demon or carried off by a demon, I don't know for certain. My dad never answered any questions about her willingly, but he had a drunken fit one time where he referred to her as a fire jotunn, a fire giant in their religion, and how he cast her away."

"What type of crazy cult were they?" Hiroshi angrily interjected, "fire giants? What nonsense. They're insane. Savages." Hiroshi threw down his fist, scorching the wooden table. Hiccup shifted in his seat and looked away, not really sure how he felt about his grandfather insulting his entire culture. He didn't have particularly much love for it either, but it was still what he was raised on. But if it was the reason his mother wasn't around Hiroshi had every right to berate it.

After Hiroshi's outburst, Hiccup turned the conversation towards other things in his life and their conversation went along smoothly. They wanted to hear about his life and it felt nice for once to just let it all out. He told them about Berk, the people, his childhood, his engineering, blacksmithing, Toothless, the dragons, his travel, training, everything. It was getting dark by the time he finished up. They also filled him in on the stuff he was missing. What an Agni kai was, spirits, the Avatar, and everything he knew to ask about the place he now might be living in for the foreseeable future. Overall, the fire nation seemed to be a pretty nice place. Advanced, prosperous, rich, and in a war with the earth kingdom. That last part wasn't great but it seemed to have settled into a stalemate for the last few years. They also told him about his family, he had two uncles, one an engineer in the imperial navy and the other a newly promoted admiral. They sent messenger hawks to both to tell them of Hiccup's arrival.

Late in the evening, the door to the house busted open and a man ran into the house. He had amber eyes like Hiroshi and a top knot hairstyle like nearly the entire fire nation. He scanned the room, first spotting the dragon and then Hiccup, before quickly approaching and embracing him. "You must be Hikroh, I'm your uncle Saiken." he smiled at Hiccup, and Hiccup couldn't help but reflect some of that enthusiasm. "And this must be Toothless. I never thought I would see a dragon in a house but there's a first time for everything!" His eyes examined the dragon, coming to a stop on the saddle and tailfin. "And this, this ingenious little contraption. It's some kind of prosthetic?" Hiccup nodded as Saiken approached eliciting a small growl from Toothless as a signal to back off. "I assume he needs that fin to fly, how'd he lose it?"

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I kinda… shot him down with a contraption I built. I found him, freed him, and built it to let him fly again. From there he kinda became my best friend."

Saiken looked between the two before he let out a short laugh and clapped his hands together. "Looks like the engineering talent runs in the family. That's quite a prosthetic there, and he looks fast. How did you manage to shoot him, and what did you build that had that kind of power?"

Hiccup explained his designs to Saiken, more about the tail than the bola launcher, he still felt guilty about that despite Toothless' obvious forgiveness. But they were both engineers and they got along very well discussing ideas. It turned out that Saiken helped design the steam-powered ships he was marveling at earlier. He would have loved to meet his other uncle, Zhao, but he was currently off on some military mission to capture this avatar, who was apparently a threat to the fire nation.

The servants had set up one of the guest rooms for Hiccup and Toothless. In the center of the room was a giant bed surrounded by curtains, but what caught his eye was a portrait on the wall. In it, was a much younger Yuna and Hiroshi, along with a younger child who looked like Saiken, and an older teen who he assumed was Zhao, and there in the middle was a teenage girl. She had black hair and gold eyes with green flecks. He sighed. Now he at least knew what his mother looked like.

Exhausted from the day's events, he settled in for bed, said bed luckily being big enough to fit a night fury as sleeping together had become a bit of a nonnegotiable over the course of their travels. It was so much softer and the sheets so much smoother than anything he'd ever felt. He thought he may be able to get used to this. He had a family here, one he got along well with and had enough power to mitigate any problems having a dragon might cause. He could definitely get used to the fire nation.

He could get used to being Hikroh.

Sorry, meant to post this chapter a couple of days ago.
As always, thanks to Octobot on A03 for the beta reading!