Author's Note: Hey everyone! Just a little bit of extra info, for those who are interested. I'm usually careful with the names of my main characters, so I searched for a fitting name for Lu Ten's son for quite some time. Taiyo means "sunrise", which I thought to be a good name for a Fire Nation boy as well as having a meaning I can implement into the story as well in various ways. I hope you like it too. Anyway, thank you very much for the ongoing support for this story and please review. And now, on with the story, we're approaching the Day of the Black Sun.
A forest in the Fire Nation, 100 AC
Lu Ten and the rest of the group sat around a campfire. Sokka was telling a supposedly scary story using everything he could to make it even scarier, like drawing his sword, dramatic yelling and whatever hand gestures that were. Lu Ten for his part found this rather amusing but was more interested in the abstract shapes the fire caused to appear among the trees surrounding them. He only listened with half an ear as Katara then began to tell a story that supposedly really happened to her mother, but then again, if there was a house that was until today empty, why didn't Sokka know about this? The boy did get his nose into everything else in seconds.
Apparently, the story was way scarier to the other teens than the last one, because suddenly all of them, except for Katara, hid behind him in fear, which left Lu Ten rather startled. The Fire Nation prince shook his head slightly, an amused smile on his face and his eyes closed, "Guys, calm down, it's just a story."
All of sudden the blind earthbender straightened herself and put a hand on the ground, "Wait!", she gasped, "Guys, did you hear that?", which caused the other group members to clutch to a surprised Lu Ten. "I hear people under the mountain. And they're screaming.", this even made the hair on Lu Ten's neck stand up.
"Pfft! Nice try.", the Water Tribe boy tried to shake it off, but Lu Ten cut him off, "You serious?", the earthbender nodded. Then she straightened again, tilting her head, "It just... stopped."
While Lu Ten wondered about this and what might be the cause, Aang said, "All right, now I'm getting scared."
Suddenly the voice of an old woman made them scramble from the crowd in fear. It came from behind them, "Hello children.", and really there stood an elderly woman. She had the back part of her hair in an updo, the rest hanging freely at both sides of her face, which sported a trying to be nice smile, but it seemed more like a creepy grin to the prince. Maybe this was due to the circumstances.
"Sorry to frighten you. My name is Hama. You children shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night. I have an inn nearby. Why don't you come back there for some spiced tea and warm beds?", she offered. Lu Ten was not ready to trust this woman yet. Just because she seemed like a nice elderly lady didn't mean she couldn't turn them in. But before he could object, they already followed her. The promise of a warm bed was too tempting.
At the inn Lu Ten quickly grabbed the tea pot out of Hama's hands. At her surprised reaction he just smiled, "Please, Mrs. Hama, let me do that for you. I come from a family of tea enthusiasts and serving you is the least I can do to thank you for letting our little group stay in this lovely inn."
She raised an eyebrow at him, "You have me interested Mr… what was your name again?"
Lu Ten stopped in his tracks for a moment, then he said, "My name is Lee."
The old woman smiled at him, "Well, Mr. Lee, I wonder, what causes you to travel amongst these children? What are you to them?"
Lu Ten froze, then he smiled at them, "Nothing special actually, I had to travel home due to my injury,", he motioned towards his still bandaged hands, "and among the way I met them. We shared the same way and so we began to travel together. We helped each other out from time to time and became friends. Being the only adult in the group, I try to protect them as much as I can, until we find their various parents, of course.", then to his rescue, the tea was ready, and they walked back into the dining room where the teenagers waited.
Toph elbowed Lu Ten in the side slightly as he sat next to her. She whispered, unheard by anyone else, "You are a scary good liar, Sifu Hotman.", he grinned and whispered back at her, "Runs in the family, I guess."
His appearance shot back to the general discussion when he heard Hama say, "You know, you should be more careful. People have been disappearing in those woods you were camping in.", a thought shot through Lu Ten's brain. But she was alone in these woods, how suspicious.
Sokka had to ask, "What do you mean "disappearing"?"
The elderly woman sat her teacup down, "When the moon turns full, people walk in and they don't come out.", suddenly her mood switched, "Who wants more tea?", as the group was completely silent, she added, "Don't worry, you'll all be completely safe here. Why don't I show you to your rooms and you can get a good night's rest?"
Later Lu Ten laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling. His mind was racing. People under the mountain, screaming. People disappearing in the woods at full moon. A lone, old woman wandering the same woods, almost carelessly, taking in a group of strangers like that. There was something foul going on in this village, he could almost grasp it. At some point though, he drifted off into sleep.
He woke suddenly, a few hours later. It was not even sunrise yet, but he was woken by something being put on his mouth and nose. For a moment he could see an evil grinning old lady and smell chemicals, then he fell unconscious.
Caldera, 100 AC
Zuko laid in his bed, wide awake. His mind was racing like it did always after he visited his uncle in prison. The last visit had been especially troubling. He shot a glare towards the artifact that his uncle gave to him and that was now resting on his nightstand. Apparently, he was not only the descendant of Fire Lord Sozin, but also that of Avatar Roku. He still tried to wrap his mind around that. His whole family had been a mess before, but now it seemed even more complicated.
His focus trailed off into simpler times. Times when he was still small, and the world seemed easy. He remembered a time before Azula began to bully him. A figure appeared in front of him, a short, old woman in a red robe. She laughed at him wholeheartedly while stretching her arms out to his maybe four years old self. He remembered running up to her and hugging her tightly. He barely remembered her voice, "There, there, my boy.", he could still feel his grandmother's hand running through his hair. His four years old self shook his head, "Grandma, you're destroying my topknot. Father's going to be mad at me for that.", his grandmother looked down on him, unimpressed by the threat of her son. "Don't worry, little one. We'll fix that and he'll never know.", she said, winking at him. Then her gaze shot upwards, and her smile became brighter, "Right, Grandson?".
Lu Ten walked up to them, fifteen by then. He bowed slightly before his grandmother before she pulled him in a tight hug and messed with his hair too. His cousin laughed. "It seems, now both of my boys need their hair fixed.", Lady Ilah said innocently, "Lu Ten, can you take care of that?"
Later Lu Ten sat behind little Zuko fixing his topknot. "You know, she used to do that all the time when I was your age.", he told him. The child asked, "And you didn't do anything about it?", which caused the teenager to laugh, "No, Baby Cousin. I actually enjoyed it. You know, I lost my mother pretty early. So, growing up, Grandma was more of a mother to me. I used to spend way more time with her.", he looked at his hands' work for a moment before turning the child around, "There you go, nobody will notice it was messed with.", Zuko touched his hair, confirming his cousin's words, then he threw his little arms around the teen's neck, squealing, "Thank you, Lu Ten."
His mind shifted to another scene, just a few months later. It was a few weeks from his fifth birthday. He had walked over to the turtle-duck pond in the early morning, right after he had woken up and dressed. He was surprised to see his cousin there. The older boy didn't notice him. He just stared into the water, feeding the turtle-ducks absent-mindedly. With a shock Zuko noticed the red rim around his cousin's eyes. His cousin hadn't cried, had he? His father had told him that men did not cry, that it was shameful. But there sat Lu Ten, his eyes red and with grey circles around them. The four years old ran towards his cousin. "Lu Ten! Lu Ten!", he called out while running up to him, basically crashing into his cousin's back. The teen was caught by surprise, but then he turned around halfway, grabbed his cousin by the back of his neck and pulled him into his lap. He pressed the child firmly towards himself, while he buried his face in the creak of his neck. Zuko immediately hugged back. Quietly he asked, "Cousin Lu Ten, what happened? Why are you crying?", the child was confused by the way his worshipped cousin acted. Lu Ten took a deep breath before he pulled away from the hug and looked his little cousin straight in the eye, holding him by the shoulders. With a still slightly shivering voice he said, "Grandma… Grandma died tonight.", it shocked Zuko. His father hadn't allowed him to see the elderly woman for the last fortnight, but then again, he had been used to his father not allowing him things. He also had never witnessed someone close dying and struggled to understand what that meant. Questioning he looked at his cousin. The older boy understood, he looked at the ground for a moment before looking at him again. "I was with her the whole night. No one else was though, but I couldn't leave her alone. So, I was there holding her hand. She asked me where you were, little one. She cared a lot about you. I had to promise her to protect you to the best of my ability, whatever may come. And I will, I promise.", he said, holding the boy's hands firmly for a long moment. Zuko had never seen his cousin's eyes that hard, but he understood that Lu Ten was more than serious. So, he nodded and was pulled into another hug. He heard his cousin sob, "Then she asked me to sing for her. So, I did, until she slept.", the four years old still had trouble understanding what that all meant, so he asked, "But, won't she wake up again?", sadly, his cousin shook his head, "No, Baby Cousin. I'm afraid, she will not wake up again. Her spirit left her body. She is in the spirit world now.", now understanding dawned in the child's mind and he lowered his gaze, his lips shivering. His cousin pulled him close again, pressing his head in his tunic and rubbing his back, whispering soothing words into the child's ear.
Zuko remembered, a few weeks later, his fifth birthday arrived. In the Fire Nation, this was a special birthday, at least to firebenders and especially to the nobility and the royal family, since almost everyone among these ranks was a born firebender. The celebrations were accompanied by a ceremony, usually not that big, but blown up and public for the royal family. It was the traditional begin of firebending training and every child awaited it with a great deal of excitement. He had been no exception. It also meant being accepted by one's family, because your first firebending teacher was usually your father, or in some cases, when the father was not a firebender, an older relative, thus officially accepting the child as his. At his fifth birthday he had been dressed in his finest garbs, everyone was gathered in the throne room, the nobility, his family, and of course, his grandfather, whom he knelt down before. The old man's voice filled the room. "Prince Zuko, this is your fifth birthday. Are you ready to begin your training as a firebender?", he smiled, raising his little head, he had trained the right phrase for weeks, "Yes, your Royal Highness.", his grandfather gave a rare hint of a smile, then he turned to his second son, "Prince Ozai, will you take this child as your pupil and teach him the way of the flame?", Zuko had looked over to his father, anticipating to see pride in his face, maybe a smile even, but cold sweat ran down his spine as he saw his father's mouth frown. Suddenly he knew what was coming, his father's deep voice echoed through the throne room, "No.", everyone gasped, this was unheard of. It never actually happened that a royal would not accept his child like this. No one knew what would happen now. Azulon stared at his son in disbelief, everyone else frozen in place. Suddenly Lu Ten stood up and walked over to the frightened boy. He knelt down in front of their grandfather, his head touching the ground. He rose to look up to Azulon and spoke calmly, but clearly, "Worshipped grandfather, since my uncle seems too occupied with his many duties, grant me, your humble servant, the honor to step in and teach my cousin.", everyone gasped again. They knew that this was just as unheard of as the former. Azulon smiled slightly at his grandson, Lu Ten was quite good at hiding the insult to his uncle behind ancient laws and beautiful words. Zuko, being the frightened now five years old boy that he was looked at his cousin with wide, shocked eyes. What was Lu Ten doing? His father would surely punish him for that. Lu Ten caught the little one's gaze and gave him a hint of a smile. Azulon turned towards his younger grandson, "Prince Zuko, will you accept your cousin's proposal and have him as your teacher?", the child was still a bit stunned, but then nodded quickly and choked out a "Yes, your Royal Highness.", he was unsure if he should be crying, because of his father's refusal to teach him or smile at his cousin for coming to his rescue. Behind him the crowd dispersed, chatting about this unheard scene. Everyone else was getting up too, the celebrations waited for them. Lu Ten still sat next to him. He put a hand on his young cousin's shoulder reassuringly. Zuko's head turned towards him, and he saw his cousin smile down at him, rubbing his shoulder a bit. Then the teenager stood up and helped the boy up as well. "Thank you, Lu Ten.", he spoke hastily, bowing in front of him. He heard his cousin chuckle and when he rose from his bow, he saw that the older boy was down on one knee to be on his eyelevel. He motioned for his cousin to come at him and Zuko almost caused him to fall over as he ran into his embrace. He heard his cousin laugh. But then a thought shot through his small head, and he got serious again, looking straight into Lu Ten's eyes. "But Cousin, won't father punish you for this offense?", Lu Ten's face darkened, and worry appeared in his amber eyes. "I don't think he will. Besides, if he really wants to, I'm able to defend myself, so don't worry.", his face then lit up again, "And now, pupil, will you join me at your birthday party? You have to use the chances you're given to slack off, trust me. Because I'll await you tomorrow morning at sunrise at the turtle-duck pond for your first training session."
Zuko smiled at the memory, but then guilt washed over him. As long as he could remember, Lu Ten would be there when he needed him, until he died, or more precisely vanished. He thought of the green clothed figure in Ba Sing Se. Thinner than he remembered him and wearing a different hair- and beard-style, clothed in Earth Kingdom garb and his hands crushed. The part with his hands was still a nightmare scenario to him. He couldn't get his head around that his cousin, his first firebending teacher, should have lost his bending being crippled like this. He said he was with a healer, but could this be healed at all? And for once his cousin had needed his help, asked him for a favor, to watch over the old man that both of them loved so much, because in his state Lu Ten could rarely help, Zuko added to himself. And he let him down only a few days later. Angry at himself he punched into his mattress. Then he turned to lay on his back. He wondered where his cousin was now, if he truly was with the Avatar as Zuko anticipated, or if he was somewhere completely different. He doubted that Lu Ten would forgive him though. If he knew about the fight in Ba Sing Se, he would at least be more than disappointed in him. His uncle probably hated him as well. He felt like he had lost the last bits of family that he had.
In an underground cave, Fire Nation, 100 AC
Unbeknownst to Zuko, Lu Ten was remembering just the same memories. Slowly his mind became clearer and his vision less clouded. Groggily he became aware that he was chained up to a cave wall, and that there were several other people, tied up to the wall as well. He groaned quietly, shaking his head in an attempt to get rid of the last bits of fog in his mind.
The first thing he then did was making a mental note to talk to the teen group about his cousin. If they should run into him during the invasion, he needed to talk to him first, instead of outright attacking him. The memories had reminded him that there had always been good in his cousin and that their bond had been strong. Maybe they could talk things out. It would protect Zuko from a possible Avatar state encounter too. Then again, maybe he would need to slap some sense back into the teenager. He quickly corrected himself, you know him, you trained him. If you try to teach him something by slapping him the only thing that will happen is that he will most likely kick you back as an answer, that's how you taught him. A small smile played around his lips at that thought.
Then Lu Ten began to analyze his situation. His hands were bound in a way that he could hardly use them for bending, his feet as well. The other people inside the cave were no better. For the moment, he did not see any way to get out by himself. He jumped when someone spoke to him. "Prince Lu Ten? Is that you?", it was one of the other inmates.
He smiled sheepishly at the man, "What gave me away?"
In contrast to their circumstances the man cracked a smile. "I knew it, I knew you would come back to save us, this country, your throne.", he cheered, "A few years ago I was your attendant's assistant.", he added as an explanation, "I would always remember your face. But how did this witch manage to capture you?"
Lu Ten still had quite a headache, "You mean Hama? I was travelling with a group of teenagers when she invited us into her inn. To make a long story short, I was awakened in the middle of the night by her pressing a cloth over my mouth and nose. It must've contained some chemicals, at least it smelled that way. The next thing I know is waking up in here."
"A group of teenagers?", the man, Shu as he now remembered was his name, asked curiously.
Lu ne nodded, "Yes, they are of all the other nations, the Avatar is among them. Then there are two Water Tribe siblings and a blind earthbender. Speaking of which, she may be our only hope to get out of here. She heard you screaming last night. Maybe we can signal to her where we are. Oh, and before I forget, I know that you, Shu, are a man of your word. I expect the same of everyone else here. If my young friends manage to get us out of here, would you keep their very existence out of the record?", everyone in the cave agreed to do so.
Afterwards they thought of a way to signal for Toph. They couldn't really move their limbs, so movement was not an option and they ended up calling out the blind girl's name as loud and as often as they could.
In the forest Toph, Sokka and Aang were searching for the people under the mountain. Actually, they were searching for Lu Ten as well. He had vanished the night before without a trace. Hama had told them that he had left saying something of family business, but Toph didn't believe a word she said. Sokka joined her suspicion when he searched the firebender's room and found his clothes and everything else still there. He should've left them like that? And just wearing his trousers? How high was the chance?
Suddenly the blind earthbender stopped, "Guys, there's the screaming again. And wait, they're all calling out my name! I think I know where Sifu Hotman is.", she said, sprinting towards the cave.
Just as Lu Ten began to lose all hope that their efforts would be noticed, a light appeared at the entrance of the cave. It came closer quickly and soon, three small figures appeared out of the dark. His heart jumped at the sight, and he smiled tiredly towards them, his voice was almost giving in by then, but he managed a, "You can't imagine how glad I am to see you."
He could hear the other prisoners behind him cheering as well. Then Aang asked, "Lu Ten, what are you doing here? I didn't know spirits made prisons like this. Who brought you here?"
Lu Ten frowned, "It was no spirit, Aang."
A prisoner called from behind him, "It was a witch!"
This confused the teenage group, Sokka asked, "A witch? What do you mean?"
Another prisoner answered, "She seems like a normal old woman, but she controls people like some dark puppetmaster!"
Immediately Sokka knew who was meant, "Hama!"
Lu Ten nodded, "Yes, our hostess. She awoke me in the middle of the night, taking me out with some chemicals. Where is Katara?"
Sokka closed his eyes for a moment, "She's with her."
Lu Ten's gaze shot up to him, "You have to save her and stop Hama. We can last here a little bit longer."
Toph turned halfway towards her companions, "I'll get these people out of here. You go!"
Lu Ten had to admit that her proposal made more sense, and he was grateful when she bended her meteor bracelet into a fitting key and released his limbs. He rubbed his hands and legs for a moment before he joined the blind earthbender in her effort. Together they freed the prisoners rather quickly and they all ran after the young Avatar and the Water Tribe boy together. They stopped at a clearing where Sokka and Aang stood, looking more or less dumbfounded, looking at their hands, while in the middle stood Katara in a bending stance. The old woman knelt in front of her seemingly controlled by the young waterbender. Lu Ten had no idea how but was glad that whatever she did seemed to work. Quickly handcuffs were placed at Hama's wrists. "You're going to be locked away forever.", Shu said, before quickly turning to Lu Ten and bowing before him. Lu Ten bowed too and they nodded at each other before Shu led Hama away.
The old woman turned towards Katara one last time with a triumphant grin on her face, "My work here is done. Congratulations, Katara. You're a bloodbender."
Lu Ten was confused, but it still sent a shiver down his spine. Katara began to cry which tore his heart apart and he quickly walked over to her and pulled her in a hug, being joined by the rest of the group in a second.
A few days later they made up camp at the coast. It would be their last stop before the meeting point for the invasion. Lu Ten thought it to be a good spot to talk about his cousin, but figured, he needed to talk to Katara first. The young waterbender was seemingly distressed after their last encounter with Hama. He saw her sitting at a cliff and, thankful that no one was nearby, joined her. "Hey there, Katara.", he smiled at her.
To his relief her somber expression changed for a moment to a genuine smile, "Hey there, Lu Ten. Do you want me to have a look at your hands?"
He shook his head, "No, Katara, my hands feel fine. I wanted to talk with you about what happened at our last stop. You seem very depressed by it."
She nodded, "This… technique, bloodbending. It is something that I didn't want to learn. It just feels so wrong, doing it, controlling people like that, their fear visible in their eyes and I can understand that, I mean, not being able to control your own body is a horrible feeling. But she made me do it.", she looked down into the water, not wanting to cry again.
Lu Ten put a hand on her shoulder, "I think I have an idea how you feel.", her gaze shot up to him in disbelief, so he continued, "I felt similar when I learned to bend lightning. It is a great power you're wielding, and only highly talented people can even attempt to do it. With lightning, you can easily get drunk from the power it gives you, since it is basically a way to kill someone with a single hit or cause great damage, and by now, to my knowledge only my father, me and Aang know how to redirect it. Maybe Zuko too, but I'm not sure about that. When I was younger, I too got excited with this power, but it changed when I hurt myself trying to redirect it."
Katara looked interested, "What happened? Did you burn yourself?"
Lu Ten smiled, "No. My father, reasonably, refused to shoot lightning at me, I was sixteen by the time. We had just come up with the redirect technique and I was eager to try it. So, I thought I would search for my own lightning. I climbed onto a high mountain, it was infamous for heavy storms and quite far away from everything else. And being the self-assured teen I was, I didn't tell anybody where I went."
Katara interrupted him, "And what happened there? Did you fail to redirect it?"
He shook his head, "No, the redirecting part worked fine. But I hadn't anticipated the power that would come at me, thinking I could deal with basically anything. It drove me off of the plateau I had made camp upon and down the side of the mountain. I broke several bones and couldn't move an inch, let alone get help. My father needed two days to find me, by then almost dead. He was really disappointed back then.", he heard the waterbender giggle, "Hey, that's not funny! Okay, maybe a little.", he said, chuckling himself, "Anyway, a few years later I used the same technique to save my grandfather's life from my cousin."
Katara's eyes got big, "Zuko?"
With a slight chuckle Lu Ten answered, "No, Azula. I don't know why Ozai thought her about lightning that early, but back then she either missed aiming or she voluntarily aimed for our grandfather. I still hope the former.", he shrugged his shoulders, "I as Zuko's Sifu would never teach a child of six years anything close to lightning bending. That's not only dangerous for said child but also for everyone else around."
"Wait, did you say you were Zuko's Sifu? How did that come?", a curious waterbender asked.
Lu Ten chuckled, "In theory I still am, because you never cease to be someone's Sifu. But I wanted to talk with you and the others about my cousin later anyway. So, I'll answer then if that's okay.", she nodded, "Right now, what I wanted to say now was, that you're right that there are bending techniques that are more dangerous than others. But you used it to save someone's life, not endanger it. You did not take a life, nor permanently hurt somebody, nor did you imprison someone. You shouldn't be that hard on yourself for doing the right thing."
Katara smiled at him and hugged him briefly, "Thank you, Lu Ten."
Later all of them were gathered around the campfire. Lu Ten then cleared his throat, "Since we're all here now, I wanted to speak to you all about something.", the teens looked questioningly at him, then at each other, but listened quietly. "As you know, we're going to invade my home country in a few days and a part of my family will be there. First, I want to assure you that I'll protect any of you against whoever will come at you, at any cost. Even if it should be the Fire Lord himself. But there'll maybe someone I care very much about. You all know my cousin, Zuko, yes?", he looked at their surprised expressions, "Back when we were both younger, our relationship was more like that of two brothers rather than cousins. Even though we were eleven years apart, we were probably closer than him and his sister. I know, he might've changed a lot in the recent years, I maybe have too, but what I want from you is that, if we should encounter him at the invasion, that you let me try and talk to him before fighting him.", everyone was silent for a long moment after that.
Sokka was not so sure about Lu Ten's proposal, "What makes you so sure, he'll give you that chance? Last time we've seen him he seemed pretty much aligned with his father and sister, despite being the angry jerk he usually is.", whatever Sokka wanted to say next died in his mouth when he caught the glare that Lu Ten sent his way. He suddenly reminded him of Zuko, the angry, I'm going to punch you, kind of Zuko.
Lu Ten's voice was noticeably forced calm when he spoke, "I assure you, my cousin is not an angry jerk. He may be confused and vent his confusion into anger, but it's not like he's always like that. You really don't know how messed up our family is at times. Besides, like I said I know him basically all his life. There is good in him. I know that. Just give me the chance to speak to him if we meet him. That's all I ask."
Aang nodded, "If you believe in him, that makes up a lot. But I'm not completely trusting him because of it. He betrayed his uncle in Ba Sing Se, so he'd have to prove himself to us first. But I agree, if we meet him, you should talk to him."
Lu Ten nodded as well, "Thanks Aang, that's all I'm asking for."
"Earlier you told me you were his Sifu, any when I asked how that came to be, you said you'd tell me later. Wouldn't that be now?", Katara asked, still curious from their talk earlier.
Lu Ten smiled slightly, and answered in a much warmer tone, "Alright, I'm going to tell you about it. Remember what I said about our sometimes messed up family? Well, that story plays right into that. In the Fire Nation your fifth birthday is a special celebration, especially for firebenders, since it marks the beginning of your training. Over time this developed into a ritual for a child to be accepted by your family as one of them, especially in the higher ranks and of course it is a very public event for the royal family. This is because your first Sifu is usually your father or, if he happens not to be a firebender, another older relative. Normally, it is more of a routine. Nobody in his right mind would not accept a child of his own. And even among the commoners this rarely happens, not to mention at higher ranks.
Anyway, when my cousin turned five basically every noble in the country tried to get into the throne room. It was as full as it could be, me and my family were seated at the side and my grandfather in his throne. Zuko was dressed in his finest clothes. He, like every other child, was happily excited about this day. So, he knelt down before the throne and my grandfather asked him if he was ready to learn firebending. He said all the correct phrases, my father and I had spent a few weeks teaching him them, and even my grandfather showed one of his rare smiles at the perfect performance. But when he asked my uncle if he would accept his son as his pupil, Ozai rejected. He simply said 'No.', everyone in the room gasped and froze in place, even my grandfather seemed not to know how to handle the situation. In this moment every bit of Zuko's life was up in the air. In theory, if you're rejected, you'd have to leave and are crossed out of the family line. It would basically label you a bastard child, and have you thrown out into the world to be spat and cursed upon and die in the streets. My grandmother's words echoed through my head. She died a few weeks before and while I sat at her deathbed, she asked me to protect Zuko. Not that I wouldn't have done so if she hadn't asked. So, while everyone stared at my uncle I stood up and hurried over to Zuko. I knelt beside him in front of my grandfather and asked in the most ceremonial tone I could muster and trying not to let it sound like I was insulting my uncle, if I could train my cousin. My grandfather always had a thing for me, so he agreed, and I got to be Zuko's Sifu, despite my uncle's fuming wrath. That's basically the story.", he ended, shrugging his shoulders as he did, "and as I told you before, we got along great, so we had a lot of fun, usually."
The group fell silent after that. Hearing about that the current Fire Lord had rejected his son publicly when he was still a child was somehow unsettling. But Lu Ten thought about how this was not even the worst story about how his uncle treated his son with a great deal of bitterness.
The next day they arrived at the rendezvous point for the invasion. Lu Ten knew they were a few days early, which left him relieved somehow. It would be great to have an opportunity to take a final deep breath. Soon after their arrival everyone was getting busy. Setting up camp, readying the island's natural port for the arrival of the ships, going through plans and theories, before finally everyone fell asleep a few hours after sunset. Lu Ten noticed Aang talking to Katara, the monk seemed rather nervous, but who could blame him? He literally had the world on his shoulders, and if that was not enough, he was only a child of twelve. Lu Ten turned away from them in his sleeping bag and fell fast asleep.
In his dreams he saw her again, Lian, his wife. She was wearing a green dress, Earth Kingdom commoner costume, as he knew. She also wore a light green apron. He laid on a simple bed, like in an infirmary, and in an infirmary he was. A paravent separated him from the other patients, the scent of various herbs filled the air and someone, Lian as he noticed, hummed a little melody. He smiled at her. From his bed he could only see her backside, but he knew it was her. The voice, the shape of her body, her movements, her black hair, bound at the back, so it wouldn't interrupt her work. Then she turned around and the view almost made him jump out of his bed. Her face was scarred and bruised. What was visible from her hands and arms looked the same. Then a fat caricature of a man entered his vision. Noticing that Lian was looking at Lu Ten, the man pulled her towards him roughly. He held her jaw with one hand and whispered something into her ear, by the looks of her face, a threat. Lu Ten wanted to intercept, but he felt restrained to the bed. With tears in his eyes, he had to watch helplessly as Lian began to cry. She looked right into his eyes and her mouth formed a short sentence, "I'm sorry, I had to.". Then he heard someone scream, not her but he knew the voice. Aang! He realized, shrieking up as he did. He saw that the Air Nomad had in fact, screamed, and was relieved that not everything was a bad dream. The monk walked over to a bush and started attacking it. Lu Ten sighed and went back to sleep. He knew how Aang must've felt, sometimes the adrenaline needed out after a nightmare, so he did not worry about it too much.
He awoke again at sunrise, no more dreams had visited him, and for once he was thankful for that. Lu Ten started with his usual morning routine, meditating, finding himself some breakfast and making the first teapot of the day. Then he began his own training. Everything was quiet until Katara walked up to him, "Lu Ten, we have a problem.", he immediately got out of his bending stance and gestured for her to go on talking. "Aang had a bad night and is now training like a madman, even though he clearly lacks sleep. And he won't listen to anyone and is adamant about spending every minute training, literally any minute. I'm afraid he might overwork himself."
"Alright, I'll talk to him.", Lu Ten said, a bit sad that he couldn't continue his training. He walked up to the young Avatar. "Hey there Aang.", he smiled at the kid, but was seemingly hardly noticed at all. So, he raised his voice, "Aang! What are you doing?"
The boy jumped. He looked at his firebending teacher with a pang of guilt in his features. "I'm training, Sifu Hotman. My forms are bad, if I want to defeat Ozai I need to be better."
Lu Ten sighed, "Aang, your forms are not bad. I mean, I can't tell about airbending, but all the other elements are, while not a hundred percent perfect, still pretty good. You should allow yourself a bit of rest. You need to recharge your energy reserves if you want to perform at the Day of the Black Sun, trust me. Go to sleep, take some time to meditate, do what makes you focus. Ready yourself for the battle at the last day. Don't overtrain now."
That night Aang was showing how tired he really was as he wished everyone a good night, everyone, separately, even Momo, until Toph yelled at him to shut up and sleep. Lu Ten thought to himself, he couldn't have phrased it better.
Tonight, is seemed the spirits had mercy with him. He dreamed, but the dream was for once truly happy and at no point turning into a nightmare. He walked the royal palace, the mood seemed lighter than he remembered and golden sunlight flooded the floors. He went towards the royal gardens and saw two figures at the turtle-duck pond. One was his father; he was wearing red robes and the crown of the Fire Lord. Next to him sat his Baby Cousin, smiling, listening to Iroh's every word. Lu Ten went to join him when suddenly he heard small steps running towards him from behind. He turned halfway at the person coming at him, but the child still collided with his legs, hugging him tightly, shouting "Dad! Dad! Dad!". He felt something stuck into his throat as he bent down to the boy, he knew it was his son, he just knew. The boy looked like a carbon copy of himself at the age. "What is it, my son?", he asked, careful because he didn't know the child's name. The child's voice was muffled because his face was pressed into his robes, "I missed you so much, Dad.", just as he bent down to hug the child a loud scream ripped him from his vision.
He woke up and saw the young Avatar pacing around some sleeping koala sheep, with a silent groan he let his head fall back into his pillow. He noticed Katara walking after Aang and decided to turn around and continue sleeping, but the happy vision from before was gone.
A couple of hours later they were all wakened by a panicked avatar. Before Lu Ten could do anything, he was pulled out of his sleeping bag by the monk. "Come on, Sifu Hotman! You need to work on your math skills, in my dream we all got caught because you couldn't pass the test.", he went on ranting until Katara stepped in, "Aang! I know you're just trying to help, but you really need to get a grip. You're unraveling."
Aang took a deep breath, "You're right. I'm losing my mind. It's like every time I think about how stressed I am, I just end up more stressed. I'm like a big growing snowball of nerves."
Lu Ten decided he would not meddle in these teenage discussions any longer and do something that made sense. He would try to help Aang if the monk asked him for and not push him. Meanwhile he helped Sokka make an armor set for Appa. He petted the giant animal as he fastened the helmet, "There my furry friend, now you're better protected than ever.", he said with an approving smile.
Then he heard Katara speak, "You know what, I've got just the thing! Get ready to be de-stressified!", Lu Ten raised an eyebrow at her as she led Aang away.
Soon afterwards Lu Ten separated himself from the group for a while. The teens all tried out different methods of helping Aang with his stress, but by now, nothing had worked. For now, he had decided, he needed to try something for himself and go on with his own plans. But as if he had smelled it, the monk came over. "Hey there, Sifu Hotman.", he greeted with a sheepish grin. Lu Ten raised an eyebrow at him.
His voice maybe even calmer than usual he smiled at Aang, "What is it, Aang? Do you need something?"
The airbender staggered from one leg the other, "Well, uhm, look, I tried different relax techniques with the others but so far, nothing has worked. So I thought, maybe you can help me relax?"
Lu Ten sighed and gestured for the Avatar to sit next to him. "Well, for once I'm reassuring you that I will do anything I can to protect you, at any cost. Is that clear?"
The monk nodded, "Yes."
"Do you feel better now?", he asked hopefully.
"No.", Aang said, head and shoulders slumping down.
Lu Ten sighed again, "Okay. What helps me when I'm feeling nervous is meditating. Should we try that for a while?", the monk nodded. Lu Ten then set up a candle in front of them and lit it. He walked Aang through different breathing exercises before they meditated in silence for a while until sunset. Lu Ten would do what he had planned the next day.
It didn't help. Their night was still interrupted by Aang's nightmares, only this time, the monk decided to stay awake until the invasion took place. Lu Ten mentioned that this was a bad idea, but as he was more than tired himself, he then went back to sleep and decided to deal with the situation, if he had to, the next day.
The next day everyone was getting ready more and more. Sokka was working on the final touches of Appa's armor while Lu Ten noticed Aang hitting a tree that sported a noodle portrait of his uncle. He smiled at this. Then he heard the monk speak, "You think you're untouchable, don't you, Mr. Fire Lord?"
He couldn't resist to walk over to him and say, "He certainly thinks that Aang. And if you're smart, you'll use that to your advantage."
Aang jumped a bit, but then noticed his firebending teacher had a bag over his shoulder, "Where are you going, Sifu Hotman?"
Lu Ten shrugged his shoulders, "A bit more inside this island, I need to try out a few things.", he left them at that. He continued on his way, leaving the whole teenage group behind until the only things in a wide view around him were scattered koala sheep. He then sat down and took a deep breath. Lu Ten had come here because he wanted to do this alone. He closed his eyes for a long moment before he began to undo the bandages on his hands. They should be fine, the thought shot through his head ever and ever again, but would they be?
He began slowly and forced himself to continue that way and not just rip the bandages off. Then he stared at his hands for several minutes. They looked like his hands again, like they did before they were crushed. He ran his fingers from one hand over the other and vice versa. Everything was where it should be, and everything seemed stable, reliable. Nothing shivered, nothing seemed fragile. The only change he noticed was a white set of lines that ran across the upper side of his hands, starting below his wrists and continuing to his fingertips. He noticed that these were most likely coming from Katara's healing, where his skin was coming together after she reattached the muscles in his hands. Due to his already pale skin, the lines were only visible if the light came from certain angles. He hadn't noticed before, but tears ran down his face and for the first time since he had been captured almost seven years before, he touched his own face, wiping the tears away. After a while of sheer realization and happiness he stood up and began test phase two. He started with simple forms and slowly worked his way through more and more advanced firebending. After hours and hours, he knew that the sunset was approaching, but there was one last thing he wanted to try, he took a deep breath and focused. Then he made a circular motion, slowly, watching out to do it exactly as prescribed. He separated the energy surrounding him and forced it into his hands, he felt the lightning forming around his fingers, then he pointed at the sky and allowed Ying and Yang to collide once more in a shot of pure energy. He looked happily after it. Then he made another, this time quicker. His hands stood the test. He grinned broadly while he packed his things and started to walk back towards the teenagers.
Everyone stared at him when he reached the camp, they had seen the lightning. Lu Ten walked straight over to Katara and hugged her tightly, "You don't even know how much I owe you, Katara.", he said as he released the surprised girl. Then everyone noticed it, the bandages were gone.
"Hey Sifu Hotman, where did your bandages go?", Aang asked.
Lu Ten smiled at him, "I guess I burned them on the way home."
Then an astonished Sokka asked, "So, that lightning, that was you?"
Lu Ten nodded, "Yes, I had to try it. I didn't want to find out it doesn't work when we need it on the battlefield."
They all nodded understandingly, then Toph said, "Come on, Sifu Hotman. We just wanted to show Aang what we came up with for the nightmare problem.", she led the group towards a white, soft looking bed.
Aang said, "Oh look. Another hallucination. An imaginary bed made out of clouds.", Lu Ten spotted a few sheared koala sheep and thought, yeah, clouds.
Toph turned to him, "Hey! It's real! We spent hours working on it."
Sokka added, "We made it for you. A good night's sleep will probably take the crazy away. We hope."
Despite their efforts, Aang rejected, "Look! You guys keep telling me that I need to sleep, but I can't! The invasion's tomorrow!"
Katara was concerned, "Aang…"
But he interrupted her, "No, Katara! There's still so much I haven't learned. I don't need sleep. What I need is practice. Quick, hit me!"
Lu Ten walked past him, stretching his arms, and yawning, "So, I can have it? I've spent the whole day training and wouldn't turn the offer down. I mean, it's a bit short but I'll manage. We'll just warm these up a little and it will be cozier than the beds in the royal palace, well, almost.", he said, sitting down on the bed and petting it. He raised the temperature of his hands so it would warm up the cushions a bit.
Katara laid a hand on Aang's shoulder, "Listen to me. You've been training for this since the day we met. I've seen your progress. You're smart, brave and strong enough."
Unsure Aang asked, "You really think so?"
Katara nodded, and Sokka added, "We all do. You can do this. You're ready."
Toph cheered, "You're the man, Twinkle Toes!"
Finally, Lu Ten spoke, "If anyone is capable of beating this madman that my uncle became it is you, Aang. Now come here and sleep already."
Groggily Aang yawned, "Thanks guys. You know what? I think I am ready." The rest of the group stood around the bed as the young Avatar finally fell asleep peacefully. Only moments later they fell into their own sleeping bags, almost as exhausted as Aang had been.