Chapter 1: Fire Kids Must be Saved
If Ursa could erase a day from her life, it would be to erase the day she was ever concieved. She wouldn't want to erase the day she was born. She had not wanted her mother to have ever bothered with the task of carrying her to term.
She had remembered the day she last saw her family. The day she realized her beloved husband to be, at the time, told her to relish the moment for she will not see them again.
From that day on, she felt she had been living life on the edge. Always walking on eggshells around Ozai. Her only reprieve was her brother-in-law, General Iroh, the tea loving but kind hearted older man. A stark contrast from his brother. Ursa cursed the person who gave Azulon the idea to bring in the former Avatar's descendant into his bloodline.
The old man and his cursed eugenics project.
Ozai had always been ambitious. This affected every part of his life. This included Ursa and everything she did. The clothes she wore and the people she interacted with. He divided everyone into pawns and enemies. He was watching her every move and watching her every letter. With the way he looked at his brother and nephew, Ursa wasn't sure where they lie in his plots. When she realized her first pregnancy, she had gone into a depressive episode for a week. She knew how Ozai would treat the child. A pawn, a weapon in his schemes. And if the child was not up to his standards…. well she wouldn't want to imagine.
It was a dark and cold night. Her first born was born, weak and barely cried. Ursa, on the bed, was ready to cry in his place. She knew Ozai would use this as an excuse to get rid of the child or admonish her with whatever he could come up with at the spot. She was not surprised when he came in with silent but swift steps towards the baby cot, took a look at their son's face and scowled like he was bitten by a rat snake.
"He has no spark," Ozai said with a cool tone. She knew this firebender was anything but cool at the moment.
Spark? What the hell does he mean by that? Who does he think he is? A fire sage? Is he just making things up now to get his way?
Ursa didn't know what to say to that. She was confused.
Ozai looked at her and sighed. "He must be done away with. It would be a disgrace to present such a child to the fire nation and even to my father,"
Ursa gasped with shock.
Done away with? Done away with?
She began to plead and plead. Her tears echoed in the room and the midwife who had been tending to Zuko took this as a cue to leave the room.
Ozai did not look impressed. He looked at the babe and then looked at Ursa's teary streaked face and spoke again. The baby was crying weakly but as hard as it possibly could.
"Stop this sniveling. This is unbecoming of a lady of your station," He stepped away from the child and knelt down to Ursa who was now clutching to his clothes, on her knees. He cradled her cheek with his palm in a gesture Ursa was not sure was to soothe. She did not expect that sort of thing from a man like him. "Don't worry Ursa. Even if he is gone, we can always make more,"
Ursa stilled.
Ozai gave a wicked smile.
The babe started coughing.
She was not sure what to do next. What could she do? She had barely met the child and she was ready to risk it all for him. She really wished, not for the first time, she had not been able to conceive if this is what it will always surmount up to.
Just when she was about to give up all hope and try to run with the babe, another unannounced guest walked in with the doors burst open. The midwife that escaped was trailing behind him.
"Father," Ozai stood up and gave his father a bow, Ursa still at his heels.
Firelord Azulon did not look impressed at the display before him and walked over to the child. He picked him up from the cradle and stared into the baby's eyes. The baby quit coughing, stayed silent for a bit and started to ogle at his grandfather.
They all stayed silent for a while, except the baby who was admiring his grandfather's features.
"What is his name?" Azulon demanded. He appeared to be resisting the urge to crack a smile.
"Father this child is not…" Ozai began but Ursa had stood up and interrupted him.
"His name is Zuko," she replied and walked, gently towards Azulon and the baby. She heard Ozai huff but she did not care.
Azulon gave in to the urge to smile and handed the baby back to Ursa.
"Zuko," he pondered. "A strong name for such a small child. Let us hope that he can live up to it," He looked at Ursa one last time and his smile receded as he turned to look at Ozai. "Follow me out. Let the new mother have some bonding time with her first" With that, he walked out with a scowling Ozai behind him.
Ursa sank to the floor once again. Zuko was in her arms and he was starting to fuss. The midwife who had apparently still been there for the moment wrapped her arms around them in an attempt to comfort.
It worked.
Ursa calmed down and her sobs died out to little chuckles. She looked at the midwife who knelt in front of her. She was smiling, slightly amused too. Ursa would have to ask her brother-in-law for help smuggling this woman out. Ozai was not going to take kindly to his father being brought into this matter, especially by someone as lowly, as he perceived, as this midwife.
Ursa looked to the window, the full moon out with all its glory. She smiled as she rocked Zuko gently.
She was glad for the first time ever to her father-in-law. He actually did something useful for her for once during her stay here at this dreadful palace.
ooo - - - ooo
When Azula was born, Ozai had proclaimed with great joy, as if he could feel that, that she had the spark in her eyes. Ursa was so tired and dreary but she wanted to put a spark in his eyes.
She knew from that moment who he favored more and she knew she would have to work overtime to give Zuko the care he needs. Since Zuko, now two years old, was clearly going to get nothing from his pyro-obsessed maniac of a father, she would have to fill in that role. At least his cousin and uncle had treated him with love and care. Even his grandfather was as wicked looking as Ozai was to his own son.
ooo - - - ooo
Ursa cursed the day she ever thanked Azulon for anything. He had saved Zuko's life on that fateful day, yes, but demanding Ozai to kill his firstborn as a punishment for his disrespect was a slap to the face to her. Ozai wasn't obviously all too happy to carry out that mission.
Lu Ten had just passed away. Why couldn't anyone in this damn family just relax and grieve like a normal person? At least Zuko and Iroh were doing that for everyone.
Iroh was on his own journey and no help to Ursa now.
She thanked Agni for Azula's snooping ways, she hoped this would not come to bite her back too. She dashed all the way in the halls to intercept Ozai. She met him with all his glee, struggling to keep it in his face. He was all too happy to carry out his father's command.
She negotiated with him but he was a tough nut. He felt murdering his own son was all too good to pass on. She finally broke down and told him about a special poison she had. Odorless, tasteless and thereby undetectable. Ozai had a surprised look then cracked another smile and decided to give a listen.
Before Ursa could finish negotiations a cry was heard from afar. Ursa and Ozai looked at each other and got a hold of a servant who had been passing by in a hurry.
The servant was shocked at first but once he realized who he had almost passed by, he began to bow before Ursa stopped them.
"Quickly speak. What has happened?" Ozai demanded.
"I-I am sorry your highness. It appears the young prince has disappeared from the palace," the servant began. Ursa's heart sank. "His room was filled with scorch marks and fire lily petals. It is an unimaginable scene. There was no sign of the prince in sight and the windows were closed and so as the doors. We are currently looking for the prince, your highnesses," the servant's face paled as he said that last statement.
Ozai grunted and commanded the servant to continue the search. The servant scuttled away as fast as he could.
Ursa made to run over to Zuko's quarters but a hand grabbed her and pulled her back.
"I believe we have unfinished business," Ozai grinned.
"Your son is missing. We have to find him. By the way, he isn't here for you to threaten again. So count the deal as off," She made to move again but Ozai pulled her back once more.
"Sure but we have one more child to threaten, don't we?" he sneered at her. A vein in her neck threatened to pop as she stared daggers at him. She pulled her hand away from his grasp and faced him fully.
"Fine but I still have to find my son," she raised her head in a bit of defiance.
"Our … commodity first and then you are free to do whatever you want to do," Ozai said. He looked bored. He most definitely was not interested in anything that had to do with his son.
She turned and went to get the cursed item.
ooo - - - ooo
Prince Zuko was never found.
The Firelord passed away and a new one took his place.
Iroh was declared incompetent as he drowned in grief and unfit to take the throne.
Ozai's ambitions finally got him what he always wanted.
Ursa's nightmare evolved into its final form.
She wanted to pray to Agni but by now, she knew not to pray to something that clearly favored her diabolical demon spawn of a husband.
ooo - - - ooo
Mayan, at the age of twenty-five, has almost had enough of what life has always thrown her way. She stared at the little boy brought to her by her… situationship of a partner.
ooo - - - ooo
Mayan had always accepted whatever task she's been given since she was a child. Born and raised in an orphanage in a little village called Mopung, she has always done what she's been told and taken care of the other kids that came after her. Even some of the ones who came before.
That worked for a while until some fire nation scum thought that their newly acquired colony didn't need a run-down orphanage. Why? Less mouths to feed, one can only guess.
She was left with herself and one little boy, Bing, who managed to survive with her. Luckily for them, Bing's mother, Gili, had come back to take her son. She had only left him at the orphanage for a year because she didn't have the resources to take care of him at the time. With tears in her eyes at the burning building and at the sight of the two survivors, she took them into her home.
Apparently, Gili had found work with some mysterious group which required her to carry out several tasks, no questions asked. Their base was mostly underground , navigated through handlers and tasks were also given through handlers.
Once it was discovered that Mayan was an earthbender at age ten, Gili had introduced her to one of the group's handlers and had been promoted to handling much more interesting tasks. From dropping so-so objects into so-so people's bags to moving so-so supplies to so-so locations.
Mayan had been given an earthbending teacher. She had been an excellent student and once she reached age seventeen she was asked to join the group. She joined of course. She was a good girl and people needed her help. Even though she didn't know who and what for.
Her first missions were simple like tripping a certain fire nation soldier at a certain signal to creating ditches and blockades to delay supplies to invading troops of occupying colonies.
Mayan honestly felt good doing these tasks. She felt good helping out, climbing the group's ladder and maybe paying back ashmakers in the process was a special bonus. Making their lives miserable for what they've done to people of other nations was honestly a small joy which would do for her in the meantime.
Well, that was until she was twenty and met a particular ashmaker.
She was creating a blockade to interrupt a trade route for another fire nation colony.
The scumbags.
It was evening, she waited up in nearby trees with her partner, Tulo, for the carriage of supplies designated to pass through this route so she could send a signal to indicate contact had been made. They were on different branches of the same tree. They noticed a single person heading towards their blockade. They stayed still, obviously the man would just turn back and take another path. Nothing else could be done here.
Well, that was before he came closer and touched the earth blockade. He was easier to see now, he wore deep purple robes and had a sword slung across his back. His jet black hair was loose over his shoulders, long and covered most of his face.
He took a step back and unsheathed his sword.
"What is he doing?" Tulo whispered to Mayan. She shrugged. "He's not gonna hit a rock with his blade is he?" Tulo snickered. His amusement caused Mayan to chuckle a bit.
The man raised his sword over his head with a two hand grip, took a deep breath and summoned something like liquid fire onto his blade.
"A fire bender!" Tulo said in a strangled whisper. His grip on his branch tightened and Mayan had to remind him to relax and wait.
With a strange arc and a quick strike at the blockade, the barrier split into two diagonally.
Maya stared at the sight with her eyes wide open and she looked to Tulo who had his mouth wide open. They looked at each other and then to the man who was now passing over the space created by the split rock slabs.
It took them a while after the man had already left to recover and go investigate the work he left behind.
"A clean cut," Mayan had said. She placed her hand on the standing rock at the intersection of the cut. It was slightly warm to the touch.
"Shit," Tulo exclaimed.
"What?" Mayan turned to him, he was searching through his bag wrapped around his waist.
"We forgot to use the flare. The handler today is gonna cook us," Tulo complained. It was his first mission from his most recent promotion, Mayan was not surprised that he was way more upset about this than her.
"Forget about this. We have to head back underground and report this to the head handler for the week. By the way, I don't think we could have taken him in a fight or anything. This is way above our pay grade," Mayan said. Tulo shook his head then huffed in reluctant agreement.
ooo - - - ooo
After that particular incident, there were more accounts of people meeting this mysterious man with the blade of fire.
Apparently, he was some type of shaman and was hunting some evil spirit which had found its way into one of the fire nation colonies.
Talks around the surrounding towns and villages grew as no one was sure if this was true or some kind of joke made at the delight of the ashmakers which had taken their homes. It was until people started noticing even the fire nation soldiers were acting wary about this news that everyone nearby mostly agreed to take the news seriously.
Soon, sightings of a strange spirit with the body of an ape but the head of a flower started appearing around towns. Seems like it had been sticking more to the forests so that's why no one was really aware of its presence.
The group had instructed the handlers to instruct their subjects to not approach the shaman and mind their business. If he is close by during one of their tasks, leave the location and find the closest handler.
Mayan, for the first time of her life, did what she was not asked to and snuck out to see him one night.
She had waited for Bing, who was now sixteen to get to bed and knew Gili was not around that night. Easy work for her then.
She went to the bar where the shaman had been frequenting and once she spotted him, she grabbed a seat right in front of him at his table. He had a cup filled with whatever drink, clasped between his palms.
She could see his face better up close. He was younger than she thought. His eyes were clearer to see now, though, obscured by his loose and scattered hair. He was staring at her with a piercing gaze. Gold eyes were staring at her curiously. Confirmation of his nationality.
"You… aren't you one of them? The so-called group" he asked. Mayan was startled.
"How did you…?" Mayan began but instead was interrupted by the man.
"Your aura," he began. Mayan quirked up a brow. "When people in a group stay around each other, they begin to develop similar auras. Auras change a bit when a person does certain things. For example when you switch from home life to work life, your aura tends to change a bit for a while. I've seen you and your group around for a while now, you have a translucent light blue cloud around you, so as your… co-workers. People's auras also tend to tangle and intertwine with each other so I can tell if you are connected to a particular group or not," he stopped and sipped the drink he had been holding.
Mayan huffed.
"So you are an actual shaman?" She inquired in a more relaxed state.
"Hmm. Yes and I will be very busy tonight. I hope I was able to curb your curiosity or at least a bit if it," he stood up and began to leave.
"You're not gonna pay for that?" She gestured at the cup.
"I already did," he turned and walked to the door. She hesitated for a bit and followed him outside.
"Wait! Wait!"
He turned to her and frowned a bit.
Mayan found that a bit cute and smiled.
"When you mean busy, you mean you are going to hunt the malicious spirit tonight," she asked.
He looked at her for a bit and answered. "Yes?"
She swallowed and replied. "Can I… can I help?"
He regarded her for a bit and chuckled.
It was her turn to frown now.
"What? So you think a young lady like me can't help you, huh? Well I'll let you know I am twenty and I am a master earth bender," she huffed in annoyance and folded her arms.
He chuckled more and raised his palms up in a placating manner.
"No no. It's fine. It's just that no one has ever offered to help me before. Normally when people hear 'spirits' they tend to skedaddle and look for someone else to take care of it. Or avoid it like the plague," he explained.
"Oh, I see," she uncrossed her arms and sighed. "I do really want to help,"
He chuckled again and gestured for her hand to be put in his. Her eyebrows furrowed.
"If you are gonna help me, I need to adjust your chi pathways to help you fight against spirits. You are an earthbender, right? With adjustment, you can help me hold the spirit while I strike" he said.
That sounded exciting, so she placed her hands in his quickly and he closed his eyes and began to hum lowly.
She began to feel a slight shift in her body, from her legs and her palms. It seemed like tendrils of energy inside her being shifted around and guided into place.
He let go of her hand and looked at her.
"We are all set. I didn't catch your name?" he asked, politely.
"It's Mayan," she said with a smile. She rubbed her hands together. "And yours?"
"It's Jazaih," he smiled back at her. "You have beautiful chi paths Mayan. They really are the ones of a master. Let's get going now," he turned and began to head to the nearby forest. Mayan blushed but followed him closely behind.
ooo - - - ooo
It turned out hunting evil spirits was a lot easier than she thought and simply catching one off guard in an encasing of rock was all that was required to keep it at bay.
"That was easy," Mayan exclaimed.
Jazaih chuckled and explained "If I didn't adjust your chi lines to account for spirit energy, it would've slipped through your bindings by now,"
"Oh. Well this is great then," she cheered.
Just then the part flower part ape creature began to let out a high pitched scream from its flower orifice and Mayan had to clasp her ears with her hands to reduce the intensity of the sound.
Jazaih on the other hand, unsheathed his sword, readied the flame and sliced its head off.
The flowery head fell to the ground and the forest was finally quiet.
"If only I had access to a water bender that can help me purify the spirit. I hate doing this," Jazaih sighed.
They both stared at the body still in the encasing.
"It would be best if I bury it in the ground, wouldn't it?" Mayan asked.
"Normally the body and head would fade away in a while but this encasing might be a bit … conspicuous," Jazaih replied.
With that, Mayan shrugged and put the spirit parts in the ground and dissolved the encasing.
They walked back to the town. Mayan was hoping to avoid any patrolling fire nation soldiers but Jazaih told her that as long as she's with him, she won't get in any trouble.
They talked for a while.
He told her about his several journeys through the spirit world and his work being sent to him by a certain spirit guide which he chooses not to disclose. He said he was trying to finish his current mission before he turned twenty-two next week. He would go around completing his missions and move on from place to place with barely any time to focus on himself.
"So after this, you'll be leaving?" She asked with disappointment in her tone.
"Well, for now, I actually have to find one of the leaders of your… group. I was told to make a connection with them," he answered.
"Why?" she asked.
"I do not know. But it will make sense in the future. It usually does," he said nonchalantly.
An idea popped up in Mayan's head.
"So you can stay at my place for the night?" She pleaded.
He paused and regarded her for a bit.
"What?" She asked, perplexed.
"No, it's just your aura…," he cut himself off then continued. "Of course I would gladly stay if you'll have me,"
She giggled and grabbed his hand running back with him towards her house.
Gili might kill me but who cares at this point.
ooo - - - ooo
Jazaih had found who he was looking for and from time to time, he would leave that village then come back to visit Mayan or assist the group with whatever they were up to at the time.
Mayan had lived on her own now. She still visited Bing and Gili from time to time.
Mayan and Jazaih grew closer and it blossomed into a situationship neither agreed to fully talk upon.
That was until Mayan had realized she was pregnant and Jazaih showed up again, one with a child wrapped up in a red silk bundle in his arms.
"Let me guess," Mayan began. "He is spirit touched. Another mission from the spirits, huh?"
"Yes… he showed up in the spirit world in front of me and his spirit guide asked me to take care of him. My spirit guide agreed too," Jazaih said as he laid the boy on the ground beside the fireplace.
The boy's breath synced with the fire and that was proof that the boy was a fire bender. More trouble.
"How old is he?" She asked.
"They say he is eleven,"
Mayan sighed.
She was sitting at the dining table and Jazaih joined her.
"Well then, tell the spirits they should provide because we will have another mouth to feed in several months time," she placed a hand on her stomach.
Jazaih's brows furrowed. Then his eyes widened in realization and he began to gape.
"Oh Agni, oh shit,"