Summer 99 AG
Fire Nation Colonial Village
"I've heard rumors minister Qin, about how brilliant you are and the way you quickly come up with new ways to wage war. Tell me does your inspiration come from the temple the prince intends to visit?"
Sometimes it's easy to forget that the jolly man that drinks tea like a madman was once the heir to the throne and as such he has training in the double speak that is common at court. Honestly uncle should just take the blunt approach to this problem.
I've never been one to pay attention to such games, and Zuko well, it would be generous to say that teen Zuko had any way to discern such things.
"I appreciate your compliments, but I don't like what you are implying even if we had any auxiliaries working for us .and I'm not saying we have, I'm still an engineer a designer and a craftsman, I would ask that you respect that"
At least minister Qin has realized that lying to Iroh will be useless or even hazardous for his continued survival. Him being blunt and doing away with the war of words that was about to begin is also a point in his favor even if he is trying to minimize the…position of the Earth Kingdom refuges that call the Norther Air Temple home.
At best they could be called conscripts as the lands that they used to live now belong to the Fire Nation and as such they are technically now from the Fire Nation and subject to the authority of its government, at worst they could be called prisoners of war doing forced labor activities.
The truth of the matter was somewhere in between, for now I will remain silent and simply observe what happens.
"Tell me the truth minister, are the people under your control treated fairly?" Iroh had a face full of hope and this time his hope was not misplaced.
"They are, in truth they are mostly an autonomous people, they don't pay any tribute or offer any men to the war effort, the only condition is that they provide their help in expanding the knowledge the Fire Nation has about certain mechanical issues"
I suppose that is the truth from a certain point of view and his answer had calmed the restless heart of my uncle.
"Then if your curiosity has been sated prince Zuko, I will take my leave and hope to see you again"
The man stood up and was about to turn around before I spoke
"I would like one last thing minister, I need an introductory letter, my curiosity has not changed if anything it has been piqued even more. I wish to see the men working for the Fire Nation"
Minister Qin appeared resigned, he could not stop me, not without a direct decree from the Fire Lord and Ozai was far enough that such a thing couldn't be acquired before we arrived at the temple.
"Very well, you will receive your letter as well as the route to take when you visit the temple that will lead you to the leader of the village"
With those words the minister finally left. The silence around us was finally broken by my uncle.
"Tell me the truth Zuko, what are your intentions towards those people?" his voice was heavy, and I could see him preparing for some grand revelation, I think he has finally stopped avoiding the words I said about Ozai. His excuse about talking later was exceedingly transparent, Iroh simply preferred a world in which a son wouldn't kill his own father.
"I will make sure the people living in the temple become my subordinates, I want them to build weapons for me, those weapons will serve as leverage to get my real objective"
I'm not going to lie to Iroh, not if I want him on my side. It's time to make my case and hope that he loves me enough to go along with my plans.
"You want the throne" he closed his eyes and turned his face towards the sky clearly waiting for an answer that wouldn't come.
"I'm sorry uncle, but this is the way. If there is to be peace in the world once more, I must remove Ozai from the throne, if I want to find my mother, I will need all the resources of the Fire Nation to
look for her and if I want Azula to be a better person I must get rid of what is poisoning her mind"
Every word was the truth, even if I have selfish desires over the things that I mentioned, it doesn't change the fact that what I've said is true.
"Zuko…there has to be another way, if we really find the avatar he-" he spoke with a breaking voice, he was grasping at straws and we both knew it.
"The avatar has been missing for a hundred years, our people cannot wait any longer, they've shed enough blood in this war and the innocents from the other nations deserve to live their lives in peace"
There can be no hesitation, if this world is going to be mine, I will make it into a utopia, that reminds me that I should take care of the places that are being heavily contaminated.
"I know that it's a lot to ask but I will do it anyway, will you help me uncle? As I make our home a better place"
"Zuko I've followed you unflinchingly since you were exiled, I may not approve of your choices, but I respect them. I will help you. This journey that you've started, I will see it through to the end"
Iroh is a good man, a good uncle and a good father, it is a true pity he was born in an age of war and that the rest of his family are terrible people like me, at least I'm better than Ozai even if my reasons for doing good are more for vanity than for the sake of doing good.
I stand up and walk to him slowly, stretching out my arms and giving him the signal that I want a hug, he doesn't hesitate and does so.
"I'm sorry for doing this to you when you have taken care of me, I hope one day you can be proud of what I do"
If I ever die, hell surely awaits me for taking advantage of the kind personality of Iroh, thankfully I have the body of a god now, dying is not in the cards.
"No matter what you do I will always be proud of you as long as the path you walk is your own"
Summer 99 AG
Route to the Northern Air Temple
Once I'm in charge one of the first things I must do is naming the areas of the sea, I just found out that there really isn't a name for the place where we currently are navigating, not even northern sea or frozen sea, no it's just the sea close to the air temple.
It shouldn't be bothering me, but it is. In other news this world is fucked up I just saw a fucking dolphin piranha an animal that is known for eating humans, shit I know dragons exist, but they are benign creatures in comparison to whatever horrors exist in the seas of this world.
Speaking of the dragons, Iroh has informed me of them and after we visit the Southern Water Tribe, we will head directly to the Sun Warriors' ancient city so that I can be taught by Ran and Shaw.
I'm almost tempted to turn back just so I can see a live dragon and maybe get my own, Druk must have already been born as he was a juvenile dragon when Zuko was in his twenties in the original timeline.
Shit, I just realized that I'm quickly becoming a Targaryen with my plans to get a dragon and fuck my sister…there are worse things in life. Like the dolphin piranha.
"Zuko, you seem unusually focused today on your meditation" even after all that has been revealed to him Iroh maintains a cheerful disposition that I can't help but envy, it would have made the first days of my exile more tolerable.
"I'm contemplating the future uncle..." i sigh before continuing "that's a lie, I'm thinking about the dragons. Legends coming to life, can you tell me about them"
"Certainly, but my words can hardly compare to the majesty of their being, the masters are enormous easily capable of devouring a man whole, their movements are graceful and measured like a beautiful dance and their fire Zuko is something that I can't even begin to describe"
We stood on the deck of the ship in a companionable silence, the sound of the waves barely disturbing the scene. Dragons, the masters of fire bending.
"Did they really teach you how to breath fire like them?"
"Would you like to learn? I warn you however that it can be dangerous"
"Show me"
He opened his mouth but before he could say anything more we were interrupted.
"Sir the Temple, we are close"
The shout came from lieutenant Jee, he has mellowed out a lot after we killed those pirates together and shared some drinks on the town. He is also one of the most exited at the prospect of me being chosen by Agni, if only he knew the truth.
"Its time to get ready, tell the helmsman to get us as close as possible to the left side of the temple in our current direction"
I have a great plan.
Author note: at the begginig i was thinking about Iroh and Qin having a little war of words but i realized that a man like him would probably fold pretty easily so i changed the scene and if it feels a little weird it's because of that. i'm also sorry for neglecting to answer anything from the last update, life's been pretty hectic since i came to Mexico (the last time i was here was when i started highschool and then i moved to the US because of my parents work) i've decided to stay, so i was looking for a job etc. Anyway hope you enjoy the chapter, i will try to answer what i can and as always the next chapter is on my for a dollar.
i hope you all have a nice week, i will go watch KENOBI now.
:Check me out!
