Wandering Firebender
Sixty Three: New Context
"Delivery from Fire Lord Zuko, sir!" There was a knock on Elio's door first thing in the morning. Elio, who was still resting in bed, sat up in surprise. His hair fell over his eyes, and he brushed it back.
"Uhuh? What?" He called out in confusion.
"The Fire Lord asked me to bring you your new uniform, sir!" A female servant said through the door. Elio rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before jumping out of bed and answering the door.
"Hi, morning. New uniform? Did I hear you right?" Elio asked. The servant nodded and held up the folded clothes. Pieces of Fire Nation armor had been placed on top of the clothes.
"He asks that you try them on right away, in case anything doesn't fit and needs to be replaced." She said. Elio blinked a few times and took the clothes and armor.
"Of course. I'll throw these on right now. Thanks."
"You're welcome. As soon as you are ready, the Fire Lord asks that you join him in the inner courtyard again." She informed him.
"Okay. I'll be there." Elio nodded and closed the door. He turned around and walked to his bed. He laid out his new uniform across the top of his bed. He was surprised to see how complex this uniform was – there were a lot of pieces to it:
Black pants and a tight black shirt with red stripes on the sleeves. On top of that, a red short sleeve shirt. Over that, a long black vest that went down to his knees – it had golden trim across the middle, the edges, and even around the neck. He was also given gold ring-shaped cuffs to wear around his wrists. His boots were red with golden trim that went down the underside of the shoe.
Over all that, he was given a plate of armor that covered his chest and shoulders. The armor was black, also with a gold trim across the edges. The golden trim went up the middle of his chest and extended out into the shape of a flame. As if that wasn't enough, there was also a golden Fire Nation insignia on the pad that went over Elio's right bicep.
It reminded him so much of Azula. Didn't she wear something like this?
Elio got ready to leave the room before trying on the new uniform. The armor gave him the most amount of trouble, but once he finally had everything on, he looked at himself in the mirror. For the first time in his life, he looked like a true Fire Nation soldier.
Of course, the uniform suited him. It would just take some time to get used to...
"Good morning." Elio greeted Zuko when he came out to join him in the inner courtyard. Zuko turned towards him and nodded.
"Morning. Wow, everything fits." He noticed.
"Yeah. I've never worn Fire Nation armor before. I'm used to having more freedom to move my arms." Elio commented, moving his arms out in circles to show how the armor restricted his range of motion.
"You get used to it. Aside from that, how does it feel?" Zuko asked.
"It fits fine. Only thing is I don't have anything to carry my staff with." Elio commented.
"Your staff?"
"Yeah. I always carry a staff with me. I'll need some kind of holster for that." He said.
"Alright. Well, we'll handle that when you get back." Zuko said.
"Get back? Get back from what?" Elio asked.
"Everything's ready. I'm giving you your first assignment today." Zuko told him. Elio's eyes widened a little.
"Oh wow. That's much sooner than I thought."
"You said you wanted to be useful, didn't you? Well, it's not anything too serious this time. I'm sending some relief supplies to Ba Sing Se. You'll be meeting with the Earth King. Make a good impression, reassure him that the Fire Nation is pursuing peace."
"Got it. That shouldn't be too hard." Elio nodded.
"Once you're finished with that, I have a letter that I would like you to deliver to my uncle. I've had it placed in your quarters." Zuko continued.
"Of course...my quarters?" Elio asked in confusion.
"Right. Follow me." Zuko gestured for him to follow. Elio kept in step next to the Fire Lord.
It was a short walk from the inner courtyard to an airstrip near the palace. There, Elio's eyes widened in awe as they approached a huge Fire Nation airship; bigger than the ones that Elio had taken down at the North Pole.
It reminded him of the airship that his father had used that day.
"W-What is this?" Elio asked quietly, staring up at the huge Fire Nation insignia on the side.
"It's your airship. Come and meet your crew," Zuko invited him. Elio was brought before the crew of the airship: engineers, a team of 6 in charge of piloting the aircraft, and about 12 additional soldiers for protection. Elio quickly picked out Delun in the lineup of soldiers.
"Everyone! This is your captain! Captain Elio! From here on out, you report to him. Do what he says, or you deal with me." Zuko said.
"Yes, Fire Lord, sir!" The crew all said in response.
"Elio? Do you have anything you would like to say?" Zuko invited. Elio timidly stepped forward with his hands behind his back.
"Um...hello. I'm Elio," He waved. "I-I'm looking forward to working with all of you. We all have our mission: making the world a better place. That's always gonna be my aim...I expect all of you to do the same." He concluded, doing his best to sound authoritative.
"Sir, yes, sir!" The crew all said in response.
"Good. Then you're ready to depart. The supplies have already been loaded up." Zuko said, turning to face Elio. Elio swallowed and turned towards him.
"I, uh, haven't eaten yet." Elio said.
"There's a kitchen on the ship."
"There's a kitchen on the ship?!" He said in surprise.
"Chefs too." Zuko added.
"Wow! Okay." Elio nodded.
"Be safe on your journey, Elio. If anything happens, send a black ribbon message my way." Zuko said. He started to walk away, but then Elio spoke up again.
"Zuko! One thing." Elio called to him. Zuko stopped and turned around.
"What is it?"
"Have you heard anything about Cindra? You sent word out like a week ago, right?" Elio asked.
"Still nothing. Sorry." Zuko answered.
"I see..." Elio said, looking disappointed. He looked up at him again, "Would it be possible for me to get her myself? Either before or after Ba Sing Se?" He requested. Zuko looked at him strangely.
"That's too far of a trip...she really means a lot to you, doesn't she?" He asked.
"I need her on my team, sir." Elio said in response. Zuko thought about this and nodded.
"Tell your crew to prepare for takeoff. You wait right there." Zuko said before walking away. Elio nodded and turned back to his crew.
"Well, you heard the Fire Lord. Prepare for takeoff, please." Elio said.
"Sir, yes, sir!" The crew said in response before turning around and boarding the airship one by one.
"Delun!" Elio called out, "Not you. Hang back for a second." He requested. Delun turned around and walked back to Elio.
"Hey, captain. What can I do for you?" Delun asked.
"Don't worry about calling me captain right now. Just on the ship," Elio said with a wave of his hand. "It looks like you were right after all. The Fire Lord didn't just want to see me obviously. He recruited me." He said with an astonished sigh.
"Heh, yeah. I did tell you, didn't I? Congratulations on the promotion." Delun joked lightly, chuckling afterwards.
"Ha, thanks. I just hope that I can handle it. This is a lot of responsibility." Elio said, admitting his apprehension.
"Well, if you need anything, you've got me and the crew. I've worked with a couple of these guys before. They're good people. They'll listen to you." Delun said to reassure him.
"Thanks. I'll be relying on you to tell me how the crew's doing. I wanna make sure everyone's happy and following orders." Elio said.
"Yeah, of course. Whatever you need. I doubt anyone will fall out of line though. We all just saw you call the Fire Lord by name and he didn't have a problem with it." Delun pointed out, bringing out how big of a deal that was.
"Right...okay. Well whatever works, I guess." Elio said with a shrug.
"Can I also just say, man...that uniform is crazy. I've never seen anything like it!" Delun said, clearly looking impressed by it.
"Yeah, I thought the same thing when I tried it on this morning." Elio joked dryly. Delun laughed at this.
"Wow! Oh, I'll help make sure that the crew is ready," Delun pointed over his shoulder at the airship, suddenly cutting the conversation short. "See you on the ship, captain." He said, doing a quick salute before leaving in a rush.
"Hey, Elio!" Another voice called to Elio. He turned around and saw that Zuko was coming back. Aang was with him; he was the one calling to Elio and waving. Next to the two of them was Katara! She was holding hands with Aang as they all approached.
"Hey. Hey! I remember you." Elio said with a chuckle, pointing at Katara.
"I remember you too! It's nice to see you again, Elio. That's quite a uniform you got on there. I like all the gold." She complimented with a chuckle.
"Oh, yeah. Heh, thanks. It's new." Elio said awkwardly.
"I think I've figured out a solution to your Cindra problem." Zuko said.
"Really?" Elio tilted his head.
"Yeah! We can go to the North Pole and pick her up for you!" Aang said.
"Really?! You guys would do that?!" Elio exclaimed in surprise.
"We're all a team here, Elio," Katara said with a smile. "Besides, it'll be nice to stop by for awhile and see how everyone's doing after the attack." She added.
"Thank you so much!" Elio said appreciatively, shaking hands with both of them.
"Oh! No problem." Katara said with a giggle, surprised by Elio's sudden handshake.
"If we leave now, we should be able to meet up with you in Ba Sing Se." Aang said with a smile.
"Perfect!" Elio said, clapping his hands together.
"That should take care of everything, right?" Zuko asked.
"Yes, thank you! I'll be on my way now!" Elio said. Then he stopped and turned around, "As soon as I get my staff!" He remembered and ran back towards the palace. He could hear Aang and Katara laughing as he hurried off...
Elio entered into the airship with his staff in hand. He took in a deep breath and looked around, taking it all in. If all went well, he would soon become familiar with this new area. But for now, he just felt like all of this belonged to someone else.
"Sir!" One of the engineers approached him. "The ship and crew are ready for takeoff. We double-checked the supplies beforehand."
"Great. Good. Let's get going then." Elio said with a nod.
"Yes, sir! We're taking off!" The engineer called to the others as he went back to his post.
Elio made his way up the nearest set of stairs. He went up from the loading dock to the common quarters. This part of the airship looked more like an inn. He walked through a hallway with doors to rooms on either side.
He entered into an open area with multiple tables. Some of the tables had chairs placed around them. There was one large table between this common area and the door to the steering gear room; this table had a map of the world on it.
Elio walked to the map and placed his hand on it, brushing it to his right until he found Ba Sing Se. It was going to take awhile to fly from the Fire Nation capitol to the Earth Kingdom capitol. But in this airship, it probably wouldn't take as long as he was expecting.
"Captain," Delun approached him. "We're ready for takeoff. We just need final word from you before we begin our ascent." He said.
"Of course. That's where the steering is, right?" Elio asked, pointing towards the door at the front of the ship.
"Yes, sir. With your permission, I'd like to be present in there while we takeoff." He requested.
"So would I. Let's go." Elio replied. The two of them entered the room.
"Captain. Are we clear for takeoff?" One of the men inside asked. Elio nodded.
"Yes, sir. I leave it to you." Elio answered.
"Yes, sir," He replied before speaking into a microphone. "Attention, everyone. Prepare for takeoff." He said briefly.
Elio watched with interest as the crew all worked together. Just by pulling and pushing a few levers, the airship started to rise into the air. Elio placed a hand on the wall, feeling the lifting sensation under his feet. From out the front window, he could see the airship moving directly upwards.
"This is amazing." Elio said with a little grin.
"It's like a giant steerable hot air balloon," Delun grinned. "I've been wondering what it felt like to be in one of these."
"Well, you can just relax. These things are built for stability, even with the way the winds get high up in the air." The man at the steering wheel said.
"Thank you. Please let me know when we're approaching Ba Sing Se." Elio requested before leaving the room. He closed the door behind him, leaving Delun inside with the crew.
Elio made his way to the common area. He walked up to the nearest window and looked down at the ground below. He watched as the airship rose higher and higher while simultaneously flying away from the palace. Elio chuckled, placing a hand on the window and leaning his face closer to it.
That's when it caught his eye. His smile immediately faded away. Not far off from the palace, up on the hill. He could see it. His family's home...
A wave of guilt immediately rushed over Elio. He hadn't seen his family yet. That was one of the reasons he'd come back, wasn't it? But he'd gotten so swept up in his business with Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang that he'd allowed it to completely slip his mind.
He hadn't even asked about how his family was doing. Not his father, not his mother, not his sister...not once.
Now Elio just felt terribly selfish. He'd let duties take him away from what was most important to him...was that not the same mistake his father had made? Was he even right to think that way about his own father...?
"It's quite a view, isn't it?" Delun said with a chuckle as he stepped out of the steering gear room. Elio looked up at him and nodded in agreement.
"It really is...you wouldn't happen to know where my room is, would you? I'd like to take a look at it before I eat." He said.
"It's upstairs in the second level with the rest of the living quarters. I'll show you." Delun said before leading Elio upstairs. Elio quietly followed behind him.
"Thanks for all of your help, Delun. I appreciate it...you stuck your neck out for me even though you really didn't know me well." Elio acknowledged.
"Hey, I was just following orders. I'm just glad it all worked out," He replied with a smile. "Most of these rooms are actually empty, but your room is right at the end of the hall there." Delun pointed to it.
"Got it. Thanks. Why are these rooms empty?" Elio asked curiously.
"These airships originally had much bigger crews, but that's when they were used for war. Since this is basically just a delivery job, the Fire Lord consolidated the crew. I'm sure we'll have more people to fill up all of these rooms on bigger assignments." Delun guessed.
"Yeah...alright, thanks. And the kitchen?"
"Go down to the loading dock and towards the front of the ship." Delun instructed him.
"Got it, thank you. I'll find my way from here. You're dismissed." Elio said.
"Yes, sir...one thing, Elio."
"Yeah?" Elio looked back at him.
"Thank you...for not forgetting about me. I'd heard about how you specifically requested for me to be on the crew...you're a good guy, man. I owe you one." Delun said.
"Nah," Elio shook his head. "You got me here. I don't know where I'd be if you hadn't convinced me to stay. You don't owe me anything; this is me repaying my debt to you. All I need from you now is good, honest work." He said.
"Sir, yes, sir." Delun smiled and saluted before leaving him.
Elio entered into his quarters. His room here in the airship was almost as nice as the one on in the palace. He set his staff down on the bed next to Zuko's letter for Iroh. He sat down at his desk, sighing to himself. He removed the armor resting on his shoulders and set it down on the table in front of him.
He turned the armor around in a half circle so that the golden insignia was facing him. He ran his fingers down across the symbol. He had a lot to live up to now that he was identifying himself as being part of the Fire Nation like this.
He was all too aware of how the world viewed the Fire Nation. He would be in for a lot of difficult conversations with people who would likely be justifiably angry. It would be up to him to provide new context to what it meant to be Fire Nation.
More than that though, he was looking forward to being done with this mission so that he could come back and see his family...