Wandering Firebender
Eighty Four: Changes
It was late afternoon, and Elio was already feeling tired as he made his way up the hill to his family's house. He let out a yawn and rubbed the corners of his eyes with his fingers as he approached the front door. He knocked on the door and waited, grasping onto another bouquet of flowers with both hands.
His sister was the one who answered the door, "Hi. You're here early." Taiga noted.
"You know me, always punctual. I brought some more of these." He said, holding up the flowers he had brought.
"Oh, those are nice. I'll take those. Mom's still taking care of the other ones." She said, carefully taking them from him.
"Then they're all yours." He said with a smile before walking inside and removing his boots.
"No uniform today?" Taiga observed that he was wearing normal clothes instead of his special agent uniform.
"Fire Lord Zuko let me off early today, sooo..." Elio said with a shrug.
"Hey, son," Sol walked into the living room and waved once he saw him. "Rue is making one of your favorites today." He informed him.
"Steaks?" Elio guessed.
"That's right!" Sol answered, making Elio laugh delightfully.
"Great! Because I could really use a good meal." Elio expressed.
"They'll be done soon! Taiga, dear, could you come in here and help me, please?" Rue requested from the kitchen.
"Coming, mother." Taiga quickly scurried into the kitchen, leaving Elio and Sol alone in the living room.
"Come with me, son, I want to show you something." Sol said, making his way down the hall. Elio followed his father until they arrived at the door to Elio's old bedroom.
"What is it?" Elio asked.
"After you left, we turned your old room into a storage room. Your stuff is all still here." Sol explained as he opened the door for Elio.
Elio entered into the room and looked around curiously. The room was full of storage boxes. All of his decorations had been taken down and packed up. His furniture had sheets draped over them. His bed was no longer there. The air inside was dustier; clearly, no one came into this part of the house that often.
"I forgot that I used to have so much stuff." Elio commented with a faint chuckle.
"It's all here: your old trophies, your decorations, some of your clothes and the little necklaces you used to like to wear. You're welcome to take it back with you since you're staying in the palace now." Sol said.
"Thank you for keeping all this," Elio smiled appreciatively. "I'll have to send for it and go through it in my room when I can." He decided.
"Of course." Sol nodded.
"Dinner's ready! Come get it before it's gone!" Taiga called to them.
"I'll help you with your steak if you don't want it." Sol joked with Elio as they walked to the dinner table.
"Ha, yeah right." Elio scoffed.
The family of four sat at the table once all the food and drinks were served. Elio let out a relaxed sigh. Finally, he could get some rest. And he was happy that things were starting to be comfortable between him and his family again, far as he could tell.
"Go ahead and take a deep breath, dear. You look tired." Rue observed.
"I am." Elio agreed with a mild chuckle, taking in a deep breath and letting it go.
"Fire Lord Zuko has been working the boy! I've heard quite a few stories already." Sol said with a chuckle.
"Really? What have you heard?" Elio asked curiously.
"Well, I heard about your visit to Omashu, and how stubborn the earthbenders there were being. Not exactly news but I did still hear about it." Sol brought up.
"What's an omashu?" Taiga asked sarcastically.
"It's an Earth Kingdom city. I'm actually kinda friends with King Bumi – he's in charge there. When those earthbenders were acting up, he and I talked things out." Elio explained.
"It's kinda cool how you get to just casually talk about meeting with such important people now." Taiga commented. Elio chuckled a little.
"I think it's very exciting though. Sometimes I wish I could be just present in the room so I could hear some of the things you must discuss with the Fire Lord." Rue thought out loud.
"How is Fire Lord Zuko doing?" Taiga asked curiously.
"He's doing alright. Dealing with a lot on his plate, as you would expect." Elio answered.
"Still fighting the uphill battle of making peace with the whole world," Sol said with a little shake of his head. "But based on what you tell me and what I've heard, there at least seems to be some progress."
"There definitely has been. And I hope that it continues to be that way." Elio said.
"I hope so. We wouldn't want all that effort to go to waste." Rue commented.
"Speaking of peace, I've heard a couple things about a lack of it over in the Fire Lord's palace." Sol brought up.
"What do you mean, dad?" Taiga asked.
"Well, there's been two older men, men who I served with, who have attacked Elio on the palace grounds. I still can't believe that." Sol shook his head disapprovingly.
"You were attacked?! Attacked by who?!" Rue exclaimed.
"Twice?" Taiga asked.
"Yeah, uh...the first time was...Admiral Ming. He kept challenging me to an Agni Kai after he sucker punched me at the Dragon Flare Tavern." Elio recalled.
"That's not even right. On what grounds would anyone ever do something like that?" Rue asked. Elio thought about the answer to that question and decided not to get into that.
"It was an unnecessary situation. Eventually when he found me on the landing strip, the fight didn't last long. I tried to use the whole thing as a teaching lesson for my men, but it's hard to say how effective that ended up being." Elio admitted.
"It's hard to say. I don't really know how to feel about it." Taiga commented.
"I know that I did not appreciate men who were supposed to be examples coming and ambushing my son." Sol said, an undertone of anger present in his tone.
"It's alright, dad. I took care of it both times." Elio said dismissively.
"Both times?" Rue asked, realizing now that this had happened on two separate occasions.
"Yeah. The first time was Admiral Ming, the second time was with Cassian's father." Elio answered.
"Cassian...oh wow..." Taiga said quietly.
"Grieving and loss is nothing new, but certain actions I just cannot excuse, no matter how justified it may seem to a person." Sol said.
"It's difficult to deal with." Elio admitted.
"Perhaps it's time to change the subject." Rue suggested, rubbing her hand on Elio's arm.
"Good idea," Sol nodded. "We don't need to only discuss work."
"Can I ask one quick question though? Before we talk about something else?" Taiga requested.
"What's up?" Elio asked.
"What's going on with Princess Azula? I heard that she's being held in, like, some insane asylum? Is that true? Or is that just a rumor? 'Cause I didn't believe it when I heard that." Taiga said.
"It's true. And it's a mental institution, not an insane asylum." Elio clarified.
"What is the princess of the Fire Nation doing in a place like that?" Rue asked.
"It is...difficult to explain. I don't want to get too into sharing her personal information, but I can say that the end of the war was...very troubling for her. So far, it seems like she is unable to adjust to how things are now." Elio tried to explain in a vague but accurate way.
"Poor girl. Were you involved with her in any way?" Sol asked.
"Uh...involved...?" Elio asked slowly, his eyes widening a little.
"There was a team sent out to bring her back home after she escaped, wasn't there? Were you on that team?" Sol clarified his question. Elio swallowed and nodded his head.
"Yes, I was. It was...well, complicated. We were attacked by earthbenders when we got there." Elio said.
"My goodness, even now you're still having to fight with the other side." Rue thought aloud.
"It's like I said, I'm not sure if the Earth Kingdom will ever be willing to actually trust us. But if Fire Lord Zuko wants to pursue peace with them, who am I to question our leadership? Perhaps there's something he knows that I don't." Sol shared his thoughts.
"So what is the princess like? Really?" I've heard so many stories but I've never actually spoken with her before. Never had the chance." Taiga asked him.
"Ah...well...how do I describe her?" Elio wondered aloud.
"You can start by saying she's pretty again." Taiga teased him.
"You're still on about that? You're such a jerk." Elio scoffed and shook his head.
"Elio, mind your manners at the dinner table. Taiga, stop teasing your brother." Rue quickly put them both in check.
"Sorry, mother." Elio and Taiga said at the same time.
"Haha, some things never change, do they?" Sol observed with a laugh. Elio smiled at this.
"I'm glad that's the case," He said honestly. "These are the sort of moments that I've missed the most."
After dinner, Elio and Taiga took care of cleaning the dishes for everyone. As they washed the plates off, they talked a little more.
"Hey, Elio?" Taiga looked over at him.
"What's up, Taiga?" He asked.
"You seem to encounter a lot of dangerous stuff on your missions, huh?"
"I mean not all the time, but yeah. It does come up every so often." He answered honestly.
"Yeah? But you still wanna help?" Taiga asked.
"It's the right thing to do. So of course," He answered with a nod, giving her a reassuring smile. "I handle myself though, you don't have to worry." He said.
"Well, you know...first it was Dad, and now you've kinda taken his place. I guess now that we've all started being a family again, I kinda have to start worrying about, you know." She said, teasing him a little but still expressing her serious thoughts.
"Heheh," Elio chuckled at this and rubbed the back of her head. "I'm glad things are starting to go back to how they were before. Long as I have you all, you can count on me to always make it home. I can promise you that." He said fondly.
"Good," Taiga nodded and smiled a little. "Things are better, but they aren't really like they were. Now you're a soldier, Dad's home all the time – and you're different now. No more firebending tricks, huh?" She commented, alluding to what she was trying to say.
"Oh wow, I forgot about all that," He admitted. "Yeah, I guess that does factor in." He acknowledged.
"Either way, just be sure to tell me all about your adventures when you get back. I'mma need tips so that way I can surpass you later down the road." She joked.
"Oh yeah?" Elio scoffed at this. They both shared a laugh over that.
After the dishes were done, Elio's family all began to disperse a little and relax. Elio approached his father, who was sitting quietly in the living room, "Hey, dad. Can we talk privately for a little bit?" He requested.
"Sure, son. Everything alright?" Sol asked as he got to his feet.
"Uh, well, yeah, but I could use some advice." Elio admitted.
"Oh, I see. In that case, let's step outside." Sol decided, gesturing for his son to follow him out the door. They exited the house and went to Sol's favorite rock. Sol sat down on it, and Elio sat down on the side of it, with his back by Sol's left shoulder.
"What's on your mind, son?" Sol asked.
"I...well...I've been struggling since I became a special agent for Zuko. I'm trying to do my best, but I really don't know what I'm doing. I feel like I'm constantly making things up as I go along, always figuring things out and never actually knowing what the right thing to do is." Elio expressed.
"Ahh, you're going to feel that way all the time, son. It's part of becoming a great man." Sol chuckled, patting his son on the back.
"What do I do about it?" He asked.
"Keep pushing forward, son. Stay focused, stay observant, and never forget that you command the room. Even if you are unsure of what to do, you want to conduct yourself with confidence. I've told you that already though, that hasn't changed." Sol reminded him.
"Yes, I know...I just don't know how to be a leader, Dad. Fire Lord Zuko trusts me to carry these things out for him, and that's fine, but there's a lot of men and women under my command and they go where I follow. That's a lot of pressure." Elio expressed.
"It is a lot of pressure, and it's a lot to ask of someone your age. But you are capable, Elio. I've seen that firsthand. You've grown up a lot. You need to stop doubting if you can do it and start trusting yourself to figure out how." Sol advised, turning to look back at him.
"...yeah..." Elio nodded in agreement. The words were exactly what he needed to hear, but he was so stunned by them that he couldn't find any way to respond.
"You'll have my support. And if you need anything more specific than that, I'll tell you things that have helped me." Sol promised. Elio nodded appreciatively.
"Thanks, Dad. I'mma really need it." He said.
"Let me ask you something, son."
"What?"
"Are you still traveling with those of friends of yours? The waterbending girl and the earthbender?" Sol asked curiously. Elio nodded and looked back at him.
"Yeah: Cindra and Alger and Sri. They're really, like, my closest partners on the crew, and they are my friends, yes." He answered.
"Good. Keep the ones you trust closest. Especially in a position as political as yours, it's good to build up a circle of people you know you can trust regardless of what's happening." Sol advised.
"Is my position really political like that?" Elio asked – evidently, he had never thought about this before.
"Son, don't you speak to the Fire Lord every day? Haven't you spoken to the Earth King before?" Sol reminded him.
"I mean, yeah, but...okay, touche." Elio acknowledged with a nod.
"Like I said, keep those ones close. If you could trust them before, you'll definitely need to now." Sol repeated.
"No problem there. I'd trust them with my life. They've already saved my neck more times than I can count." Elio said with a small chuckle.
"That's good. Fire Nation soldiers have a tendency to be competitive. You'll want to be especially cautious moving forward how you act here at home as well as out there in the field." Sol said.
"I'll keep all that in mind. Thanks, dad."
"Anytime, son. Keep on doing what you're doing. We're all very proud of you." Sol said genuinely, patting Elio on the shoulder. Elio nodded and smiled to himself.
"I will." He answered simply in reply...