Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

200. Chapter 200: Iroh's suspicions 4

Wooden swords made for a lesser spectacle than steel ones, yet the excited, newest recruits of the Enforcers were enthralled over the duel unfolding before their eyes: the young woman who had served as their instructor when they had enrolled, already a candidate for the promotion of Lieutenant in their forces, had challenged the Enforcers' sword master to discover whether she was ready to relieve him permanently as instructor for the recruits or not.

The young soldiers that watched the duel avidly seemed to root for both contestants at the same time, but Mei Xun couldn't help but hope Sae might prove triumphant, despite objectively knowing it would be impossible: Sae seemed to have the upper hand only to the untrained eye. Sokka was only on the defensive to give his opponent a chance to show her strengths before her fellow Enforcers before he inevitably defeated her.

It happened barely half a minute into combat: Sae was overconfident, lunged too far, and with one swift slash, Sokka forced the Enforcer to let go of her sword after having lost her footing: some of the recruits seemed aghast, but most of them were thrilled by the outcome. Sae sighed in defeat, though she smiled when Sokka offered her a hand to help her back to her feet.

"I guess you can't quite take over my duties permanently yet, but you're on your way there" Sokka said. Sae laughed, shaking her head.

"I'm certain you'll humble me many more times in the years to come, Instructor Sokka. I can only hope to rise up to your expectations one day"

"Now, now, no need to be so stiff" Sokka laughed, waving a hand to give the matter little importance "You're an Enforcer, the real deal! You're out there changing the world every day, there's no point in beating yourself up about not catching up to a swordsman with nearly four years of experience when you only picked up your first blade a few months ago"

"Well… I guess you're right" Sae acknowledged, with a small giggle. Sokka grinned with satisfaction.

"Alright, then, show's over and I'm pretty sure you guys have other lessons to get to" he said, glancing at the rest of the recruits "Best get going, right?"

The recruits did as they were told, though they kept muttering excitedly as they left, some of them offering sad, sympathetic smiles to Sae, others merely eyeing Sokka with dreamy grins. Mei Xun's stomach twisted at the sight of that last thing.

She was tempted to step out into the open now, hiding by a thick column as she had been while watching the duel unfold, but she didn't dare yet: Sae hadn't left with the rest of the recruits, and instead she seemed nervously eager to speak with Sokka in private. Mei Xun rolled her eyes upon recognizing the girl's intent, supposing she'd have to intervene indeed…

"I-Instructor Sokka? Do you have a moment?" Sae asked, while Sokka gathered the wooden swords used during today's drills. He would tuck them in a barrel, where they would be kept until the next training session.

"Uh… I guess so. Do you need something?" Sokka asked, carrying the barrel carefully towards a corner of the courtyard.

"W-well, I just…!" Sae started, toying with a strand of her hair nervously "I merely thought, well… do you have anything to do this evening?"

"… Say what?"

"It's fine if you're busy! I… I don't wish to impose!"

To Mei Xun's surprise and genuine relief, the gladiator grimaced at Sae with obvious discomfort. Instead of jumping at once at the opportunity to sweep this girl off her feet, he seemed moments away from rejecting her… and Sae realized it just as quickly as Mei Xun had.

"Okay, never mind, forget I said anything…" Sae mumbled, ready to leave.

"Wait just a moment…" Sokka said, grimacing. The flustered girl looked utterly ashamed, and as much as Sokka had no intentions of accepting her offer, he hoped to smooth matters between them, if possible "Why are you asking me something like this?"

"I… I guess because I hoped you could feel the way I do…? But… maybe it was just me" Sae sighed "It's alright, it's not the first time I've made mistakes like these with men…"

"Heh… well, don't beat yourself up about that either" Sokka said, with a sad smile "Though I'd advise that you should get to know people better before trying to go out with them. If you knew more about me…"

"Oh, I've heard much, you seem to be a really exemplary man" said Sae, biting her lower lip. Sokka chuckled.

"If you did know more, you'd know I'm… well, in short, not available" he finished, with a shrug. Sae was slightly taken aback, though it seemed she was far more surprised by the revelation than upset about it "I'm sure you'll find someone better for you in due time"

"Well… I guess I did know that, to a fault" said Sae, swallowing "But I thought, since the Princess wasn't around right now… uh, never mind that. I'm really sorry, it wasn't my place to say anything in the first place…"

"It's just an honest mistake, isn't it? One you couldn't have known you were making" Sokka said, nodding "I really don't like hurting people's feelings, but… this isn't going to happen, Sae"

She smiled weakly and nodded, averting her gaze from him regardless.

"I understand" she said.

"You'll be okay?" Sokka asked, still uneasy, but the young woman nodded promptly even as she walked backwards, towards the nearest doorway, where most of her fellow Enforcers had exited.

"Absolutely. This won't be a cause for concern for you, I assure you" said Sae, nodding promptly "I can be professional regardless of my stupid mistakes. We'll both forget about this soon enough"

"Alright, then" said Sokka, smiling weakly.

"Until later, Instructor Sokka" said Sae, nodding in his direction before dashing away through the corridor.

Once Sae was gone, Sokka sighed in relief in a pretty undignified way, to the point of slouching, before returning to his barrel of wooden weapons. Often he would boast about being handsome, especially to poke fun at Azula, but at times like these he almost wished he weren't all that good-looking. Being the object of admiration for young women could be a fascinating notion for other men, but he couldn't care less about it ever since his heart had been swayed completely by his Princess. If only their relationship could be public, if only people understood why he sported a new scar over his right palm, all these advances might cease… but he guessed he was forced to endure this until Azula could become Fire Lord. Everything was certain to change for the better by then… just the thought brought a smile to his face, and he glanced at the tip of his hand's scar, the only part of it visible under his glove. One day, for sure…

"Finished your training drills for today, I see"

Mei Xun's voice startled him, and he nearly jumped out of his boots before turning to face her. Oh, well, that was brilliant. He'd had the distinct feeling he was being watched, he'd had it for the past two weeks already… and of course, it had to be Mei Xun. The woman's glare upon him was unyielding, merciless, and Sokka didn't quite understand why. If she had eavesdropped on his conversation with Sae, which he was pretty sure she had, shouldn't she be glad he wasn't as much of a manwhore as she had originally assumed he was?

"Uh, yeah, pretty sure Sergeant Daiki needed the recruits for something, he said so earlier…" Sokka mumbled, trying not to sound nervous.

"Sae is a promising leader" Mei Xun said, stepping towards Sokka and his barrel of wooden swords "She is very green still, of course… but she will be ready for new duties once the second raid's result has been dealt with successfully"

"Huh. That's nice to know" said Sokka, with an awkward grin. The smile fell off his face entirely, though, when Mei Xun reached for one of the weapons and drew it from the barrel "And… just what are you doing, Captain Mei Xun?"

"Care to humor me?" she asked, glaring at him sideways. Sokka grimaced but nodded, reaching for a sword of his own.

"Something tells me I won't be able to go easy on you" he admitted aloud, and to his relief, Mei Xun smiled at those words. The first smile he had seen on her face ever since he had returned from Shu Jing, actually.

"You certainly won't" she determined, before lashing in with a thrust of her sword.

Sokka deflected expertly, as good as predicting the movements Mei Xun would make next. His sword parried hers effectively every time, his feet shifted to transfer his weight depending on where he needed to dodge next… and eventually they moved forward when he hacked at the Captain's uniform, reaching it only superficially, but enough to alert Mei Xun that she was leaving openings she couldn't allow herself to have. The Captain recoiled but held her weapon firmly, realizing that giving Sokka any chances to take the offensive would result in her defeat.

But every attempt to keep him in the defensive failed anyways: he always snuck attacks through his flawless parrying, always reaching Mei Xun even if never with anything harsher than a mosquito bite. He was holding back, clear as day… and Mei Xun found she had no choice but to be grateful for it. Otherwise, she would have been out of the fray in a matter of seconds.

Her style was different from what Sokka had taught the rest of the Enforcers, without a doubt the result of learning swordsmanship with a completely different master than Piandao. Even so, Sokka had fought countless swordsmen with varying styles in the Gladiator League: Mei Xun had never faced off against any apprentices of Piandao's, let alone against one who was a sword master in his own right.

Mei Xun's wooden sword fell with a clutter on the stone floor of the courtyard after Sokka attacked slyly, having sensed instability in her grip of her weapon. Mei Xun sighed, raising her hands in defeat and Sokka offered her a friendly smile.

"Pretty sure you would've finished this much sooner if you'd used your actual sword" Mei Xun commented, and Sokka laughed.

"Yeah, well, as much as I have good control over Space Sword, it is pretty dangerous. I don't tend to use it when sparring with recruits" Sokka explained.

"And how about when you spar with the Princess? I've always heard she trains you personally…" Mei Xun said, raising her eyebrows. Sokka was taken aback by the question, but he tried not to let it show.

"Eh, it's different with Azula" he said, with an awkward grin "One time I was training a young kid with wooden swords, and just to give him an edge, she set my sword on fire and encouraged him to beat me up while I was disarmed. Can't say she wouldn't do that if we trained with wooden ones all the time instead of our actual weapons…"

"Huh. I'm a firebender too, though" said Mei Xun, raising her eyebrows.

"I know, but you've always struck me as someone who plays by the rules" Sokka said, shrugging "Azula, on the other hand, thrives in messing with me, so I can't really drop my guard with her…"

"I suppose you can't" said Mei Xun, as Sokka stashed the two weapons away again.

"Anyways… nice sparring with you" said Sokka, with an awkward grin "Did you need something? Or can I just…?"

"Do you have other pressing matters to attend to today?" Mei Xun asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka flinched.

"Well… pressing? Not really. But I've been painting lately, helps me relax…" he explained, wishing he weren't blushing as he spoke of his newest hobby "It's much easier to do it while there's still daylight. But if you need me for anything, I can just…"

"Is it really painting?" Mei Xun asked, looking at him skeptically.

"It is. I'm not very good yet, it's true, but…" Sokka said, before sighing and covering his face with his hands "Alright, maybe we should just get to the point, shouldn't we? You want something from me…"

"Answers, if anything" Mei Xun said, sternly "I know different rules apply to you than to the rest of us, but you must be aware of how utterly unprofessional and unacceptable it is for an Instructor of the Enforcers to dismiss his duty in favor of… of personal reasons that are as far from pressing as can be, judging by what I overheard when I visited your house. I informed the Princess of it, and I suppose the reason you're here now is because she must have spoken to you about this personally… but I can't say I'm appeased yet. I cannot understand why a man of your station would lower himself to such appalling behavior"

"My station…?" Sokka repeated.

"You're the Princess's gladiator" Mei Xun growled "She trusts you, it's clear she does, and it seems utterly absurd for you to abuse that trust in such a manner. Truthfully, Instructor Sokka… I'm disappointed in you. Deeply. You may be a great sword master, but if your loyalty is that fickle…"

"Okay, slow down there, please…" Sokka said, grimacing as he raised a hand in her direction.

He knew this was coming, of course he did… but he had hoped it might not be so difficult to deal with once it did. Truthfully, only now did he realize he had no idea how to proceed, how to lie to Mei Xun, how to reassure her that the woman she thought she'd heard him with wasn't a hazard for the upholding of his duties…

"I'm sorry if I'm too harsh, but… it's wrong, by all accounts" said Mei Xun, frowning heavily "That you would vanish for an entire week just when she's not watching… it's so dishonorable it goes against everything you've ever represented"

"It's not that simple, Mei Xun" Sokka said, sighing and shaking his head "Look, what happened that week was…"

"Yes?" Mei Xun said, arms folded over her chest as she glared at Sokka menacingly.

Of course… he had to lie. He had to. It wasn't even a question… and yet he couldn't do it. His heart ached enough as it was, with every day spent without looking upon Azula's face… he couldn't bring himself to make up any absurd, outlandish explanations that Mei Xun wouldn't believe anyhow. Not when even speaking the words, when pretending he had been spending time with someone other than the love of his life, was a completely devastating notion for him by now.

"I know… I know what I did was wrong" Sokka said, finally "I know what was expected of me, and I know I failed you and the Enforcers … and I failed Azula, too. So… maybe it means I am unworthy of serving as Instructor for the Enforcers, yeah. Maybe you should ask Azula to demote me, to find a replacement… and you'll probably want to do that even more when I say that, despite knowing all this, I don't regret what I did that week"

"What?" said Mei Xun, indignant and confused at once. But Sokka's clear eyes glowed as he raised them to meet hers.

"I spent that week with someone I love" he said, and now Mei Xun's indignation faded to the background, promoting her bewilderment to prominence instead "It's someone I can barely spend enough time with, honestly. I know that's no excuse, it's why I get it if you don't want me here… but it wasn't some random girl I came across by chance, it wasn't some quick one-night-stand or anything else you might have suspected. That woman… she's everything I've ever dreamt about, and everything I can't have, all because… because I am who I am. I can't have a normal life, and I can't be with her the way I should be. So… yeah, maybe I'm an ass who can't uphold his duty over love. For that one week, I… I had the chance to taste the kind of life we could have together if only the world was more forgiving. So, I'm sorry, really, for having disappointed you… but I wouldn't take it back. Not for anything"

Mei Xun was stunned now, something Sokka decided to take as a good sign. Maybe he had taken it too far, maybe he had been too obvious about his feelings for Azula… but he couldn't stand it. His entire soul seemed to break further with every day he woke up knowing she was still abroad, somewhere out of reach. All he could yearn for was meeting her again, taking her in his arms and kissing her slowly, to make certain she was real… but it hadn't happened yet. It couldn't. If only his heart had been any less turbulent, perhaps he would have made up a better story, but as it was…

"I see" said Mei Xun, finally, and Sokka breathed deeply, waiting for the Captain to pass judgment over him "The Princess… she knows about this woman you love, doesn't she?"

Sokka's mouth fell open for an instant, but he shut it again quickly. Oh, well, either the woman wasn't very bright, or she was actually helping him spin a proper story to cover up for the obvious…? Either way, that was an unexpected opening. A surprisingly useful way to lie about his relationship with Azula, without quite lying at all…

"Yes" he said, nodding "She's known ever since it started, and I guess she didn't approve at first, but she's come around in time. All she asks is that I remember my duty to her goes first, which is why I know I shouldn't have run off as I did that week and left the Enforcers to themselves, but… it was the one chance I had to be with the woman I loved. So…"

"I understand" said Mei Xun, nodding "And this is also what you meant when you rejected Sae?"

"Yeah, I mean, I never had any intention to accept her" Sokka said, scratching the back of his neck "She's not the first girl who approaches me ever since I've been in the Fire Nation, but I'd rather they didn't approach me at all, honestly. It's not fun hurting other people's feelings, but I'd never be able to do anything else anyhow. I won't ever be with anyone else"

"Then you're genuinely loyal to this woman…" said Mei Xun, before nodding "That's good to know, at least. Truthfully, I… I did assume you were merely sleeping around with anyone who might agree to it. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions"

"I know it didn't look good" Sokka said, with a sad smile "But… this is the truth, Captain. Maybe I'm not what's best for the Enforcers, I won't argue with that… but I won't sacrifice what I love most either"

"Why, then, are you working with us lately?" Mei Xun asked, confused "From what you're saying, you would be working far more diligently with the Princess around, and whenever she leaves, as she did a few weeks ago, you'd put the Enforcers out of your mind to spend time with the woman you truly love. Why isn't it the same now?"

"Because she told me I couldn't forsake my duty" Sokka said, with a sad grin "After you spoke with Azula, she spoke with me and… well, long story short, she convinced me to return to my duties as I have, without disregarding them as I did that week. I wasn't happy about it, but… at least I had that week, right? It was better than I expected… more than I thought I'd ever get, really. So…"

Mei Xun nodded, and Sokka stood still now, waiting again for a verdict. The older woman seemed out of place now, probably feeling just as ashamed as Sae had been earlier, but the harsh steel she'd regarded Sokka with was gone now, fortunately.

"I understand. I… I'm sorry" she said, bowing her head towards him "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, let alone been as unprofessional as I was about it, too"

"It's alright…" said Sokka, smiling weakly.

"You certainly lead a complicated life" said Mei Xun, solemnly "And I should have done best to remember that. I won't make any demands for you to step down as swordsmanship instructor for the Enforcers, if that helps in any way"

"Well, it's a relief, yeah" Sokka admitted.

"I'll make sure to tell all recruits and officers to focus on their duties, so that if you have any other admirers, they might know better than to bother you" said Mei Xun, sighing "I'm truly sorry, though. Love is complicated enough for many people, I can barely imagine how difficult it must be for you…"

"Yeah, I guess so…"

Mei Xun had no doubts he was telling the truth. There was no sign of dishonesty in the swordsman, not even a shred of it… he was telling the truth. He did love the woman he had been with that week…

But he hadn't told Mei Xun who it was. And that he would keep that particular share of information to himself was more than a little suspicious.

If only she hadn't seen the way they looked at each other, if only she hadn't found their closeness and their partnership an utter rarity, perhaps Mei Xun would have taken the story very literally. But as it was… with the Princess gone, with Sokka mysteriously working at Headquarters this time, nowhere near as spirited as he ever was, and after all these explanations, there was only one answer Mei Xun she still needed to unveil, and she was pretty sure she had already guessed at it correctly.

So she smiled again at Sokka, her heart much lighter than it had been ever since she had overheard what she had in his house. One week of being gone, both at the same time… perhaps that was all the Princess's vacation had entailed, and she had merely holed up at Sokka's house for the activities she already knew enough of. But that, frankly, was none of her business.

"Good luck with your relationship, then" she said, nodding in his direction "It sounds like the kind worth fighting for with as much strength as you can muster"

"It is" Sokka answered, smiling in earnest.

"Then… protect it as best as you can" said Mei Xun "I doubt it will be easy, but I can be less unforgiving now that I know the truth. Just… try not to forsake the Enforcers completely, if you can"

"I won't, I promise. Sorry again… and thank you for understanding" Sokka said, sighing in relief as Mei Xun bowed her head towards him in a sign of respect.

"Have fun with your painting, then" she said, with a weak grin.

Sokka kept an eye on Mei Xun as she left through the same corridor Sae had, and once more, he sighed in surprised relief when the woman was gone. Azula wouldn't be happy, he guessed, because that was too close a call for comfort… but Mei Xun had kept quiet when she thought Sokka was a promiscuous fool, hadn't she? Even if she had made the right guess regarding who Sokka's mysterious lover was, which Sokka wasn't sure she had, wasn't it likely she would keep this secret from the rest of the Enforcers too?

As things stood, though, loneliness gnawed at Sokka persistently, and that often mitigated all concerns about whether they'd be discovered or not. Training the Enforcers did distract him from the anguish of being away from Azula, but as soon as the sessions were over, he'd be left alone with his thoughts… and with the necklace he had taken to carrying in his pocket everywhere he went.

He gave it a gentle squeeze before gathering his things and setting off back to his house. He traded courteous goodbyes with the members of the Enforcers he came across on his way to the exit and started on the long hike back into the crater of Caldera. All the while, his body, heart, mind and soul ached for the company he direly missed, more so with every day spent without her. However hard he might work to prove himself up to the tasks Azula had assigned him in her absence, it seemed as though life itself lacked the brightness he could see in it whenever Azula was around. After the miraculous week they had spent together with no interruptions, spending days away from her felt like years. Iroh could never pay enough for causing them so much trouble…

The sounds of a pipa, its strings plucked by inexpert fingers, reached Sokka's ears even before he opened the door to enter his house. He smiled upon hearing the simple yet elegant music: Rui Shi had been teaching Song how to play the instrument lately, and while she was still a beginner, her performances improved every day. Sokka smiled at her from the vestibule's threshold as she focused on the melody she had been performing and he made his way to the backyard without bothering her.

Once there, he pulled up the canvas he had been working on for the last weeks: it was halfway there by now, or so he wanted to think. As promised, he had endeavored to paint them sitting by the large courtyard of Piandao's mansion, even if it meant the artwork would be more difficult in virtue of featuring more elements than just a landscape… but he wouldn't have it any other way. Strange as it might be, it comforted him to think that at least the Sokka in the painting could have that blissful moment with the love of his life forevermore, even if the real one had been forced to return to reality…

With the gentle sound of music soothing his aching heart, he continued his work, longing constantly, inevitably, for the contented peace he hoped to share with Azula as soon as she returned.

---

He had only seen that face in statues, in secret paintings kept stashed deep in the Dragonbone Catacombs, but he recognized it even if he was looking in the face of a spirit. Iroh's mouth hung open as the ancient Avatar before him studied him closely, his face unyielding.

"A-Avatar… Avatar Roku?" Iroh dared speak, his violent trembling urging him to cower and hide from his great-grandfather's worst enemy.

"You have come into the Spirit World seeking something you have lost" Roku said, a grandfatherly tone in his voice… harsh, yet not lacking in affection "Yet you were fated to find what you had not been seeking, instead"

"W-what do you…? What does that mean?" Iroh asked, pushing himself up to his knees properly. His eyes were wide, desperate, begging Roku for the guidance he had hoped to find "My son, Avatar Roku, he…"

"He could have been the best of you" Roku said, startling Iroh "Young Lu Ten had a gentle soul… but it is too late for him now. He has passed on to a new life, and you must yet live out yours"

"B-but he's… my son" gasped Iroh, gritting his teeth as he felt his soul shattering under the weight of such words "He begged me to save him, to come to him, t-to…"

"The last duty of his spirit was to guide you here" Roku explained, closing his eyes "You may yet dream of him… but his spirit will no longer seek yours. He helped me bring you here, as did Jeong Jeong, because I asked. Because I needed them to guide you to me"

"But why…?" Iroh cried out, frustration overpowering his senses "I am nothing! I am worth nothing, but my son…! He deserved to be saved! I would give my life for his, I would…!"

"It isn't in anyone's power to trade lives once they are already lost" Roku shook his head "You cannot alter the past, Iroh. But the future… you have a role to play in it. A role no one can play but you"

"Why would I…?"

"You will determine the fate of the next Fire Lord"

The words were a cruel joke, they had to be. Iroh's countenance shifted into utter indignation as he glared at Roku now.

"The next Fire Lord…? I'm meant to be the next Fire Lord!" Iroh growled "Once my father passes, it will fall to me to…!"

"You have been away from home for many months" Roku said, again displaying sympathy Iroh was no longer so eager to welcome "You have lost more than you know, Iroh. Your father… he is no longer Fire Lord"

Iroh frowned, perplexed, but he didn't speak this time. A coup? Had Azulon abdicated, perhaps? If so… if so, then there would be a power vacuum. If so, it meant a throne awaited him, had awaited him for months while he had been grieving for Lu Ten's soul…

"You cannot take his place any longer" Roku said, as though reading Iroh's thoughts. Iroh scoffed.

"Why wouldn't I be able to? I'm Crown Prince! I've been raised to be Fire Lord!" he exclaimed. Roku shook his head.

"You will find another, a usurper, sitting upon the throne once you return to the Fire Nation" he said. Iroh's eyes widened "A usurper of your blood: your own brother"

Those words struck like lightning, deafening him with the roar of thunder, paralyzing him with a crippling fear, an awareness of how deeply lost the world would be if his brother, of all people, became Fire Lord. He was not ready, he had not been raised for it, he couldn't possibly understand the pressures of ruling. His temperament, his lack of military experience, his merciless, cruel nature… There were far too many reasons why Ozai should never be Fire Lord.

And yet Iroh didn't doubt Roku's words. Somewhere, deep in his heart, he knew Ozai was capable of this. He could have murdered their father… Iroh certainly wouldn't put that past him. All of it for a throne… for a chance to fulfill the ambitions he had disguised so poorly all his life. He had waited patiently until Iroh had lost his heir, rendering him unviable as a Crown Prince altogether, to strike away at Azulon, surely knowing the elderly Fire Lord would never grant him the crown, or the throne…

"My brother…" Iroh repeated, gritting his teeth "I could fight him. I could duel him. Agni Kai…"

"An Agni Kai will be fought. Two of them" Roku announced "But you will take part in neither, Iroh. Your role is not to be found on a throne"

"But I know better now!" Iroh exclaimed "I've seen the true horrors of war, the true wrong of the Fire Nation's acts! I've learned with Jeong Jeong, I've understood…! My brother, he will never understand! He will never allow this world to regain its balance! If he's on the throne…!"

"He must be" Roku declared "For he will be the last of the warmongering Fire Lords. He will be defeated. He will fall, once the Avatar rises anew"

"The Avatar…?" Iroh repeated, puzzled "The Avatar is gone. You were the last, Avatar Roku…"

"As long as there is a world to protect, the Avatar will never be gone" Roku said "He will return, and once he does, he will usher in a new era for our world. Balance will not be regained with ease… but he can bring back hope to all those who have lost it. But he cannot do this alone"

"Then… I must seek him out?" Iroh asked, perplexed. The chase for the Avatar… the one mission his brother had been chosen for instead of him. A mission fated for failure… was it perhaps because it was Iroh who had to find him, rather than Ozai?

"The Avatar will need masters… and you will help him find one of them" Roku declared "But most importantly, Iroh, it is in your hands to prepare the next heir for the Fire Nation throne"

"I… what?" Iroh asked, astounded.

"The true heir to the throne carries the joined bloodlines of Fire Lord Sozin and myself" Roku explained "Only one with such a lineage will prove capable of ending this war and leading the Fire Nation out of the darkness it has been submerged in. Evil and good are at war within his soul… just as they are at war within the world. But you can help him bring balance, both to the strife inside him, and the world around him"

"Then Zuko…" Iroh said, eyes wide.

"All rests in your hands: it is your destiny to aid the future Fire Lord to fulfill his own" Roku continued "Sozin's Comet will return, and once it does, it will be the last chance to bring the world back to a true state of harmony. If Fire Lord Ozai succeeds at harnessing its power once more, the world will never recover. The heir will be the last chance at redemption for the Fire Nation… without him, all will be lost"

"I… I understand" Iroh gasped, without quite knowing why. How could Roku know any of this? It defied all logic that someone could predict the future with such certainty, and yet…

"Your choices will determine the fate of the heir. They will determine whether he chooses balance or chaos, light or darkness" Roku continued, raising his head "The future of this world hinges on you, Iroh. You have yet to fulfill your destiny… but just like the Avatar, you needn't do this alone"

"Who could ever help me?" Iroh asked, gritting his teeth "Jeong Jeong?"

"The Order of the White Lotus will welcome you as a friend once you share with them what I have told you" Roku continued "They may doubt you, but you will dispel those doubts: you shall travel to the Fire Nation with them, and you will prove the truth of my words once you find a lost relic only I could guide you to, a relic you will offer the heir once he is ready to face his destiny…"

The spirit raised a hand and touched Iroh's forehead with his fingertip. The world around them became a blur until a clear image materialized before Iroh: an island, deserted, victim of countless volcanic eruptions. But underneath the hardened lava, through the many layers of wreckage and chaos…

Iroh's lips parted, unable to react to the revelations with anything but astonishment as Roku smiled warmly at him. Even now, Iroh remained on his knees, ever repentant, ever reverent.

"Your true journey has only just begun" Roku whispered "Be strong, Iroh. Be resilient. One day your soul will find Lu Ten's once again. Until then…"

"Until then… I will face my destiny" Iroh replied, not knowing he was speaking the words aloud in the real world too, to a dumbfounded yet profoundly relieved Jeong Jeong: for the first time in years, the Deserter would allow himself the smallest, rarest of smiles…

It was a destiny he hadn't truly understood, not right away. It was a complicated, difficult journey that he wasn't quite sure he should still be working towards, to this day: Sozin's Comet had come and gone, and the Avatar hadn't returned. Zuko hadn't found him, and Iroh hadn't found Zuko afterwards either. Was it, then, too late? Was that it? Could their universe's fate be set in stone because the Avatar hadn't returned when Roku had claimed he would…? And yet here he sat, staring in the face of what appeared to be a second chance at destiny, or so he hoped…

Iroh blinked himself out of his thoughts and memories as he tried to focus on Azula's presentations again. She was speaking to the sizable crowd, explaining the newly proposed divisions of the Enforcers, advising to establish the administrative, market-related branch as soon as possible for further ease once the main Enforcers activities began.

Some of the people in the room seemed bored, unsurprisingly. Others, like Tiang and Kori Morishita, were taking notes and paying attention to every word she said, and they had done as much for the two weeks they had already spent in Crescent Island. Much progress had been made, but most importantly for Iroh, he had seen with his own eyes how versatile a leader Azula could prove to be: she was charming to those who revered her, diplomatic with those who respected her at a distance, and authoritarian to those who showed any signs of disrespect towards her. She was certainly capable of changing masks at the drop of a hat, and even those who had treated her with disdain at first – such as Gaoling's representative – now appeared to be genuinely terrified of crossing her.

The meeting was adjourned brief moments after Iroh started paying attention again, but Azula would be busy afterwards regardless. She would spend the rest of the morning and afternoon receiving the representatives in private meetings in her assigned room, where they would offer their estimated calculations regarding how soon the Enforcers might be able to begin operating in each attending colony. Azula had remained fully professional throughout the Summit, never displaying any emotional attachment to slaves as she explained the laws and their application through the Enforcers. She was objective, direct, even cold-blooded… just what Iroh would have expected from her.

Unlike Ozai, Azula had the right temperament for ruling, and Iroh hated himself for admitting that was one regard, at least, at which she outdid her brother by miles. She was clever, resourceful, adaptative and capable… at times it seemed like she could do no wrong, even if Iroh knew much better than to genuinely believe that. In so many ways, it appeared she could truly be an extraordinary Fire Lord…

But Iroh still resisted. He couldn't trust her blindly, considering he scarcely trusted her to begin with. She had been raised by her father, trained by him, and all her life she had behaved exactly as he would have expected her to. But the mixed bloodlines of Roku and Sozin comprised her lineage, just as they comprised Zuko's… a fact Iroh had given very little importance to for years on end ever since he first heard Roku's prophecies. For Azula wasn't next in line for the throne: Zuko was. Azula wasn't a genuinely good-hearted person: Zuko was. Zuko could be a better leader for a world without war than Azula, who had even rejoiced in the brutality of an Agni Kai where her father had seared her brother's face…

That memory was one of the reasons why Iroh constantly found himself drifting away from his niece. She had been a child, of course… and yet he wasn't sure she had changed in the least since those days. But if his suspicions about her relationship proved true, he would be willing to believe that he might have been wrong about the Princess. If she cared enough for her gladiator to defy her father by holding such a controversial, intimate bond with him, Iroh might come to accept she could be the heir in the prophecy, just as much as it might be Zuko…

If it was Azula, though, he had to act fast. He had opposed her for years, sabotaged her efforts to rise to power and antagonized her openly ever since he returned from his ten-year voyage with Zuko. All along he had done it to pave the way for Zuko to become the next Fire Lord… but Azula had overcome all obstacles regardless, even succeeding at removing her brother from the picture completely. She had fought back against Iroh all along… if he couldn't sway Azula by now, if he couldn't convince her that he could be her ally rather than just her enemy, then the world was as good as doomed. Some part of him already feared that it was, for he wasn't sure the Princess would care one bit about saving it…

But he had to try. He owed it to Avatar Roku… he owed it to himself. The old Avatar had assured Iroh that the world would end if Ozai wasn't stopped before the Comet… but that much had been wrong about his prediction. The world could still be saved even ten years after the comet had passed, Iroh was certain of it… and if Roku had been wrong about that, perhaps he was also wrong about who would be the heir Iroh had to guide. All along, Iroh had assumed it meant Zuko… not only because he hoped as much, believing Zuko was not only the rightful heir by law, but that Zuko's heart was in the right place, too. Yet upon thinking back on what Roku had said… he had only ever referred to the heir as male. Could he have been wrong? Could it be Azula, in the end? Didn't she hold the same capacity for good and evil, for forging balance within herself and in the world around her, as her brother did…?

Representatives came and went all day, and Iroh watched them carefully from a comfortable chair by the stairs, waiting for the final private sessions to end. Once the last representative was gone and no one else appeared by the stairs to visit Azula, Iroh pushed himself up to his feet and walked to her room. He breathed deeply: it was now or never.

"The Princess is occupied" the Imperial Guard at her door announced even before Iroh could ask to see her. Iroh blinked blankly: he couldn't see the man's face, but the voice tone sounded much like her faithful guard, Rui Shi…

"Oh, even now? I was certain the last representative had left already" Iroh said, and Rui Shi nodded.

"She is otherwise engaged" Rui Shi declared, his evasive words and the certainty with which he spoke them filling Iroh with dread.

"I… I see, then. Well, I suppose I will try again in a few hours" Iroh said, trying to smile with casual abandon "Perhaps by dinner? She should stop working by then, at the very least… if you have a chance to, please let her know I'd like to share another meal with her. I feel as though I haven't exchanged more than three words with her since the Summit proper began"

"I will inform her, then" Rui Shi said "But she may reject the offer regardless, General"

"I'm aware, I'm aware" Iroh sighed, shaking his head "Better to try and fail than not try at all, though, isn't it?"

Rui Shi said nothing, and Iroh offered him another friendly grin before bowing his head respectfully towards him.

"I shall return later, then. Have a good day"

Iroh knew just how to evoke the sensation of harmlessness, how to lower other people's defenses and ease them into trusting him… yet Rui Shi knew better than to be swayed so easily by one of his charge's most obvious political opponents. Once Iroh vanished down the stairs, Rui Shi leaned close to the door he had been guarding and knocked on it gently. An irritable grunt from inside the room seemed to authorize him inside, and as much as he doubted the Princess would take kindly to this interruption, she would likely thank him once he explained what had brought it about.

It wasn't every day that Azula had to deal with heaps of paperwork, but today marked one such occasion. Each representative had turned in preemptive reports of the conditions of their armed forces and the resources that could be devoted to the Enforcers' cause, starting from recruitment efforts and going all the way to infrastructure and training. She was arranging all the reports by now, jotting down notes and transcribing some of the information for ease of use onto her own papers… all of it seemed more than a bit overwhelming, and Rui Shi nearly regretted having to pull her away from it, especially seeing how focused she was, with a harsh frown on her face.

"What is it?" she asked, dryly. Rui Shi cleared his throat.

"You had a visitor just now"

"I thought I heard you talking with someone" Azula grunted "Either a Sage is being pesky, or Ember Island's representative found the papers he misplaced and couldn't turn in… or, of course, it was my uncle. Which is it?"

"The last one, actually" Rui Shi said, removing his helmet and frowning "He's been asking compromising questions to some guards, Princess. It seems…"

"I know what he wants, yes" Azula said, gritting her teeth as she set down her brush and rested against the backrest of her chair "I didn't know he had bothered any of you for it, though. When did this happen?"

"Before we took off for the Summit" Rui Shi admitted, closing his eyes "Naturally, no one has given him the answer he seeks"

"Good" Azula said, sighing and rubbing her forehead with her fingertips "I have enough of a migraine as it is"

"If so, then I'll make sure to tell him you're indisposed when he returns later" Rui Shi said. Azula raised an eyebrow, inquisitively "He intends to attach himself to your dinner, it seems…"

"He certainly has a knack for doing that, it appears" Azula sighed, rolling her eyes "I should've shut up about Iroh altogether when I found Zuko. After all this, I'd rather he spends the rest of his life at sea than being such a pain in the ass…"

"Then I shall-…"

"No, don't"

"No?" Rui Shi said, frowning "But Princess…"

"I'm not hiding anything, am I? I'm not… I'm not entangled in any illicit affairs. His accusations, which he hasn't even dared formulate, are unfounded" Azula said, with a sarcastic grin "So why would I reject his offer for dinner, if I have nothing to hide?"

"Because he's an annoyance?"

"A fair point, and yet he's never accepted that he is one" Azula shrugged "Might as well shut down his fancy theory before he actually finds some way to confirm it…"

"Will you be able to do that?" Rui Shi asked, confused "Do you have a plan…?"

"Something along those lines" Azula sighed, shaking her head "I suppose it's time to prove myself the greatest liar ever, isn't it?"

"Princess…" Rui Shi sighed, his hands on his hips "Just say the word and I won't let your Uncle in. I'm not certain you can lie successfully when… when you're not in your best shape"

"And why not?" Azula said, shrugging nonchalantly "Yes, I miss Sokka more and more every minute I spend in this wretched island, and if it were up to me I'd leave all of you to pick up my paperwork for me and fly to him right away… but if I don't put a stop to the threat Iroh represents, do you genuinely expect he'll get bored and stop looking for evidence? He won't. And the next thing I know, he'll be telling my father about us, and once that happens, my life is over. So… I can't let it happen. I have to stop him, even if it kills me to claim I don't… to claim I could never… oh, to lie to anyone's face about how I feel about Sokka"

Rui Shi clenched his fists by now, shaking his head.

"If you can't lie to me, when I know you're lying… how do you expect to do it with him?" Rui Shi asked. Azula shrugged.

"Fortunately, my uncle expects nothing but the worst from me. Unlike you, he has no true reason to believe I'm more than just a power-hungry princess with ambition as my lifeforce. So, however hard it might be to lie… I'm pretty sure he'd sooner believe that than the truth"

As ever, Rui Shi had no choice but to face defeat and allow the Princess to do as she pleased. He wasn't certain she was making anything other than a mistake… but too often he had misread situations Azula had come out triumphant from. Hopefully, this would be another such case.

Merely two hours later, Azula had managed to safely organize the paperwork, with the most important information gathered in a report she had written to turn in to her father. She was exhausted, her migraine had not receded in the least, but she had a chance to drink her daily tea before Iroh's arrival. She had been fortunate the man hadn't pressed his luck and forced a meeting between them until now, though she was almost out of tea leaves… and that was just another problem she would have to deal with once they were back in the mainland. In four days… oh, in four days this would be over, and if she handled her catastrophic situation with Iroh properly, his meddling would be gone for good, too. However difficult it might be, she intended to put a stop to her uncle, and if that meant pretending she was every bit the monster he always thought she'd been, she intended to do it. She wasn't sure she could come up with any other solutions to fool Iroh into thinking she was incapable of loving the man her heart yearned for…

She had cleaned up and stashed away her room's assigned tea set just in time for her dinner's arrival. She tried not to scowl too prominently at the sight of Iroh, tailing the assigned sage who entered the room with her meal on a tray. Iroh was carrying a tray too, full to the brim with food and sporting a steaming teapot of his own. Of course…

"Your guard let me in" Iroh said, relieved and hopeful "Here I thought I might not have another chance to speak with you until we were back in the Capital"

"I can't quite see why you'd wish to do it before then, frankly" Azula sighed, walking to the table where she had been taking her meals lately.

She sat down as the sage placed the tray on the table, and she nodded in his direction to acknowledge his services: she had thanked him properly each time until now, but that as well might be ill-advised to do in front of Iroh. Fortunately, the old man seemed so preoccupied with balancing his own tray that he didn't pay any attention to his niece's gesture.

"I guess you really have been swamped with work lately. And yet you don't even look tired" Iroh smiled, sitting down as well as he gazed around the room "I'm not quite sure how you make everything appear effortless, Princess Azula, but if it's a pretense, you needn't bother with your uncle. I know firsthand how difficult it is to be Crown Prince and I never had these particular kinds of duties, to begin with…"

"You organized and strategized for battles, didn't you?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "Or was it, by any chance, you merely sat back and took all the credit while others worked for you?"

Words, as ever, poised to incense the man, to irritate him. Iroh sighed at the accusations as he waited for the sage to close the door behind himself. Only once the man was gone did he dare speak, and even so, he had no intentions of humoring Azula with an argument about his management of the army he had deserted.

"You've done well for yourself regardless, Princess" Iroh said, ignoring her question "But you can finally relax. We shall take off to the Fire Nation after tomorrow's closing feast, won't we?"

"We will, and no doubt you'll go right back to passing time with whatever catches your interest by then, but I will continue to work on all my projects" Azula said, dryly. Iroh smiled sympathetically "So truly, changing venues won't make that much of a difference to me"

"You're certain of that?" Iroh asked "I'd think you'd miss being home quite dearly"

"As things stand, my Barge's cabin serves me as a home just as well as my room in the Palace" Azula claimed. Iroh raised his eyebrows.

"And isn't it better to work with the Enforcers directly, I wonder?"

"I can't say it is. Now that there will be Enforcers all over the world, I won't be able to work with most of them directly" Azula said, matter-of-factly.

"And your friends?" Iroh asked, tentatively "Surely having someone to talk to would help you cope with all the stress you're surely piling up all over again…"

"No doubt, but I don't need it as badly as others might" Azula said, simply "I do my best work alone"

"Doubtful" Iroh said, raising his eyebrows before beginning to eat his meal "If you hope to be a true leader, you cannot hope to handle everything yourself"

"Curiously, that has served me just fine until now" Azula shrugged, doing the same thing. The meals in the Temple weren't bountiful, but the fried fish in their dinner reminded Azula of Sokka immediately, and her heart threatened to break by another memory of Shu Jing. How she wished to be back there again, in his arms, impervious to all the troubles that would plague her within a month of their escapade…

"Oh, Princess… why lie to protect your pride?" Iroh asked, sighing "Pride does no one any good, for starters, so investing that much energy in protecting it is even more futile… haven't you and your gladiator boasted of being the best team of the League for a very long time now?"

"I wouldn't quite say we boast about it, we hardly were the ones who started making such claims" Azula said, rolling her eyes "Do you truly think I hired him because I longed to have someone to fight my battles for me? Frankly, Uncle… if it had been within my power to take matters into my own hands, I would have. I had to find a gladiator to do it for me, but I would have gladly fought all those who sought to undermine me by my own hand. It's only the trappings of tradition and my standing that prevented me from doing so"

That wasn't a lie, at the very least: she would have gladly fought the Spawn of the Volcano with her own hands, or Chan himself, if only the Gladiator League had allowed it. Naturally, needing a gladiator had become a blessing in disguise, and she absolutely wouldn't want to fight her battles alone anymore… but that was just another matter she refused to disclose to Iroh.

"Well, be that as it may, I'm sure you don't regret having teamed up with him" Iroh said, raising his eyebrows "As far as anyone can tell, you two have an ideal partnership. Even Toph seems to believe you do…"

"Toph's judgment is hardly sound, considering she trusted someone who abandoned her at her lowest point…" Azula said, with a dry grin. Oh, a low blow, and yet one she hardly felt guilty for delivering to her uncle "I wouldn't put much stock in her word, if I were in your place"

"Really? Then I shouldn't believe you're not every bit as bad as I always assumed you are?" Iroh asked, cuttingly. It nearly brought a smile to Azula's face to realize he was unable to hold back from rising to her taunt this time "That is, as it happens, part of what Toph constantly says about you, too. Shouldn't I trust her about that either?"

"Why would you?" Azula asked, looking at Iroh intently "You have me so figured out, don't you? You understand just who I am, how my mind works, what sort of wicked schemes I'm concocting… why defer to her judgment instead of trusting your own, Uncle? Or is it you suspect your wits are not what they used to be…?"

Iroh closed his eyes but smiled: a dry, ironic smile that betrayed truer feelings than those he often showcased. That was something Azula did consider telling, for it meant Iroh was close to a breaking point, if she hadn't already pushed him past it by now. He hid behind his nice man façade, often trying to make others warm up to him, to convince them that he was harmless… only when he had been pushed too far would he show his true feelings, as he did now upon turning his charged eyes upon her: contempt, indignation, perhaps even outrage, all of them hidden behind a sarcastic grin and a furrowed glare.

"One way or another, Princess Azula… I'm right" he said, the fierceness of his glower nearly taking Azula aback, if only she hadn't seen such wrath in other eyes before, along with having borne them in her own. It reminded her acutely of her confrontation with her father just after she had discovered Seethus… "Either you are so smart you are seeing through me, covering up the weakness I've grown to suspect you of having by any means necessary, or you are so cruel that I'm completely wrong about that weakness… in which case, my original assessment of you will be correct. So… care to share which is it?"

"Ah. We're cutting to the chase now?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "I knew all along what you were up to, Uncle, however much you've tried to excuse yourself through any means you could. It was, frankly, a tiresome and pointless chase. You're not much of a hunter, to begin with…"

"Answer the question" Iroh said, clearly at the end of his patience. Azula smirked, hardly knowing why she felt like doing so when her headache only worsened now that their conversation had reached its promised breaking point. And to think they had barely even touched their dinner before things reached this level…

"You know Zuko is out of your reach" Azula said, simply "And now… you need a replacement. A new puppet. Someone to play to your tune, to rule as you would, all of it in a spiteful, pointless plan to avenge yourself after lacking the guts to stand up to my father yourself. Frankly… it's petty, it's even conceited, especially coming from a man who scoffs at pride as much as you do. If you want the throne so badly, Uncle, why didn't you simply fight my father for it once you returned home? Was it because you knew you'd lose?"

Iroh's poorly contained fury was growing more difficult to conceal, it seemed. He took in a breath, then another, and finally he closed his eyes and exhaled… Azula had half-hoped he would stand up and leave, but instead, he reached for his teapot. He poured a cup for her, and one for himself right afterwards. Such was the tense silence that Azula didn't dare even bring another bite to her lips, not until Iroh answered her.

"That morning… I thought it was impossible. I thought you couldn't have been hiding something of that magnitude from your father" Iroh said, with a skeptical smile "That someone so driven, so determined, would jeopardize all her ambitions for a man? Were you any other princess, I would believe it. But you? Ozai's prized favorite child? The one with the cold-blooded streak, the steel heart, capable of outdoing every expectation placed upon her? How could you possibly enter an illicit relationship when you had never shown any interest in anyone but yourself and your own advancements?"

Azula remained silent, frowning as Iroh shook his head. He raised his eyes, and for once, there were no masks, no walls between them. No longer did he pretend to be inoffensive, no longer did he hide how broken, how damaged, how old and weary he was. He spoke to her in earnest, expecting nothing but the worst… and yet hoping, desperately, for another kind of answer.

"Tell me now, Princess Azula, if I was wrong" he said "Tell me… tell me he isn't the reason why you've built all you have so far. Look me in the eye and say it, and I'll believe you. And then I'll also believe you're only fated to doom our world further than it already is. For if you could love him… then maybe you wouldn't be who I always believed you were. Maybe you would be someone worth pledging support to, someone worth fighting for. Someone worth entrusting a world, balance, to…!"

Azula's eyes shifted. She analyzed him, carefully, cautiously… and there was no shortage of confusion in those golden orbs.

"I…" she said, before shaking her head "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about"

"You… you do" Iroh growled, impatient "You know what I mean. You know who I mean…"

"You're not the first to make such accusations" Azula said, frowning "Frankly… it is growing tedious. Awfully tedious. Can't men ever come up with better ideas to disparage and discredit women than 'she's involved in a secret love affair'?"

"I am not disparaging you, and I would not discredit you" Iroh said, shaking his head promptly "You don't have to hide the truth from me. I will keep quiet, I will help you protect your secret, I…! I will be on your side, Princess Azula, if you only let me help you. You say you fight your battles alone… we both know that's not true. Let me be your ally. You will not be a puppet, I never meant for you to be one! I only want… I only want you to fulfill your destiny. That is all I ask…"

Azula's face was undecipherable for Iroh now. Her brow was drawn together… a perfect imitation of the same disapproving scowl he had often seen in his brother's face.

"You will help me? You will keep quiet?" she repeated, and suddenly it seemed Iroh had cracked through the surface… that perhaps her walls were crumbling, just as his own had… "From the moment you returned home, Uncle, you did nothing but stand in my way. You've sabotaged me, you've stood against me, you've chosen to ally with my worst enemies in more ways than I can possibly imagine… and now, all of sudden, you expect me to bare my soul to you, to share my innermost secrets, secrets which I don't even hold, to begin with? Preposterous. Absurd. You are truly every bit as senile and delusional as my father always said you were"

"No. You know I'm not, you can see I'm not…"

"And to think… that you expect some alleged love affair to be proof of my, what, my rampaging hormones?" Azula said, with a disbelieving laugh "All because of a tea brew… a tea brew you dislike, which had purposes and consequences I couldn't even fathom. That… that alone, apparently, convinced you that I have some pointless affair with Rui Shi, just as Zhao claimed, despite Rui Shi is with…"

"Rui Shi?!" Iroh asked, eyes wide. Azula blinked blankly.

"Why so surprised all of sudden?" she said, perplexed. Iroh gasped in disbelief, shaking his head "Isn't this what you…?"

"No. Not Rui Shi, that's not who I…!" he snarled "No! You know full well who I mean, Princess Azula!"

"Well, goodness. Now you've certainly thrown me for a loop" Azula said, eyes wide "I guess I have more mysterious secret lovers than I ever dared imagine. Shame on me for being a fictional adulterer, on top of, of course, doing whatever I want out of wedlock. Like my father would ever forgive a slight of the sort…"

"Sokka" Iroh growled, outright. Azula's eyebrows rose, and she looked at Iroh derisively now.

"Sokka?" she repeated "Well, damn. Your imagination is certainly worse than Zhao's, isn't it?"

"He's hardly any good at hiding how he feels about you" Iroh said, shaking his head "If anything, he's as good as screaming it all the time. And you, Azula, you are no fool, not when it comes to people you can manipulate. You know this. You know you have him wrapped around your finger if you so want him to be… so is that it, then? You're merely playing with him, just for your own amusement, while he's led on without understanding who you truly are…?"

Azula snorted, her shoulders shaking with each laugh that tumbled from her lips. Iroh's gritted teeth hurt by now at the sound, at the dismissive, self-important behavior of his niece…

"Playing with him…?" she asked, smirking "Whatever made you think a man of his lowly birth would be worth even that?"

She wasn't sure where she'd found the serenity with which to speak such words, and yet suddenly it seemed the tables had turned:

Iroh was stunned cold, speechless. He stared at her in disbelief, yet in his eyes there was understanding… he recognized that coldness, he acknowledged it as the only possible behavior of a child raised to be Ozai's heir.

And in that moment, Azula knew she'd won.

"Don't tell me… the slavery laws were for his benefit, you thought?" Azula continued, with a cruel smirk "How would that make any sense, Uncle, truly? If I wanted him to receive more lenient treatment, I didn't need to write it into any laws… if anything, at some points I regret some of the clauses I chose, since now I truly am at a loss for what to do to punish his insolences. But honestly… you expected this to be for his sake? All of this? For some Water Tribe man who just happened to become a useful enough gladiator for me?"

"Why, then?" Iroh asked, trembling "If not for him… why? Your speech, all that talk of responsibility…?"

"What better way to gain the common folk's approval, to rally them to support me over the potential return of your beloved nephew, than by saying exactly what they wanted to hear?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "The slaves, and the Honorary Citizens… they represent an opportunity my father has squandered so far. All this, Uncle? It's a strategy. A scheme, of the same kind you love to concoct, no less. I have been acknowledged by the nobles through the Gladiator Business, by the Sages after my ceremony, by my father and his council once he named me Crown Princess, by the masses through my speech and by the slaves thanks to the Enforcers. Honestly… that a man of your tactical abilities failed to understand it baffles me. You truly are losing your touch, aren't you? It's… it's saddening, even. How I enjoy playing these games with those who have the intellect to match mine… it seems you no longer fit those requirements, though. A pity"

Iroh narrowed his eyes, scowling still. Azula breathed deeply, reaching for the teacup he had poured for her, and she sipped it gently: she made no faces of disgust, no gestures of distaste, not even to mock him.

"And all this… over tea" Azula said, with a disbelieving smirk "Frankly, Uncle… I'm disappointed"

"Then that makes it two of us" Iroh said, closing his eyes and shaking his head "I was right, after all. I… I was. You are only meant to doom this world, aren't you? To act only for your benefit… you were never fated to bring back balance"

"Fated…?" Azula repeated, with a scoff "Please. What's with all this talk of destiny? Here I thought you'd know, after all these years, that there's no such thing in our world. Destiny would have dictated that you'd take the Fire Nation throne, and then, at worst, Zuko would follow… and yet that's exactly what hasn't happened, Uncle. Destiny? Destiny is a fool's notion, a comforting tale people tell themselves when they lack direction in their lives. It's pitiful that you'll only realize that now, in your late years…"

"Pitiful. Of course" Iroh said, shaking his head before standing up.

"Oh, now, you won't storm out on me, will you?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Iroh shook his head.

"Perhaps you're right. I must be a fool to have ever believed you were capable of anything but what you've proven so far" Iroh said, glaring at her fiercely, mercilessly "The most talented firebender in her generation, with the charisma of all the greatest of Fire Lords… and she has no soul, no heart, no true passion, only drive for power and glory that she does not deserve. If you believe I am pitiful, Princess, I dare not say what I think of you now"

"Ah, never you mind. My mother already beat you to it a long time ago, and monsters like myself thrive in knowing that's exactly what we are" Azula said, waving a hand carelessly "Do take your tray with you, at the very least. It will be a bother to dispose of it myself when it's not even mine"

Unsurprisingly, Iroh shook his head and disregarded her words as he made his way to the door, pushing it open so harshly it slammed into the wall loudly, the echo tearing across the Temple. Had Rui Shi been standing any closer, the door would have slammed into him… and as angry as Iroh appeared to be, he probably wouldn't have cared less if it had.

The Imperial Guard watched Iroh warily, moving to stand right in front of the open door just in case the old man changed his mind about leaving. If he so much as dared raise a finger to hurt Azula, Rui Shi wouldn't pull any punches in her defense, no matter if Iroh was a member of the Royal Family as well.

But Iroh didn't turn back, and his footsteps echoed away from the corridor until they faded from Rui Shi's perception entirely. Only then did the guard enter Azula's room, to find the nearly untouched dinner trays on the table, with Azula breathing slowly, her entire body shivering: she held something of a bone-white color in her right hand, and she pressed it to her forehead.

"Princess…" Rui Shi said, and Azula shuddered.

"It's… it's done. I'm pretty sure I did it now" she announced, though she sounded far from triumphant.

"He looked… I'd never seen General Iroh like that" Rui Shi said, stepping closer "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, I'm fine. There's no need to worry" Azula said, gritting her teeth "You can call a sage, tell them take the tray to his room or whatever… and maybe call someone to take my own, too. I'm not hungry anymore"

"Princess…" Rui Shi said, grimacing under his helmet, but he could tell she was far too preoccupied with what had just happened to listen to any of his protests, as ever.

Had she made a terrible mistake? Had she just turned Iroh into her very worst enemy? It made no sense to think she had, of course… why would this change anything? Offering Iroh confirmation that she was as cruel, as evil, as merciless as he believed she was shouldn't particularly worsen their relationship, it was bad enough already…

But something had definitely changed, even if Azula couldn't pinpoint what it was, no matter how she might rationalize what happened. Was it that she had seen Iroh without any of his pretenses, for the first time ever, possibly? She couldn't remember having angered the man to this extent before, not even after Zuko had left… Even with Toph's fight in the Slate he had remained cold, distant, despite his hostility towards his niece was palpable enough. Now, though…

She continued to breathe deeply, eyes closed, trying to tell herself she had done the right thing: she had saved Sokka, she had protected their relationship. And yet something in the back of her mind kept sending shivers of the bad kind down her spine, over and over again… as a warning, it seemed. As though alerting her that this was not the last battle of wills she'd fight against Iroh, let alone the worst of them…

Several flights downstairs, Iroh stormed through the dark corridors on his way to his room. Had his mind been any calmer, he might have been relieved to run into no one as he rushed through the Temple.

He locked himself in his room, fury rising in his chest. All along he'd known, all along he'd been sure he was deluding himself, and yet he allowed hope to blossom to no avail. She absolutely didn't deserve to be hosted in a room that had belonged to Avatar Roku, she hardly deserved to call herself his descendant. And if there was one thing she absolutely didn't deserve, it was what Iroh had known better than to offer her, regardless of her status as Crown Princess…

The White Lotus had traveled with him after he had returned from the Spirit World. He had explained what Roku had spoken about, and Jeong Jeong believed him wholeheartedly. He seemed quite pleased, too, to see Iroh had decided to embrace his destiny… he didn't show it outwardly, but his eyes gleamed in a way Iroh doubted they had in years.

Together, the small group had set sail to the Fire Nation, passing through the islands until they reached the one in Iroh's vision. Once there, he had told the earthbenders of the team where to dig: they had found a house, and within the house, a secret compartment. In the compartment, a small key, perfectly preserved. And in a hiding place underneath the floorboards, a locked box.

All eyes were on Iroh as he opened the box and revealed its contents with the certainty of a man who had known exactly what he'd find. His companions were astonished, others were in awe, many approved – and amongst those who approved was one of the Grand Lotuses. It would be him who would promote Iroh and Jeong Jeong's candidacies for those titles after this discovery, even if he passed away within a year of doing so.

Jeong Jeong and the White Lotus had put their trust in the prophecy Iroh had heard: the Avatar would return, or so Roku had promised him. Zuko would play an essential role to end the war, and Iroh had to help his young nephew find the right path to do so…

Those words, for the longest time, had sustained the Order. The promises only Iroh had ever heard, that eventually others had questioned… and that, once Sozin's Comet had passed, had been disregarded by many desperate and angry souls who had placed all their hopes on the prediction Iroh had brought them from the Spirit World. And yet they hadn't given up: Iroh had continued to seek the Avatar with Zuko, he had tried to impart his wisdom to the young man, even though he was stubborn and reluctant to listen. And just so, a new plan had emerged, one proposed by the youngest of their Grand Lotuses…

Iroh shook his head now, the Crown Prince hairpiece resting on his room's desk. For years he had resisted giving it to Zuko, he had been tempted to offer it just before Zuko left… but he had doubted. He had feared it wasn't the right moment yet. And just now… just now he had considered giving it to someone who was unworthy of it. He had truly allowed himself to think Azula, of all people, had it in her to be the world's savior, the harbinger of balance…

If there was but one undeniable truth to have been learned today, it was that his own judgment could be tricked, that he was far from infallible… that he was, in many ways, a fool. For only a fool would have ever thought it could have been Azula. If the rest of the Order even knew… he cringed at the thought. Never would this mistake reach their ears. He would make sure of it.

Just as he would make sure, one way or another, to keep Azula from ever taking the five-pronged hairpiece of the Fire Lord for herself.

For he would never concede it should be hers, absolutely not. It had been bad enough that Ozai had stolen it when he had… but never again. He wouldn't allow them to usurp Zuko, just as they had usurped Iroh first. It was enough. None of Toph's words could change his mind about his niece anymore. Only the true heir to the Fire Nation's throne could redeem their nation… and that heir could only be Zuko. It meant Azula had to topple from the heights she'd reached before Zuko could take his rightful place on the throne… and Iroh was more than ready to engineer her fall.

---

"It's all my fault, isn't it? It's always my fault. Me and my big mouth, always causing more trouble than I'm worth…"

"Could you stop? You'll ruin my painting if you keep being such a grump around it"

"What, my nasty aura will mess it up? Geesh, Dog, you've spent way too much time with Stretchy if you believe that kind of nonsense nowadays"

Sokka rolled his eyes, deciding against tossing his palette at the earthbender despite the urge was rather intense. He chose to take a deep breath instead and he focused on his work again. He knew it wasn't perfect, far from it… but at least he hoped Azula would be pleased with his progress. Considering how poor his first depiction of her had been, this landscape-oriented artwork ought to be more acceptable… or so he hoped.

Toph had visited his house on occasion over the past weeks, bored out of her mind as she was, without either Iroh or Azula to talk to. Sokka had hardly been good company, but at least they could sulk together whenever he wasn't painting. Song was usually fun, but she seemed about as eager to see Rui Shi again as Sokka was to see Azula. She was out in the city for now, looking for strings to replace those of the pipa she had been practicing with, and now Toph was left to sigh as she languished in the house's backyard.

"I still feel like shit, though" Toph groaned "I didn't even say anything incriminating about you two, I didn't fuck up at keeping your secret… nah, I just had to go and convince Iroh, without knowing I'd convince him of anything, to try and be best friends with Azula. Just… ugh. I'm an idiot"

"Yeah, you are" Sokka growled, swiping the brush gently to trace what he hoped might look like a cloud… but weren't clouds pale instead of dark? He cringed, deciding to spread out that stroke to turn it into the sky's color instead, leaving strips of unpainted canvas to serve as the clouds … "The stupidest thing of all, though, is that you keep beating yourself up about this when I'm pretty sure no one else thinks you're to blame for it"

"Then you're all dumber than I am" Toph huffed, shaking her head "Who else could be to blame, really?"

"How about we blame Iroh?" Sokka asked, with a sarcastic grin "You know, the pesky, annoying guy who keeps trying to mess up Azula's life without any real reason to? Honestly, I've never seen a family as messed up as theirs and it grinds my gears. I wish I could really just… sweep her away from it completely and make sure she doesn't have to worry about her father or her uncle or her mother or her brother ever again…"

"Heh… might as well give her a family all of your own, while you're at it" Toph said, smirking as she slid her hands behind her head "Could be that's what they all need, to replace the old, useless family, and get new ones instead"

"Simplistic, but effective. You can go be Iroh's surrogate daughter and make sure he leaves my wife alone" Sokka growled, and Toph laughed, inevitably.

"Your wife, eh?" she said "Damn, getting used to hearing that will take me some time…"

"I got used to it pretty quickly, myself" Sokka said, sighing "And yet I can't help her one bit when she's dealing with serious crap like this. So, see? You can go ahead and blame yourself for causing this if you want, I'm too pissed at myself for being useless to care…"

"You're really in the shittiest mood if you don't see Azula for a while, huh?" Toph asked "It can't be healthy for your happiness to hinge that much on her"

"Probably not, but if she'd just taken off freely I'd be less worried" Sokka admitted "I'd miss her like hell, but I'd know she'd be okay. It definitely beats waiting forever to find out if she managed to get Iroh off our trail or not"

"Yeah, that's what I hate about it too" Toph sighed, shaking her head "If there's a god listening out there, if they even exist, I promise I'll quit wishing my best friends would get along! I'll just accept things as they are, I swear!"

"I usually address those kinds of thoughts to the universe, but I guess that works" Sokka said, smiling a little as he blurred the colors of his depiction of the sky carefully, hoping not to smear it over the rest of the paint…

Toph sighed, her face contorted by a displeased grimace. It was odd, to a fault, to realize that both her and Sokka's lives seemed so much more boring without their sponsors around… but she genuinely dreaded what would happen once they returned, which would be soon, she was sure. The cold hostility between Azula and Iroh had been unpleasant, nonsensical, Toph thought… but whatever it could have morphed into after their weeks away terrified her. On some level, she hoped they could have fulfilled her wish, that they might have learned to get along… but she didn't think she would be that lucky. Not when Sokka and Azula's secret had been caught in the fray.

So, for now, she could only hope for the best, and the best was that nothing would have changed. If she had to cope with Azula and Iroh's hostilities for the rest of her life, so be it… at least that was a better alternative than an all-out war between them, wasn't it?

"I guess it shouldn't be that long before we know if the universe listened to me, eh?" Toph sighed "They said the trip shouldn't take that long… it's already three weeks, isn't it?"

"Pretty much" Sokka said, grimacing. He'd been counting the days, one by one, desperate for any signs of their impending return. He hadn't communicated with Azula at all, as they had agreed they wouldn't, and he had no way of knowing when she'd finally return…

But as per her word, it should be soon. It couldn't be much longer, so he had to hurry up with his painting. There were still a few things he could fix, even if he was mostly finished, so…

A loud, reptilian roar tore across the sky above them.

Sokka jumped at the sound, dropping his brush and palette immediately. The paint splattered on the ground as he glanced above himself, frantic, while Toph sat up, startled by his distress. She smiled weakly, though, having recognized the sound just as quickly as Sokka had.

"Heh. So, she's still out and about with the flying crocodile, huh? Maybe the universe does listen…" Toph reasoned, as Sokka continued to scour the skies desperately…

High above in the clouds he spotted, at last, a small, serpentine figure that was growing larger and larger by the minute: his face broke out into full joy.

She was back, and if she was flying from the direction of the Palace, then she had already seen her father, reported to him, dealt with all the nuisances that might get in the way of their reencounter. Iroh couldn't possibly be pestering her so closely anymore, not if she would risk visiting him on the very day of her arrival…

Xin Long hovered above the house carefully, circling the backyard on his way down to discourage Azula from jumping off the saddle as she had once before. It amused Sokka to see the dragon resort to such a technique, and he hoped Azula might not end up sick because of it…

"Azula!" he shouted, inevitably, once he knew she was within earshot.

He could hardly see her face as Xin Long spun in the air as he did, but he glimpsed a smile, he was sure he had…

Xin Long landed barely a few steps away from Toph, who crawled away from him as soon as she sensed him beside her. Azula didn't check on her, though: she felt dizzy after Xin Long's ridiculous spinning act, but now that he had stopped, she wasted no time dismounting and rushing into Sokka's waiting arms.

The matching despair with which they kissed startled both Xin Long and Toph. The dragon eyed them with uncertainty, almost wondering when would be his turn to greet Sokka, while Toph waited for them to stop with a teasing smirk already waiting on her face.

"You don't think they'll stay stuck like that all day, do you?" Toph finally asked Xin, who offered her a casual shrug: his response surprised and amused the earthbender, sensing it through her bending as she had.

Their tight, intimate embrace didn't cease even as they parted for air, hands touching each other's faces as soft laughs left their lips. It had been less than a month, and yet it felt like a lifetime of being apart for the desperate pair: they exchanged more gentle kisses now, even though their desperation wasn't completely quenched just yet.

"I missed you… oh, I missed you so much…" Sokka groaned, finally interrupting the contact between their lips to press his face to her shoulder, hugging her tightly enough to lift her off the ground.

Azula smiled and held onto him, caring little for feeling solid earth under her feet, arms locked around his neck. All the falsehoods she'd been forced to speak to Iroh days ago now faded into nothingness in the face of the powerful, overwhelming love she had protected successfully.

"I missed you more, I'm sure…" Azula whispered in his ear, kissing it gently "That damn Summit was a nightmare without you"

"Not being there was a nightmare for me, too" Sokka groaned, setting her down and taking her face into his hands "Is everything alright, though? Did you get him off our backs, or…?"

Azula nodded, though she didn't seem confident. Sokka had expected a proud smile, even an arrogant smirk… not reluctance. Not uncertainty.

"I think I did, but… only by convincing him I'm too much of a monster to care about anyone" Azula admitted, her throat closing up as she spoke "I… I said awful things. I had to, and I've said worse, I'm sure, but… shit, it felt disgusting, and worst of all is I don't know if… I don't know if this will only make things worse in the end. The way he reacted…"

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked, stroking her cheeks gently with his thumbs. Azula raised her hands, taking his own into them "Azula…"

"If I thought he hated me before, I… I was wrong. I fear I may have pushed him past the point of no return" Azula said, shaking her head "I've never seen him so angry"

"Wait, what?" Toph asked, pushing herself up and approaching them. As mushy as the pair might be, Azula's current words concerned her.

Strangely, Azula wasn't proud of what she'd achieved. She didn't turn to Toph with an obnoxious, cruel smirk to boast about how she had outdone Iroh… let alone did she turn with an accusatory glare, to blame the younger woman for what she'd had to do to get Iroh off her back. Remorse, if anything, colored her semblance.

"I'm sorry, Toph" she said, earnestly "But… I don't think you'll get your wish. Iroh and I…"

"That… that's fine" Toph said, swallowing hard "I shouldn't've said anything. I should've just… shut my mouth. I keep doing this, I was just telling Sokka, I… I'm sorry, Spicy. None of this would've happened if I hadn't been so stupid and selfish and…"

"It's not your fault" Azula said, closing her eyes and letting herself rest against Sokka's chest. He wrapped her into his arms, still confused by her demeanor, but ever willing to stand by her and support her whenever she might need him to "And it's not an awful thing for you to have wanted what you did. It's… it's just impossible now, I fear. I know it can't be what you wanted to hear, but…"

"Is he alright?" Toph asked. Azula shrugged.

"He was angry after our last conversation… but he acted like himself again on the next day, even if he refused to acknowledge me at all" Azula admitted "We haven't spoken since, and for all our sakes, I hope we won't have to anytime soon…"

"Yeah. Probably better that way" Toph sighed, biting her lip "I should go check on him. Is he at the Palace yet?"

"He should be, I assume" Azula said, nodding.

"Alright, then… try to wait until I'm gone before pouncing on each other again, alright?" Toph said, teasingly, though the mood certainly didn't seem to be all that suitable for such jokes. Even so, both Azula and Sokka smiled at Toph before relinquishing their warm embrace to walk her to the door.

Only once Toph was gone did Sokka wrap his arms around Azula again, hugging her from behind as he covered her cheeks with kisses. Warmth rose in her face, in her chest, everywhere in her body as she relaxed in his arms, wanting nothing but this, nothing but him, and to hell with everything else… but she knew he had questions. And she'd have to answer them, even if she wasn't entirely sure of how she'd do that.

"I know we both need to jump each other's bones right about now… but before that, can I ask why you seem so sad about this?" Sokka asked, his fingers intertwining with hers over her abdomen. Azula sighed, turning around in his arms and clutching at him desperately.

"For one thing… it's because of everything I told him" Azula groaned "I never thought lying could hurt so much. It was… it was unbearable. But for another… I don't know. Something was weird about him…"

"When you convinced him to leave us alone? Or before that?"

"Both" Azula said, gritting her teeth "I think I saw him as his true self for the first time ever, no masks, no disguises… and he was angry. He was every bit as merciless as me or my father might be. He near begged me to tell the truth, to say I loved you, expecting me to trust him, claiming he would be my ally… and he sounded genuine, too. But… it makes no sense, doesn't it? It was all just a trick… it was all just to manipulate me, so I'd spill the beans just so he could run to my father with the tale. It had to be… right?"

"If that's the only explanation that makes sense… then yeah" said Sokka, frowning as he rubbed Azula's back gently.

"But I don't know why I can't really believe that" Azula said "Somehow, I think I've made him our very worst enemy, all by trying to get him to leave us alone. I… I'm honestly scared of him. I never thought I would be, but…"

"He won't get to us" Sokka said, reassuringly, his hands on her upper arms now "I know lying feels shitty… and that's okay, we'll go upstairs right now, help you shake it all off right away. But we've always said we'll do it as many times as we have to, and that's still true. I love you, Azula, and you know I always will…"

"And I you" Azula said, raising one hand to his face, the other landing over his heart "Honestly… maybe that's all we have to do. Shake it off, make love, forget about this nonsense. Because curses, I missed you so badly I nearly cried when I saw your house again…"

"I flipped my palette the minute I heard Xin roar because… oh! My painting!" Sokka exclaimed, excitedly. Azula's eyes widened just before he grinned and guided her outside again "It's not all finished yet, I know, but you can give me some pointers for that too, right? You can tell me if it's any good, because I think I've been staring at it for too long and I don't know anymore…"

Azula hadn't quite noticed the easel before, and she couldn't hold back her laughter when Sokka squeaked: Xin Long was sniffing the painting with confusion, smoke slipping out his nostrils as he analyzed it carefully.

"No! No, no, no! Don't you even think about it, Xin!" Sokka exclaimed, rushing to rescue his artwork from a mischievously grinning dragon "Bad dragon! Behave yourself!"

Xin Long jumped in place, leaning back in a playful chase gesture. Sokka cringed, raising the canvas high over his head before Xin Long lunged for him.

"XIN! AZULA, HELP!" Sokka squawked now, and as much as Azula did try to help, joining their crazy chase, she couldn't help but be doubled down with laughter as Sokka kept trying to defend his near-finished painting from Xin Long's greedy claws.

It took around half an hour of playful chasing for Xin Long to finally give up, and by then both humans were exhausted from running in circles and laughing as hard as they had by the end. They sat against the dragon's long body, with Azula holding the painting and assessing it carefully. The lingering smile on her face reassured Sokka even before she delivered her verdict.

"Still needs a little work on regular shapes, your pulse trembles quite a bit…" Azula said, trailing the mistakes carefully with her finger. Sokka smiled awkwardly "And yet it's not a bad effect. If anything, it feels more vivid this way. Perhaps once you learn to control your lack of control, you'll even develop new techniques even masters can't imagine…"

"Now that's just ridiculous flattery…" Sokka pouted, as Azula laughed and pressed her face to his shoulder "But then… you don't hate it?"

"Not by a long shot" she said, smiling and handing the painting back to Sokka "You definitely are a quick learner, husband. Well done"

His wild grin at those words brought Azula to laugh again, leaning close to kiss his cheek. He laughed as well, setting down the painting to embrace her tightly. He received Azula's approval in many regards, perhaps in most of them… and yet knowing she saw value in his work thrilled him to impossible extents. He sighed blissfully, burying his face in her neck as Azula held onto him, relaxing despite it all, after the wild chase and the beautiful painting had finally helped ease her mind: Sokka always succeeded at chasing away her demons, whether deliberately or not.

"I'm so glad you're back, love…" he whispered, and Azula nodded, nails scraping his shirt as she clutched at it eagerly.

"So am I" she replied, pressing soft kisses to his neck until he raised his head to look her in the eye. His earnest gaze was far more beautiful than any paintings Azula had ever seen, and she smiled warmly in the safety of his arms.

"Welcome home, Azula" he said, and a rush of joy seemed to pour through her body, overpowering all her senses.

The same words, spoken by her father, had surprised her, thrown her off when they had returned from Shu Jing. She had been unsettled, uncertain of what to make of them… and yet with Sokka there was no such uncertainty: it was right when they came from him. For she certainly was coming home whenever she returned to his arms.

She kissed him gratefully, and he responded by pouring his own relentless emotions into the exchange. How easy it was to forget all concerns, all troubles, when they were together this way… Iroh could plan all sorts of wicked schemes to destroy them, but the bond between them was strong, true, stable like nothing else Azula knew. With Sokka by her side, she was certain she'd defeat anything else Iroh dared throw her way…

But Iroh had no plans of the sort in mind right now, unbeknownst to his niece. The old General had reached his room, taken his seat and sighed, unwilling to even brew tea for himself, unsure of what to do now that his flared temper had receded… now that he was left with the acute, keen certainty that everything he had worked for over the past years had been in vain.

"Iroh?"

Toph's voice drove yet another feeling of inadequacy deep inside his chest. Iroh closed his eyes, swallowing hard before turning to the door. The young earthbender looked nervous, uneasy… and he smiled at her, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to see it.

"I missed you" he said, with a relieved sigh "I certainly could use being near a friend after all those weeks…"

"I'm glad you're back" Toph said, smiling too as she sat before him "And… hey, I'm sorry. I… I keep doing stupid things, I keep asking stuff of people without any right to, and I know I shouldn't have told you to become friends with Azula just for my benefit. It was stupid, and I…"

Her words were interrupted when Iroh reached for her and swept her into a surprising, warm hug. Toph's eyebrows rose, and she was left to blink with unease before reaching to pat her sponsor's back gently. His heart was racing, she could feel it… somehow, in that moment, Toph felt as though Iroh had aged fifty years over a single trip. What on earth was wrong with him? Was it what Azula had talked about before? Or was it something else…?

"There was nothing wrong with what you wanted, child" Iroh said, and Toph wasn't entirely sure why her throat seemed to close in upon hearing those words "My… my mistakes are my own. I'm sorry, truly… but I cannot do as you wished. I can't…"

Toph gritted her teeth, shaking her head but hugging Iroh back. Again, she felt the urge to say this was all stupid… to say this made no sense. Iroh was a good man, Azula was a good woman, and they were both great, fun people as far as she was concerned… so why? How could this rift between them only grow wider and larger with no apparent explanation?

But she kept her silence this time. She had been the reason this had begun, even if neither Azula nor Iroh wanted to hold it against her, but it would be enough for Toph to hold it against herself.

"I guess… I guess you're not coming to the wedding?" Toph asked, and Iroh laughed softly before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Toph. I'm really sorry…"

She nodded in acceptance, though, and she held him regardless of how disheartening it was to hear such words. But she fell quiet for now and she begged silently to the universe, the gods that she had spoken to earlier, from inside her mind, to help her best friends find peace, even if it wouldn't be in the way she had hoped they would. Toph believed she owed them that much, at the very least.

---

A/N:

And that's our 200th chapter! As well as the end of this particular arc. Brace yourselves for the Gladiator & Sponsor Race Arc next! For anyone eager to see some more action, I hope that one will be exactly what you've been waiting for.

Just writing this author's note to remind you all of the event Kigozula's is hosting on Tumblr, to celebrate Gladiator's 200th chapter :D feel free to join in through the weekend!