Embers: Chapter Thirteen, Part I

[masterghandalf]

This is a repost from Das_Sporking2; previous installments of this sporking may be found here.

Warning: This post contains discussion of abuse and genocide.



MG: Well, everyone, it’s time to continue our journey through Vathara’s Embers! Last time, Zuko returned to the palace, was talent-scouted by the Dai Li, had a one-sided encounter with Jet and started work tutoring Jinhai. Today, we spend some more time with the Wens and also start getting a bit more infodumping on just what the role of dragons in this fic is going to be. Joining us today will be Zuko (I’m sorry I keep feeling like I have to use you for every post; thankfully the fic will broaden its scope some as it goes on to follow people other than Zuko, including the Gaang and some of Vathara’s OCs, but for now every chapter is basically Zuko Time) and Azula!

Chapter 13

"Is that normal?" Meixiang asked quietly.

Azula: Which part, exactly? I can point to a great many abnormal things in this story so far.

Zuko watched Jinhai sleep in a curled lump in Meixiang's small garden, breathing easily. "Fire's not like the other elements. It comes from inside you. You have to build up your strength. My bending showed up late, too. I needed a lot of naps." Which had made him very cranky. Naps were for little kids. Thank the spirits his mother had a sense of humor.

Zuko: …does… does my other self think that only firebender kids need to nap a lot? Or that a little kid napping after a strenuous activity is in any way unusual?

Elemental Determinism: 27

The Superior Element: 21 (even young kids getting tired from practicing has to do with fire’s unique qualities, apparently!)

He glanced over the faces of two worried parents, and a sister whose protective bearing reminded him so much of Lu Ten, it hurt.

MG: …which would’ve been a lot more meaningful if we’d developed Zuko and Lu Ten’s relationship at all, outside of the Spirit World journey (and it’s not something Vathara can rely on canon filling the gaps for, either). Honestly, I’d have said Suyin’s protectiveness makes her remind Zuko of a younger version of his mother, or something to that effect.

"One good thing about being a firebender. We don't sunburn easily." Which had been lifesaving when they'd been floating on the raft with little shelter-

Azula: Really. That’s new to me, at least. *glances over at Zuko’s face* And we certainly do burn, if not always at the sun…

Zuko: Thanks for the reminder.

"I guess that's another thing you have to watch out for," Zuko sighed. So many little details. So many ways to get caught.

Azula: If the Dai Li think a six-year-old napping or not sunburning much is a sign of a secret firebender, then they’re more paranoid than I am. Which is saying something.

And that's when someone's not looking for Fire Nation. I have to tell them.

Zuko: *rolls his eyes* Oh, yeah, Jet, who we’ve just gone out of our way to establish is an angry idiot, is totally going to be able to pick out all the subtle signs of a kid from what looks from the outside to be a perfectly normal middle-class Earth Kingdom family is a secret firebender.

"I meant to get here earlier," Zuko said levelly. "I wasn't, because I had to lose someone." He held up a hand. "Goes by Jet. He's about this tall. Messy brown hair, brown eyes. Hook swords. Chews on a wheat straw, all the time. He saw my uncle and I on the ferry to Ba Sing Se, and he's sure we're firebenders. Well, that Uncle is," Zuko amended. "I've pretty much got him convinced I'm a waterbender."

"How?" Suyin asked, while her parents were still sputtering.

Azula: Did you perhaps splash him with a pail of water, and this version of Jet is so dim he actually thought it was bending?

"We were in a teashop. I hit him with a bunch of hot water," Zuko answered, sheepishly avoiding parts of the truth. "Healing means moving fire in ways most benders don't try. I can move fire inside hot water. It's kind of neat."

"Inventive," Tingzhe said, stunned, as Meixiang stared at him. "Have you tried this with anything else? Earth, perhaps?"

"Not yet," Zuko managed, shaken by the sudden possibilities. "Sand might work… it works in water because water flows, like heat…."

Air flows, too.

Agni. I've got to try it.

Azula: Oh, look, Zuzu the airbender! Ha, that will be the day! Tell me, dear brother, are you planning on shaving your head, getting tattoos, and spending the rest of your life tending sky bison while mouthing platitudes at everyone?

Zuko: …I hate you.

Just once, just once, he'd like Aang to know what it felt like to be blown through a building. A little humility would lengthen the Avatar's lifespan.

MG: Aang, under his sunny exterior, is clearly haunted by how he ran away from being the Avatar, the effects of him getting caught in that iceberg for a hundred years, and many of his failures since then (including, at this point, being unable to find Appa). And when he does make boneheaded decisions, it’s usually due to being impulsive rather than being arrogant. I don’t think “humility” is something he particularly needs to learn.

He Has Much to Learn: 15

"Thank you," Zuko said, and meant it. "I'll try that. Later. But you have to watch out for this moron. He's dangerous. Uncle's been acting like an old civilian, and Jet still went after him. If he thought he knew about Jinhai…." Zuko looked Suyin in the eye, deadly serious. "He doesn't care who he hurts, to get back at the Fire Nation. Don't face him. Just run."

MG: And we’re back to “Jet is a deadly threat,” though not without elements of “Jet is a stupid loser.” Also, once again, Jet had actual reason to suspect Iroh was a firebender, as… over the top as his reaction was (and he was right). He wasn’t just wandering around looking for random people to victimize.

"But you did lose him?" Meixiang asked, visibly reining in fear with determination.

"I've had practice," Zuko admitted. "Now that I know he's still looking, I'll be more careful. I won't lead him to you." He met her gaze squarely. "Can you warn people? Huojin already knows about Jet, and I'm going to tell Amaya, but I want to make sure everyone gets word."

"I will." Meixiang inclined her head, almost a bow.

Zuko: Because one teenage boy with a chip on his shoulder and a couple of swords is the greatest threat facing the entire Fire Nation enclave in Ba Sing Se? Really?

Divine Right to Rule: 26

Zuko winced. "Don't do that. Please."

She eyed him, one black brow lifted. "My lord, even if you chose to leave, you can't abandon what you were born-"

"I didn't choose to leave!" Say it. Just- get it out. "I'm an exile, Meixiang. I was banished." Fists clenched, nails denting skin. No fire. Not here. "If you want a lord, look for someone with honor." I lost mine. Lost everything….

MG: Okay, this sort of guilt and feelings of inadequacy over his situation – and jumping down someone else’s throat trying to compensate for it – feels totally in-character for Zuko. On the other hand, especially considering where the fic is going (and we can see the bare early stages of it already, with Zuko and Iroh’s colony planning) it can’t help but feel Vathara is being a bit performative here – that maybe Zuko doesn’t think he’s worthy to be a real lord, but we all know better, don’t we? I might be reading too much into it, but considering the fic’s proclivities, I find it pretty easy to read it that way.

Divine Right to Rule: 27

But I won't let you lose what you love. I can do that much. I will.

Zuko: That’s a nice sentiment and all, but I’m still a bit confused about why I think these people need saving in the first place. They don’t seem to have any problems living and being successful in Ba Sing Se, and I only just now started worrying about Jet.

"You lost an Agni Kai," Meixiang said at last.

Obvious, isn't it? "I didn't even fight," Zuko got out. "How could I? He was-" my father "-someone I owed loyalty to. I couldn't."

Zuko: No, I didn’t fight back because I didn’t want to fight my own father and also I was thirteen, in over my head, and terrified, and I’d been expecting to fight one of the old generals from the war council, not my father, the Fire Lord and most dangerous firebender in the world. Magic loyalty had nothing to do with it!

Elemental Determinism: 28

"An Agni what?" Tingzhe asked warily.

"A fire duel," Meixiang said plainly. "We're children of dragons, Tingzhe. Sometimes the only way to settle things is with a fight."

MG: And yes, “children of dragons” is literal, as we’ve alluded to before and will be finding out about in more detail shortly, as is the idea that proud warrior race guy values are just inherent to the Fire Nation and it’s a terrible thing to try and make them live any other way.

Elemental Determinism: 29

The Ultimate Firebenders: 9

"And the Fire Nation calls itself civilized?" her husband said incredulously. "When we have disagreements here-"

"You argue, and shout at each other, and start whispering campaigns that can go on for generations?" Meixiang said pointedly.

Azula: We do that, too. I think Madam Meixiang may have a rather rose-tinted view of the homeland she abandoned.

"When an Agni Kai's over, it's over. Decided. Done. And everyone's loyalty is satisfied.

Zuko: *snorts in disgust* I spent years of my life in shame, following a hopeless mission because of an Agni Kai. Maybe it was technically over and done, but the consequences sure weren’t! So, much as I hate it, I have to *sighs heavily* agree with my sister about something.

The Superior Element: 22

You've risked your life for what you believe is right. No lord can ask for more than that." She looked back at Zuko. "But you couldn't have been more than a child."

"I was thirteen." He couldn't help but glance at Suyin. "That's old enough."

Zuko: …yeah, maybe it was within the letter of law and custom, but Dad was abusing the tradition to make sure everyone knew how much he hated me. Remember when I confronted him on the Day of Black Sun, I made a point of telling him how cruel it was for a grown man to fight a thirteen-year-old boy, especially when my only crime was speaking out of turn. So, sorry Vathara, but after everything that happened to me because of that, I’m a little sensitive about the idea that there was anything acceptable about what my father did that day.

The Superior Element: 23

The girl swallowed dryly. "Is - is that why you're training me?"

"No," Zuko said, incredulous. How could she even think - Earth Kingdom. She doesn't know.

Azula: …the girl was just told that, in her mother’s homeland, thirteen-year-olds can find themselves fighting actual duels with serious consequences. So yes, in her position I’d be worried too.

"That's self-defense. You have to be a firebender for an Agni Kai. Honor duels for non-benders are blade fights. I mean, you could learn swords, if you wanted to." He caught Tingzhe's stern look, and tried to shrug. "I know, spears and throwing knives are more traditional, but I'm lousy with them…."

Tingzhe's eyes darkened further. The earthbender cracked his knuckles.

Zuko: Tingzhe nothing, I’m sure Suyin is probably terrified and imagining herself or her little brother dying on all those weapons! So I can’t blame the professor for wanting to shut me up.

"Don't threaten him just for the truth, love," Meixiang said, amused. "Dragon's children. But we don't have fangs and claws. We have to settle for steel and fire." She eyed Zuko again. "But thirteen? What happened?"

MG: Ironically, we’ll later learn that at least some “dragon-children” do have claws. Zuko included (and he seems to have somehow never noticed that other peoples’ fingernails are different from his…). Methinks that’s yet another worldbuilding element Vathara hadn’t thought of yet.

The Ultimate Firebenders: 10

Zuko froze. I can't tell them. I can't.

He'd never told anyone about that day. Not even Uncle. And Iroh had been there.

Azula: *shrugs* I was there too. So was Uncle, and even Zhao. We all knew what was happening and why – it wasn’t exactly a secret.

She's got this crazy idea I'm still a lord. I can't let her believe that. We're going to make it so they can get out of the city. If she wants someone to be loyal to… she has to find someone better.

I have to tell her something.

MG: Again, considering how things shake out, this feels more like Vathara is having Zuko sell himself short to look good for us than anything.

Divine Right to Rule: 28

"I should have listened to Uncle, and kept my mouth shut," Zuko said at last. "I should have stayed out of the war room. But I thought I had responsibilities to learn about… it was a bad idea." He took a breath, trying not to feel. "One of the gen- one of the commanders was planning to gain a tactical advantage by sending new recruits up against trained earthbenders. To lure them out into the open. I said we couldn't do that to our people." He would not touch the scar. "He challenged. I should have backed down. But I wasn't afraid. Not of him." Zuko tried to shrug, and failed. "I can be really, really stupid, sometimes."

"Yes, well," Tingzhe said uncomfortably. "You can't always judge a bender's skill by his looks."

"No." A bare whisper, but Zuko got it out. "No, when I turned around… it wasn't him." Don't shake. Not now. It's over. It's been over for years.

MG: This bit, on the other had – I mostly do like, both as a summary of events leading up to that duel, and showing that Zuko still has trauma from it years later. On the other hand, he nearly let slip that he was in a position at the age of thirteen to challenge a general, which is probably not something you want when you’re trying to convince everyone you’re not royalty.

"That's dishonorable!" Meixiang's own hands were fists, white-knuckled. "Your family should have blocked the duel from proceeding! They should have protested, even to the Fire Lord's ears-"

It wasn't funny. Not even close. So why was he laughing? Laughing to the point it hurt, and he had to lean against the house wall, tears running down his face.

Azula: Technically, because it was Father’s meeting in Father’s war room and one of Father’s generals Zuko insulted, it was Father he really offended. That’s why he fought the duel. Now, I suppose letting Zuko think he would be fighting the general was dishonorable… or maybe Father just wanted to see the look on Zuzu’s face…

Zuko: *grating* Ha. Ha.

Don't wake up Jinhai. He shouldn't see this.

Dragging in a sobbing breath, Zuko shoved the pain back into that dark corner of his mind. "It wouldn't have worked," he managed raggedly. "The Fire Lord has a thing about respect."

Zuko: Also he hated me and wanted to get rid of me. Can’t forget that part… though maybe this version of me hasn’t really accepted that yet.

Dashing away tears, he straightened. "Uncle took care of me after - after. So I didn't die.

Azula: Please. If father had wanted you dead, he’d have killed you in the dueling ring. You weren’t dying.

Zuko: Yeah, well, that wasn’t very reassuring at the time, was it?

The first day I could get out of bed-" He remembered the crinkle of the decree in Azula's hands. Her smirk, knowing and cruel, as he read through the terms. Uncle's face, finding her there; a grim puzzlement that changed to cold fury as she skipped away down the hall, humming.

Don't think about it.

"Uncle went with me," Zuko said simply. "He didn't have to. He's never been banished. I'd be dead a dozen times without him." He looked at Meixiang, and shook his head. "Find someone else."

Put the pain away. Focus. Survive.

MG: Again, while I have trouble with the framing of this scene, and especially how I think it’s meant to be a “Zuko doesn’t realize how awesome he really is” moment more than anything, I do like how Vathara conveys both his lingering trauma and that feelings of shame and inadequacy he carries with him from it.

Outwardly calm, Zuko bowed to the professor. "I promised Master Amaya I'd be at the clinic for the evening hours. I'll be back tomorrow."

He headed out through the house, and didn't look back.

MG: …he’ll be back. And we’re not done with the Wens for even this chapter yet, either.

He looks like death warmed over.

Amaya steered her dazed apprentice out of the waiting room, past curious patients. "Where are you hurt?" she asked in an undertone.

"I'm not injured." Lee bristled at her look of disbelief; even his irritation looked weary. "Just tired. Jinhai's parents had questions. Some of them were hard to answer. I ran into Jet again, he's still after Uncle; lost him in an alley, hope he starts thinking before I have to hurt him.

Zuko: …so, is the danger here that Jet will hurt other people, or that eventually he’ll push me far enough and I have to hurt him (the idea that he could hurt me doesn’t really seem to be something they’re considering?). I’m getting some mixed messages here!

And - one of the people around Bosco loaned me this." Face almost blank, he handed over a blue-capped scroll.

A waterbending scroll.

Azula: And you’re not at all suspicious about why one of the Dai Li gave you such a valuable object, even temporarily? I thought Uncle taught you better than that!

"I'm not injured," he repeated flatly, as she glanced up at him. He swallowed, fingers clenching. "I can work."

I don't want to think, Amaya could all but hear the silent plea. Please, give me something to do.

Zuko: …not sure sending me into work with patients in the state I’m currently in is a good idea.

"Start with Nin," she sighed. "He's managed to twist his back again. You'll work on minor healing, and you'll stop when I say."

A subdued nod. "Yes, Master Amaya."

Zuko: …or we could just do that instead. *facepalms*

This is going to be a long afternoon.

Azula: *glances down at the rest of the chapter* Yes, I can already tell.

So this is what we've got to work with.

Disguised in civilian clothes, rock gloves tucked up his sleeves, Shirong watched the class of university earthbending students in their stone-walled practice yard. Most were fair. A few were excellent, the kind who'd end up specialists on the Wall or architects and delicate stoneworkers in the city itself. But of all the students here, only one had the drive, the killer instinct, to potentially become Dai Li.

Min Wen.

Azula: …whatever his other faults, and they are many, I’d have thought Long Feng had higher standards than “petty bully.”

MG: And I still think there’s something a bit off about the Dai Li literally talent scouting from university students, like they’re an ordinary career path; while the Avatar Extras’ canonicity is dubious, I still think their idea that the Dai Li start their recruits rather younger than Min makes more sense.

Paired against an older teenager, Min split his wall of stone with a slice of his hand and punched the fragment against his opponent. The older boy stamped another wall up in time to take the blow, but both rocks shattered.

Skill is there. And he's fast enough. We could certainly train him to our level.

But to be honest with himself - and having seen the spirits he'd seen, Shirong tried very hard to be honest with himself - it wasn't earthbending skill that worried him.

Professor Wen's son.

Problematic, right there. Tingzhe Wen certainly acted like a man still living in Avatar Kyoshi's era, but there was nothing wrong with the man's mind. He knew enough to know what he shouldn't talk about, but some of his students hadn't been so wise.

MG: I was a bit torn on whether this felt contrived or not that Tingzhe was on the Dai Li’s radar… but I came down on the side of “he’s seemingly a fairly prominent academic, so of course they’d be watching to make sure his research and curricula didn’t stray outside the bounds of approved topics.”

A good teacher loved his students, and Tingzhe Wen was a very good teacher. One day that might outweigh his prudence. Could Min Wen deal with being one of those who might have to make his own father disappear?

MG: I’m torn between “the Dai Li wouldn’t be so dumb as to send an agent to arrest his own father” and “of course the Dai Li would send an agent to arrest his own father, so he could prove his loyalty to the Dai Li was greater than his loyalty to his family once and for all.”

And if he can - do we want that kind of recruit?

MG: This, on the other hand – I think someone who’s either so loyal or so ambitious he’d turn on his own family on the Dai Li’s orders is exactly the sort of person they’d want to recruit, be real, now.

Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 7

There were other reasons to be wary of the boy. Harder for Shirong to pin down, but real nonetheless.

He's too eager.

Burning with zeal, like a flame loosed on flash-paper. If the Dai Li weren't all he'd dreamed, if the hard reality of their dirty work to keep Ba Sing Se stable fell short of what Min aspired to… who could say he wouldn't be as quick to turn that zeal toward something else?

Zuko: Okay, that does seem more like something the Dai Li would be worried about. Though from what we saw of Min a few chapters ago, he seemed more like a bully than a fanatic.

Still. Feelings, no matter how trained and tested, weren't reason enough to deny the boy a chance. They needed new recruits. Or Quan and the Grand Secretariat wouldn't even consider Lee.

And that would be a damn shame.

Azula: *rolls her eyes* And of course Shirong’s thoughts turn back to dear Zuzu, even when he’s not here.

Min Wen had never faced death. Lee had, and dealt it; you could see it in his eyes, whenever the young man forgot to play innocent. Yet Lee still cared about people. Even if he thought most of them were flighty and annoying.

Frankly, the Earth King was flighty and annoying. But he was the hereditary ruler of Ba Sing Se, Shirong had a duty, and that was that.

Another point in his favor. Lee understands duty.

MG: And at least for me, it’s hard to not see an unspoken “because he’s Fire Nation” after that (from Vathara, not Shirong, who doesn’t know that yet).

Prince Stuko: 43

Duty or not, Shirong would never have wanted to do that to Bosco. Lee had hesitated, examined the bear to see if there were any other way to get at the obstruction short of cutting the creature open… then grimaced, and did what had to be done.

Zuko: *groans and buries his face in his hands in embarrassment*

I like him.

Shirong raised an eyebrow at that thought, turning it over carefully. He'd survived two decades in the Dai Li's ranks. You didn't last that long without paying attention to the chill down your neck that told you when spirits were about to drop the mother of all landslides on top of you.

Lee felt… warm. Strong. Safe, in the way wearing his rock gloves and working with a tested agent felt safe.

Azula: *uncontrollable snickering*

Divine Right to Rule: 29

Prince Stuko: 44

MG: And remember folks, this is a hardened secret agent saying all this about a teenager he literally just met!

If we were backed against a wall, he'd fight.

Though all things considered, the healing was an even more critical asset. Every year the Avatar had been missing, the spirits had grown more ill-tempered; more ready to lash out at humans for the smallest infraction. That wasn't superstition, it was fact. You could track the increasing assaults in Dai Li records, the lists of people gone fey and strange-

MG: Okay, so, this is foreshadowing for quite a lot of things that are going to be happening later in the fic, when spirits – and their relationship with both humanity in general and the Avatar specifically – are going to end up playing a very important role. But, in the immediate sense, this is starting to get our first real hint of what Vathara has decided the Dai Li’s true purpose is – that being secret police is basically a sideline for them, while the real reason they exist is to, you guessed it, protect Ba Sing Se from angry spirits. And, as the fic goes on, Vathara is going to end up basically depicting the Dai Li as an order of shamans and exorcists whose role as secret police is going to get increasingly overshadowed. I’ll save more detailed analysis of why I don’t like this for when we get it laid out in more detail, but I will say that the Dai Li don’t even seem like they’d be that good at dealing with spirits – as some of my commentors noted on my readthrough on my journal, to deal effectively with spirits, you seemingly have to be willing to understand them and approach them on their own terms and by their own rules, whereas the Dai Li are extremely rigid and all about imposing their order on everyone else. And I just find it unnecessary to even give the Dai Li an altruistic reason for existing (and, honestly, they already canonically had one – their mandate from Kyoshi to protect the city – that they’ve fallen from) since, again, ruthless secret police forces are very much a thing IRL. And I think it says some things about the author’s mindset that she zeroed in on both the Fire Nation and the Dai Li and decided we ought to see a more sympathetic side of them, specifically.

Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 8

Lee's fought a spirit.

If he'd been alone, Shirong might have indulged in a smack to the forehead. As it was he only winced, and wondered why he hadn't pinned that down before.

He was playing innocent. Pretty well, too.

Zuko: Yeah, and so much for that, I guess. And I guess fighting spirits just… automatically marks people now?

But it was clear enough, once Shirong had pinned down that feeling of safety and strength. People who'd met the spirit world, who'd dealt with it - there was a presence to them. A feeling of elsewhere, that went beyond even the strength of a bender.

MG: I’m torn between thinking this is an interesting idea, and thinking it mostly exists to set up some of the things Vathara will be doing with the yaoren later…

It's not just our uniform that frightens people.

Azula: *rolls her eyes* Oh, no, it’s not as if everything about your order’s behavior and reputation is designed to frighten people so that it will be easier to make them comply. No, people are scared of you because you’re special. Life must be so very hard for you! *beat* Of course, people are afraid of me because I’m special, but you don’t hear me whining about it. Admittedly, I often want people to be afraid of me…

Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 9

No wonder Lee could look him in the eye without flinching. The otherness was already in him, setting him apart from those who lived quiet, ordinary lives.

You poor kid. I hope you do make it with us. You're never going to fit in with normal people again.

Zuko: Yeah, sorry if I can’t feel too bad for the poor Dai Li, who can never have a normal life again because of the burden of their calling… what about all the poor people they terrorized, brainwashed or murdered, huh?

Prince Stuko: 45 (after some internal debate, this feels like it’s more underscoring of Zuko’s special status, and so deserves a point)

Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 10

Though healer was a good second choice. Amaya was spirit-touched, too. No one expected a waterbending healer to be normal.

Zuko: Well, she certainly isn’t that…

Wonder if you've figured that out yet?

If Lee hadn't, Shirong might just point it out to him. If he really wasn't interested in being Dai Li. A waterbending healer on call was no small asset.

Decided, Shirong turned his full attention back to Min as the teen almost literally crushed his next opponent under a mini-pile of rubble. Ouch.

Azula: …even in the Fire Nation, nearly killing another student in a training bout generally merits more of a reaction from observers than “ouch.”

Which was when four bruised and dusty former opponents all decided they'd had enough, and literally boxed Min in.

Tch, tch. You forgot the top.

A fact Min made swift use of, soaring up on a spike of earth before kicking the four walls back to their creators. But now more students were advancing, plus one of the instructors….

Grinning, Shirong leaned back to watch the show.

Zuko: Huh; guess Min really is as good as he’s supposed to be if he’s pulling that off. But, uh… is the instructor supposed to be fighting? Or trying to end the bout and not being very good at it? ‘Cause I don’t think either of those options reflects very well on them…

Dad's in his study, Min's still eating dust at school, Jia's got Jinhai on pain of no nights out with her girlfriends if she lets him down here while Mom's cooking. Best chance I'm going to get. "Mom?" Suyin said quietly, standing at the edge of the kitchen as her mother chopped vegetables. "What did Lee mean about finding another lord?"

MG: On the one hand… okay, I do generally like Suyin. I’ve said before that the Wens are probably my favorites of Vathara’s OCs, and she’s probably my favorite of the Wens. And she’s also someone for whom, considering she’s the daughter of a Fire Nation exile who’s grown up in the Earth Kingdom largely ignorant of her heritage, genuinely wanting to learn as much as she can about the Fire Nation and its values and cultural makes sense and doesn’t come off as blatant authorial favoritism. But on the other hand… out of all the questions she could’ve asked, of course it’s about lords and loyalty. Of course it is.

Divine Right to Rule: 30

It was the best question she could think of. The only one, about that whole awful scene in the garden, that wouldn't just get a "you're too young to know" from her parents. She hoped.

Azula: If you really want to know things your parents don’t want to tell you, you can always try spying. *beat* What? If the girl wants to know more about her heritage, we have a long tradition of courtly espionage in the Fire Nation!

Meixiang looked at her sadly, the way she'd looked after Lee had fled. Her brows drew down, and she nodded, determined. "Would you peel the potato-chokes?"

"Yes, ma'am," Suyin said hurriedly, picking up a bristle-brush to scrub the pot of tubers. Studying each before it went under her brush, putting aside three that had enough sprouts to be worth planting. 'Choke flowers were pretty, and fresh young tubers in the fall, with a little butter, were about the best breakfast ever.

"I don't want to tell Jinhai about this until he's older," her mother began. "He can keep training a secret, I hope, but stories of spirits and dragons… well, what child is going to keep that from his playmates? But you're old enough to know."

"What do lords have to do with spirits and dragons?" Suyin asked, still scrubbing.

MG: Oooh, boy Suyin, you’ve asked for it now… anyway, before we dive into the exposition, I do want to note something I’ve touched on before, in that there are a handful of characters in the fic whose primarily role has always struck me as being, more or less, Vathara’s mouthpieces. They’re the ones who exist to know all about the new worldbuilding she’s invented for her version of the Avatarverse, especially about the Fire Nation, to share it with everyone else, and to express the viewpoints that the author largely seems to agree with. Meixiang I would consider to be the first of those, and definitely at times feels like her role in the story is to be “voice of Good Old Fire Nation Ways in Ba Sing Se” (the three other characters I’d largely consider mouthpieces, for those of you familiar with the fic, would be Teruko, Shidan and Temul – if this is your first time through it, don’t worry, you shouldn’t recognize those names yet). Anyway, time for backstory!

"Oma and Shu were the first earthbenders, but they were human. It's said the first firebenders were the children of a bright, brave lady, who appeared to her lord when he was on the brink of death, and the sun shone through the rain. She nursed him back to life, fought by his side, and raised their children." Meixiang paused. "And when her lord died, she turned back into a dragon, and flew away."

The 'choke didn't quite slip out of Suyin's hands, but she was glad she hadn't yet picked up a knife. "She was a dragon?"

MG: And we’ll get more details about this story later on, trust me (though, frustratingly, Vathara feels like she’s setting up a subplot covering her version of the Avatarverse’s prehistory and then just sort of… forgets about it after one flashback that only covers a single early event, something I found very frustrating). Anyway, here we have it laid out clear and plain with no room for confusion – firebenders are literally descended from dragons. I… have thoughts about this. First off, let’s make one thing clear – I love dragons. I went through a period in my teens where they were my absolute favorite fantastical creatures (I blame early exposure to Dragonlance Chronicles, which is also where I believe I first ran into the idea of dragons-as-shapeshifters that I found absolutely fascinating) and though my passion for them has since cooled somewhat, they’re still definitely up there. And dragons-as-shapeshifters, people with dragon ancestry, and the shapeshifting lover trope more generally all have rich histories in literature and mythology. So I want to make it clear I don’t think Vathara’s take on dragons is like, inherently bad or anything. In an original setting, I’d be thrilled to dive into an empire ruled by dragon-people. If this was a sort of complete continuity reboot/reimagining of Avatar: The Last Airbender, I’d think it was kind of an odd direction to take the Fire Nation, but I’d be willing to see how it developed before passing judgment.

Unfortunately, this is a for-want-of-a-nail AU of Avatar, one which still takes all of Book One, and large chunks of Book Two, as being in-continuity – so we’re still dealing with the show’s Fire Nation and the show’s worldbuilding as a jumping-off point. And in that context, it bothers me. Not least because, as Meixiang notes here, other benders don’t have the same sort of explicitly supernatural heritage (waterbenders have… something, which we’ll get to much later in the fic, but it’s only really touched on briefly and IMO the implications are quite different; earth and air don’t get anything at all). Which, again, leaves us with a scenario where the authoritarian empire currently engaged in a war of world conquest, which they justify by pointing to the superiority of their culture and their element are also the only nation to have explicitly supernatural ancestry. We’ve had it brought up in the comments that firebenders are literally a different species from other humans in Embers!verse, and here we have the explanation for that – they’re part dragon, and we’re going to have the fic explain at length the physical and psychological implications of that. And again, for the Fire Nation specifically in the context of the show and what the Fire Nation is and what it’s doing… a lot of this makes me deeply uncomfortable. But we’ll be seeing a lot more of it down the line, so let’s stick a pin in this for now and get back to the story.

The Superior Element: 24

The Ultimate Firebenders: 11

"Not the only one in our history," Meixiang said plainly. "Many of our greatest heroes, and blackest villains, are said to have had dragon's blood. You can check the genealogies. There are names that come from nowhere, raise children, and vanish. Vanish, not die."

Zuko and Azula: *share an uncomfortable look*

MG: …okay, let me put your minds at ease in one way – your mom’s not a dragon, you don’t have to worry about that. But you do have rather more and closer dragon heritage than most people, as it happens… if that is remotely surprising.

She paused, and shook her head. "Or you could have checked them. Fire Lord Sozin outlawed all mention of such people, when he started the hunting of dragons."

MG: And stick a pin in this, too, because we’re going to get a lot more history on Sozin and dragons – and one dragon in particular – before the fic is through.

Made sense. In a weird kind of way. You wouldn't want to try to get people to hunt down their… relatives.

Azula: I don’t know. Never bothered me that much.

Zuko: …maybe you haven’t noticed, but you’re not like most people.

Azula: A fact I’m very proud of.

"Do we have-?" Suyin couldn't quite say it.

"We do," her mother nodded. "Your little brother would be proof enough, if I hadn't heard my grandfather's stories." Meixiang regarded her, concerned. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. But it makes us different. We need lords. Dragons… they don't negotiate. One dragon is in charge of one territory, and all the others who live there bow to him. Or her. Or there's a fight, until the loser leaves or submits. Or so the tales say."

MG: And there you have it – even aside from loyalty, the feudal system is apparently baked right into the Fire Nation’s DNA (literally!) and it’s terrible to try and force them to live any other way. This will be important later on, for the record. Very important.

Divine Right to Rule: 31

The Ultimate Firebenders: 12

Like the pygmy pumas Suyin had watched on the roofs sometimes, snarling and posturing and, once in a while, dissolving into teeth and claws. Which might draw blood, but usually didn't kill anybody.

Like an Agni Kai?

Azula: …because clearly, a dueling culture could only develop among people who weren’t entirely human. I must have imagined that dueling arena under the palace in Omashu – unless old Bumi was secretly dragon-blooded, which I somehow doubt.

"So," Suyin said, trying to piece it together. "If there weren't lords - people would be fighting all the time?"

Zuko: And so, with lords, they get to fight their lord’s battles for them instead! We learned all about the pre-unification warlords in school, and that was not a happy time for the Fire Isles (it wasn’t the Fire Nation yet then). I think Vathara should look up Toz the Cruel. Might do her some good.

MG: Well, Toz and the Fire Nations’ pre-unification warlord era hadn’t been mentioned yet when Vathara was writing this, so she can be forgiven for not knowing about it (though she also depicts the unification and creation of the monarchy as being much more recent than canon would eventually do). A bigger issue is that we’ve had plenty of systems based on rule by feudal warlords in our own world’s history… and they’re not exactly known for producing stable polities!

Divine Right to Rule: 32

Elemental Determinism: 33 (a few points for this conversation in total)

"My grandfather read stories written by his several times great-grandfather, about a time when the Fire Nation was all warring clans and pirates," Meixiang nodded. "Ask your father about it. He knows more about the reign of the forty-sixth Earth King than any of us."

MG: For those keeping score, yes, that was Kyoshi’s Earth King. And that’s not a coincidence, though it’ll be a while before we get the full story… but when we do, it’ll be a doozy.

Good idea. "But you don't have to fight anybody," Suyin objected.

Meixiang hesitated, and sighed. "Suyin. Do you know why Jinhai - your quiet, shy little brother - hugged a boy he'd only seen once?"

Zuko: Let me guess – because he could just sense how amazing and special I was? *rolls his eyes*

"Well, I…." Suyin's voice trailed off, as she thought about that. It made sense. Didn't it? Why wouldn't Jinhai trust Lee? Lee was-

Suyin jerked her head up to meet her mother's gaze. "Lee feels… safe." And that didn't make sense. It didn't make sense at all.

Zuko: *facepalms, again*

Divine Right to Rule: 33

"Oh," Meixiang whispered. Put her knife down, and reached over to hug her daughter close. "Oh, my brave little girl. I didn't know."

"Mom?" Why did her heart feel all fluttery, like this was scary and important as Mom telling her about being alone with boys and why not to do anything unless you had dragged him home to meet armed parents first?

"The strongest dragon rules, but he also protects." Meixiang's gaze searched hers. "Fire is loyal. All its children are. First to your parents, and then to your family. After that, your loyalty is your choice. Be careful who you give it to. Breaking it will break your heart." She looked down, pale and worried. "For a firebender… breaking it kills them."

MG: ...Meixiang, I get that you’re probably trying to take the sting off the idea of loyalty when explaining it to your daughter, but significant plot points later in this fic will rely on the idea that loyalty can, in fact, be coerced.

Elemental Determinism: 34

That sounds crazy. But it wasn't. Suyin could feel it wasn't. She'd rather die than hurt her parents, her brothers, her sister. Wasn't that why she'd fought so hard to keep Jinhai hidden? She'd rather die-

Or kill.

The thought had been there, gnawing, ever since Lee told them about Jet. That's what a pygmy puma did, when something went after her kittens. She'd hiss and slash claws and try everything else first. But if that didn't work….

Zuko: Yeah, and Katara tried to freeze me in a block of ice to keep me from threatening Aang. More than once! That’s not just a Fire Nation thing – people can be really, really protective of their loved ones! That’s how people are.

Elemental Determinism: 35

"Mommy," Suyin whispered, and clung to her.

"I know, sweeting. I know." Meixiang rocked her gently, stroking her hair. "That's why I want you to pay attention to your lessons with Lee. Because if some bastard comes after you, or any of us - I want you to be the one who walks away. Maim him if you have to. Kill him if you have to. Live." Another hug. "And remember what I told Jinhai. If there's trouble, real trouble - find Lee, or his uncle. They're great names. They will protect you."

Azula: …there’s quite a lot of room for flexibility under the word “protection,” don’t you think?

Zuko: *grating* Stay away from them. I know they’re just characters in the story, but they’re still innocents in all of this. Back off.

Divine Right to Rule: 34

"Lee's lord didn't protect him," Suyin sniffled.

"That should never have happened," Meixiang said sadly. "The good lords are loyal to their people, even children not old enough to-" She froze.

Zuko: Yeah, and sometimes you get a bad lord, and then what are you supposed to do? *sighing heavily* Especially when the bad lord is your father…

"Mom?" Suyin whispered.

"Oh, spirits," Meixiang breathed. "That poor boy. No wonder he doesn't think he's…." She let out a slow breath, and let go. "Suyin, can you finish these? I need to talk with your father."

Suyin nodded. "About Lee?"

"About something I hoped I'd never have to study again," Meixiang said, half to herself. "Politics."

Azula: …when exactly has this commoner woman had time to make extensive study of politics, exactly?

MG: *chuckles sadly* Oh, you thought Meixiang was a commoner? We’ll be getting her family tree eventually… and both of you are probably going to be very annoyed by it.

Zuko: Oh, goody.

The knock on his door wasn't unexpected. Just a bit early. Tingzhe sighed, and put down a mostly untouched glass of wine. "Come in."

Meixiang saw what he had spread out on the desk, and closed the door before she shook her head. "You know what they could do to you, if they catch you with those."

"Bai's gone," Tingzhe said sadly, ruffling through his former student's notes. "This is all I have left of him." He shrugged, and offered her a wry smile. "Besides. Everyone knows I have no interest in current events. Why would anything like these be here?"

"You sly deceiver." Meixiang's smile lit her face, warming his heart all over again. "I'd match you against the Face-Stealer any day."

MG: Considering we already know from this very chapter the Dai Li are aware of the possibility they might have to move against Tingzhe, I don’t think he’s quite as good a “deceiver” as he thinks (and note the casual name-dropping – title-dropping? – of Koh, who wasn’t being especially “deceptive” in his meeting with Aang in “Siege of the North”…)

"I hope not," Tingzhe chuckled. Let his expression turn serious again. "What is it?"

"Lee's Agni Kai." Meixiang winced. "It was his father."

Ah. That fit, unfortunately. "How do you know?"

Azula: I thought your conversation earlier rather heavily implied it? Then again, I know how that story ended…

"He was thirteen. He couldn't owe loyalty to anyone but his family. His uncle's here. And the way he talks about his mother? It couldn't have been her."

Zuko: And I guess that means I couldn’t have any other relatives? *is confused* Or that the generals couldn’t have been offended at me interrupting them and calling out how cruel and wasteful their plan was, because I was too young to owe them “loyalty?”

Spirits, that possibility hadn't even occurred to him. What sort of land taught mothers to fight?

The kind that maims and exiles a boy at thirteen.

No. He couldn't blame the land for that. The Fire Lord, certainly.

MG: …it doesn’t escape my notice that Tingzhe actually criticizes the Fire Nation for a moment there, and then immediately walks it back. Like, oh no, we can’t possibly blame this cultural institution with a long history for what happened to Zuko or anything.

The Superior Element: 25 (no criticizing Fire Nation culture in this house!)

I wonder if Lee ever has.

Meixiang was frowning at him, tapping a finger against her hip. "You're not surprised."

That was his wife. Clear-sighted as a messenger hawk.

MG: …which is a Fire Nation animal. Though considering Meixiang’s heritage, I’ll let it slide – that could well be on purpose.

"I believe I know who he is," Tingzhe said simply.

Meixiang looked at the wine he ordinarily wouldn't touch until after dinner. "It's that bad?"

"No," Tingzhe said thoughtfully, "it's worse." He sighed. "Mind you, this is only an educated guess. The circumstances under which the boy in question was scarred were apparently not common knowledge. But the timing fits. Unless the Fire Lord banished some other great name's son that year, and Bai never had a chance to find out. This is one of the last fragments he found, before… well." Still. That laughter. Awful, soul-shredding; as if the boy had only just realized how obscenely unjust the universe had been.

Zuko: Well, I guess somebody had to put it together sooner or later. I’ve not exactly been very subtle, have I?

"Tingzhe." Meixiang gave him a sober look. "Why don't you just tell me?"

"Because you can't not know, once you know," Tingzhe said bluntly. Hesitated, and told the truth. "And… I don't know what will happen. You called him my lord." He dropped his head, ashamed. "I don't want to lose you."

"Oh, Tingzhe." She took his hands between hers, kneading earth-worn fingers. "I'm your wife. You and the children always come first." She gave him a smile of quiet mischief. "Why do you think we train girls to fight? So when husbands or brothers do something stupid, they can protect the children.

Azula: *sniffs* Oh, that’s not the only reason, believe me.

No matter what their lords do." Her voice dropped. "I love you. No lord can change that."

I love you, too. I have to trust you. "Not even this one?"

Meixiang read Bai's notes. Stopped. Reread them, slowly.

Reached past him, and slugged good wine down like water.

"Precisely," Tingzhe said dryly.

Zuko: *groans* Well, there goes that cover story… guess I really am lucky the Dai Li haven’t put half this much effort into figuring out who I am…

She let out a slow breath. "He said he was here with his uncle."

"If Bai was right, he only has the one," Tingzhe said wryly. "I must admit, the thought of that man inside these walls turns my spine to water. What on earth is he planning?"

Azula: *shrugs* Well, Uncle did nearly take their city once upon a time. It’s not like Professor Wen knows he’d deteriorated into a tea-and-Pai Sho-obsessed relic since then.

Zuko: Not. Another. Word.

Azula: *smirks*

"He's not," Meixiang said after a long moment. "They're hiding. Just like the rest of us."

Tingzhe gave her a skeptical look.

"They came to Amaya, love. A man in his position… he wouldn't be here if there were any hope left for them in the Fire Nation."

Zuko: We only came to Amaya because Huojin basically dragged us there! When this really happened, we never met her *mutters* and were better off for it. Though… yeah, we wouldn’t have come to Ba Sing Se at all if we had anywhere better to go.

"A man in his position is far more likely to be carrying out a long-reaching plot-"

Azula: *sniffs disdainfully*

"Here? Alone? With only Lee? Hiding with a waterbender's help?" Meixiang studied him, and shook her head. "What's more likely? A plot? Or a man trying to save his nephew by coming to the only place in the world they can hide?"

Tingzhe sighed. "Lee said he'd done things he wasn't proud of." The commander of the ship, indeed. "It's only…how can that man's son be the young man we let into our home?" He was gentle with Jinhai. Kind. Not an implacable enemy. Not a monster. "How could any man do that to his own son?"

Zuko: …you know my father’s spent his whole reign trying to conquer your kingdom, and that he and grandfather and great-grandfather have been the world’s boogeymen for generations. I think you’ve got a pretty good read on him – better than I had, anyway…

"We could ask his brother."

Tingzhe eyed his wife suspiciously. "You're not serious."

Azula: *snorts* Oh, that won’t be an awkward conversation! Why, hello, Dragon of the West, welcome to our humble home, we’d like to talk all about your bother, the supreme ruler of the Fire Nation, and what your nephew might have said or done that he burned off half his face for! That will go over so well!

"Why not?" Meixiang looked almost impish. "We're having Huojin, Luli, and their girls over next week anyway. Why not invite them, too? Lee will be busy with Jinhai and Suyin, and Lim and Daiyu, and probably fending off Jia, and getting glared at by Min. We'll have plenty of time to corner his uncle and… talk."

Zuko: …do you really want to be talking about sensitive information like that with a house full of guests? Rambunctious kids included?

"I'd rather corner an enraged dillo-lion," Tingzhe muttered.

Zuko: Enraged dragon; Uncle is the Dragon of the West, after all.

"That's why we need to plan this, dear."

"Ah, yes. A plan." Tingzhe nodded. "I'm doomed."

Azula: Then you need a better plan, that won’t be doomed. Obviously.

"Here." Amaya set a steaming cup in front of her apprentice, grateful for the quiet as the last regular patients walked away from her door. She'd unlock the front if there was an emergency, but for now, they were alone. "I know you're not fond of tea, and this is good for someone who's had a bad day."

Zuko: …okay? I don’t love tea the way Uncle does, but I never really felt like I disliked it either. It’s just… tea.

Lee sniffed it first. Brightened a little, like a shaft of sun through rain, before taking a hot sip. "You have limons?"

"Some trade goes through, even these days," Amaya nodded, relaxing a little. Honey and limon in hot water eased a multitude of heartaches. "They're one thing I would miss, if I ever lost my mind and went back to the tribe."

"You don't miss your people?"

"I do," Amaya admitted. "But for decades they've been waiting for something that never happened." The Avatar to be born into the Northern Water Tribe.

MG: *winces* And Vathara has ideas about what would happen if the Avatar was born in the Water Tribes before the war ended, so strap in as we touch on that for the first time.

It was a reasonable assumption. The Air Nomads were dead, and no one had seen the Avatar. Why shouldn't he have been killed, and reborn? She'd seen the shamans of her tribe testing child after child, to no avail.

MG: Why are the shamans doing that in public, especially when even the new Avatar traditionally isn’t told of their identity until they turn sixteen (though maybe they wanted to rush their training, the way the Air Temple elders were trying to do with Aang, and of course some Avatars, like Yangchen or Korra, figure it out before they’re supposed to). FWIW, the later novels indicate that the Water Tribe shamans keep their ritual for identifying the Avatar, whatever it might be, a secret (as do the Fire Sages); we’re explicitly told that Kuruk had no idea he was the Avatar before the shamans told him. So, was Amaya just eavesdropping, or did the shamans decide to get a lot more public about things (admittedly, Vathara wouldn’t have known the novel-specific information, but would have known “the Avatar isn’t told of their identity until they’re sixteen” bit)?

She was a bender, and a woman, and not the Avatar. Meaning her parents would likely accept her betrothal to the first strong bender who offered.

Azula: *arches her eyebrow* Really? It’s just “first come, first served” in the Northern Water Tribe, and Amaya’s parents wouldn’t even have tried to negotiate for the best match they could get? They’re even more backwards than I thought!

Master Pakku had been on their list of candidates; he'd been mourning Kanna as lost for years, surely he was ready to look for another bride.

MG: *sighs* Of course he was.

But that hadn't been quite enough to push her into leaving. No; that decision had come from what she'd overheard, inadvertently eavesdropping on one of the shaman's tests.

Find the Avatar. Train him.

Destroy the Fire Nation.

Defeat the Fire Nation, certainly. But destroy it? Break the cycle of elements further, just for revenge? She wouldn't be part of that. She couldn't. There had to be another way.

MG: And, of course, Amaya couldn’t just leave because she chafed under the Northern Water Tribe’s sexism – who do you think she is, Kanna (and I, uh, don’t think Vathara likes Kanna very much; we’ll see why later…)? Oh, no, it was because she was worried about the poor Fire Nation, of course! Whoever saw that coming? Vathara has this thing where she seems to take it for granted that the Fire Nation’s enemies – and the Water Tribes in particular – would view exterminating the whole Fire Nation as punishment for the war as a justified response, and that in particular the war has to be resolved before the next Avatar is born to the Water Tribes, because once they grew up they’d surely be leading the charge. Note that in the show, nobody seems to suggest this is a thing they want to do. Defeat the Fire Nation militarily and drive them out of their conquered territory and back to their home islands, sure. Overthrow and presumably kill Ozai himself, sure. But, like, at no point does “exterminate the Fire Nation” seem to be on anybody’s radar. But I guess that wasn’t edgy enough for Vathara, and of course she needed an excuse to portray the war as existential for the Fire Nation as well as for everyone else. Now, if this was just propaganda Fire Nation soldiers were being fed – we have to kill them or they’ll kill us – it would be one thing, but as we see here, it’s presented as something that’s actually true, that even someone like Amaya is aware of, and that actually represents a serious consideration about how the war will end. And considering the context of just who the Fire Nation is and why everyone else are fighting them… that really, really rubs me the wrong way.

The Real Victims: 15

Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 19 (the Water Tribes placing a lot of emphasis on vengeance is going to be another running theme going forward)

"I miss them," Amaya admitted now. "But I needed an answer I couldn't find at the North Pole. So I left." She smiled, recalling a giant webbed claw, a face both kind and terrible. "The answer I found gave me many more questions, but it's made my life interesting."

MG: …I honestly can’t remember if we ever get more explanation for when and how Amaya met the Lion-Turtle, though the Lion-Turtle himself will show up at the very end of the fic (though, IMO, Vathara doesn’t really do a good job at trying to explain how the Lion-Turtles fit into her heavily revised history and mythos of the Avatarverse).

She tapped the scroll. "As is this. It must be at least two centuries old… you say a Dai Li gave it to you?"

"Loaned it," Lee stressed. "I think he's trying to recruit me."

Zuko: …yeah, Shirong wasn’t being very subtle about that.

Amaya considered that impossible statement. Shook her head. Thought it through again. "Spirits. Why?"

MG: Because they know Zuko’s the main character. That about seems to be the gist of it (though weirdly I’m now thinking about an Avatarverse CRPG with the Dai Li as one of the factions the player can choose to ally with or oppose – hey, that explains what’s going on as well as anything! By successfully healing Bosco, Zuko inadvertently started on the Dai Li questline!) .

"I don't know. I'm going to ask Uncle." Lee frowned. "I told him I'd need your permission to learn what's on here." He paused. "Are you going to try the forms? He said your tribe doesn't teach women benders to fight, which is one of the silliest things I've ever- um." He visibly bit his lip. "What I mean is, I don't know waterbending, but I know combat forms. I could help. If you wanted."

Zuko: Yeah, I’m sure my firebending combat forms will help her with her waterbending so much.

Amaya's brows climbed, taking in those shy hints of interest. "You want to try these." Which made no sense, except- "You think you could approximate the forms with boiling water?"

"…Maybe?" Lee said awkwardly.

Azula: Well, if it works, you get some new techniques, and if it fails, I get to sit there and laugh at you. So either way, someone wins!

Hmm. Not all the truth. But there was life in his gaze, where before there had been weary horror.

Decided, Amaya unrolled the scroll. "Let's have a look." Hmm. The water whip, circling waves, breath of ice-

MG: All of which sound like things we’ve seen Katara do, as a matter of fact!

"You have a breathing form?" Lee looked downright interested.

"Not one I think you could fake," Amaya pointed out.

Zuko: Yeah, but since firebending comes from the breath, maybe I’m just interested in how this is similar?

"Not with firebending," Lee admitted. "But I wonder if that's what gave Uncle the idea."

MG: I think Vathara is implying that Iroh invented the breath of fire technique, which was never the impression I got from the show – just that he was unusually good at it. Though I could be wrong.

"What idea?" Amaya asked warily. Mushi was a good man, from what she'd seen. Not bad looking, either, if a bit pale.

Zuko: *groans and facepalms, again*

But given his ideas had already landed a healing firebender in her clinic- well.

Lee got up from the table, took a few steps back. Breathed deep. And breathed out licks of flame.

Amaya tried not to stare.

"It's good for staying warm," Lee said shyly. "Or if a waterbender locks you in ice. That's happened to me."

Amaya whistled. "I've never heard of firebenders doing that." Much the opposite. Icing over a firebender was lethal. Or so she'd been taught.

Azula: Most people will die if you freeze them long enough and cold enough, firebenders included. Though keeping us in cold temperatures does make it harder to generate enough useful heat, as the Boiling Rock demonstrates.

"Uncle invented it," Lee said proudly. "He-" The teenager blanched.

Amaya frowned, then realized the likely cause. "That would give away who you are, to another firebender?"

"…Maybe." Lee looked stricken.

MG: I mean, we see Ozai breathing fire too, and I doubt Iroh would’ve taught him, or that he would have deigned to learn from the brother he resented.

"Lee." She tried not to chuckle. Really. "There can't be that many great names out there who've been declared - what was the term your uncle used, traitors to the Dragon Throne? If I wanted to learn who you were, I probably could." Amaya gave him a serious look. "But I won't. That is your secret, and I will not take it from you." You've lost so much already. "You are my apprentice. You're safe with me. I promise."

Azula: Yes, well, we’ve already seen that “Lee” has been running up against people who aren’t so courteous, so maybe you should try and be a little more circumspect, hmmm? Unless you want a visit from the Dai Li… or from family…

Lee just looked at her, wary green eyes enough to break her heart.

He wants to believe me. But he should have been safe with his sister, too.

Zuko: *glancing at Azula* Trust me, I learned from a very young age that being around my sister isn’t anyone’s idea of “safe.”

"Though I admit, it is interesting to know ingenuity runs in the family," Amaya said lightly. She spread out the scroll again. "Which of these should we try?"

"I appreciate the company, nephew," Iroh said warmly, folding his apron before bowing to his employer. Pao might be cranky and a bit cheap, but he'd defended a mere employee from Dai Li interest, and that was no small thing. "But a young man might like some time to himself in the evening, with so many lovely girls in the neighborhood-"

MG: I don’t think we cover Zuko’s date with Jin in this fic, though it could have gone by so fast I didn’t catch it.

"Jet's around. Somewhere," Zuko said grimly.

"That insane boy?" the teashop owner bleated. "Again?"

"I lost him in the Middle Ring." Zuko shrugged. "Tried to talk him down, but I don't think he's listening."

MG: No, you took his swords and gave him a lecture. Not sure how effective that was (spoilers, not really at all).

"He'll listen to the clink of handcuffs, if I see him!" Pao fumed. "Reckless, destructive… cost good money to replace that table, and the door-!"

"You're very thoughtful. Good night!" Iroh said cheerfully. And ushered Zuko out the door before the man could remember the other half of that destruction.

Yes, it is a very good thing Zuko is not working here.

Zuko: I mean, actually I did work there for a while; I didn’t much care for the job, but aside from fighting Jet nothing really terrible happened.

Though perhaps a shame, in a way. There were quite a few pretty girls his nephew's age who stopped in for afternoon tea.

Ah well. His nephew's nerves were stretched taut as it was. Perhaps this was not the best time to try to prod Zuko toward anything as normal as a date.

Wait a few weeks, Iroh decided. Let him grow accustomed to the city, and its people. Tread gently. At least until we've dealt with this Jet boy, one way or another.

Oh Agni, he could all too easily see how that could become a disaster. A vindictive teenager, a young lady who might know no better than to dodge into a blade's path, and his overprotective nephew - well.

No. Better not to shove Zuko into that aspect of normal life. Not yet.

Azula: Ah, that Jet! So nefarious, he actually ruins dear Zuzu’s dating life just by existing!

Zuko: Shut. Up.

"So how was your day?" Iroh asked as they headed home. Though part of it was written on his nephew's face. Even another duel with Jet should not have left his nephew so worn.

Surprisingly, Zuko gave him a smile. "Master Amaya and I are working on a water wall."

"Truly?" Iroh raised an intrigued brow. "I had thought the Northern waterbenders did not teach women skills beyond healing." Unlike the Southern Water Tribe. Now, those folk knew how to fight.

I wish I could have done more to save them.

Zuko: Uncle was famous for his campaigns in the Earth Kingdom. When did he have time to get involved with the Southern Water Tribe?

Yet he'd still been loyal to Azulon then, and fighting generals of the Earth Kingdom. The South Pole raids were not in his theater of operations. Once he'd learned of the White Lotus, and its goals, he had been able to arrange for contacts to spirit a few of the survivors from prison. So long as it was made clear their efforts in the war were over.

MG: Because we… absolutely can’t have these freed prisoners (rescued, not formally released) fighting against the people who took them prisoner and destroyed their homes? Also, we’re going to get an explanation later for why Vathara thinks the captive waterbenders didn’t dare go home after they escaped. It’s special.

A few. Painfully few.

You did what you could, and what was wise for your people, Iroh told himself. If Lu Ten had not died-

No. Better not to torment himself with such thoughts.

"They don't," Zuko was saying, "but she's figured out a few things. And I've seen some of the moves on the scroll in action. So we're working on it. It's not real impressive yet."

"What scroll?" Iroh asked, curious.

"Tell you when we get to the apartment." Zuko glanced warily around at the street crowds. "It's been an… interesting day."

Oh dear.

Azula: Maybe Zuzu is feeling a bit more cautious now. On the one hand, he’s still bringing up a valuable waterbending scroll in public where he could be overheard… but on the other, he knows better than to mention his involvement with the Dai Li, at least?

Some time later, Iroh eyed his nephew over what was supposed to be a cup of soothing tea. Not that he could blame the blend for failing. It obviously had not been created with his nephew's gift for havoc in mind. "An interesting day."

Having just recounted a tale of bears, Dai Li, vengeful teens, and confused young firebenders, Zuko shrugged.

"Stay wary with the Dai Li," Iroh advised. "Your caution is an ally and a shield. They will expect a refugee to be more nervous than one born here, and more prepared to hear the worst of the rumors about their actions.

Zuko: The rumors like “they’re secretly in control of the government?” Or “people who speak out or question them get disappeared?” Or maybe “they brainwash people to serve them?” Because from what I saw, and learned about later from Aang and his friends, all that is true!

Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 11 (for the Dai Li’s crimes being dismissed as “rumors”)

If Shirong is clever enough to approach you with care, he is unlikely to change his tactics swiftly."

"But why do they want a waterbender at all?" Zuko said warily.

Azula: Because, for reasons that escape me, they think you’d be useful? That’s why the Dai Li do most of the things they do. They’re a refreshingly cold-blooded bunch.

"If you felt you could trust a waterbender, one born in the Fire Nation, would you not wish them among your forces?" Iroh gave him a pointed look.

"Oh." Zuko winced. "I should have thought of that. It's just, most people in the Fire Nation…."

By which you mean my brother, Iroh thought sadly. Reconsidered. And the Fire Sages, and those generals not retired, dead, or fled, and the nobles… well, most is fair enough. "Experience, tactics, and logistics are crucial to winning battles," Iroh stated. "But when those factors are equal, it is the general who can make use of the unexpected who may win the day."

MG: Technically speaking, you’re more likely to win battles with straightforward tactics executed well than you are with clever or unexpected tricks (and Iroh of all people ought to know that of the things he lists, the most important is logistics – remember, amateurs study tactics, professionals study strategy, experts study logistics. And Iroh is an expert).

"Don't tell me Sokka's going to be a great general someday," Zuko grumbled.

Now there was a terrifying thought. "Not unless he learns to master his own resources, as well as the Avatar's," Iroh said dryly. "At the moment, most of his offensive capability could be neutralized by… oh, a pretty girl like Ty Lee walking up to the young airbender with an innocent smile."

Zuko: Ty Lee can neutralize most everybody, and she doesn’t need a pretty smile to do it (though she’ll do it anyway). So, uh, she’s kind of a bad example to use here. And, I know this hasn’t happened yet, but Sokka did plan the invasion on the Day of Black Sun and led Toph and Suki in taking down most of the airship fleet, so, I probably shouldn’t sell him short.

"You really think he's naïve enough to fall for that?" Zuko said skeptically.

Uncle and nephew stared at each other, then nodded in unison.

Azula: Which one, Aang or Sokka? It’s a rather different question.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Zuko lamented, hands spread to the skies.

Zuko: …because I was banished and couldn’t exactly just send a hawk back to the homeland to ask Ty Lee if she’ll pretty please come and join me as I chase after the Avatar on my tiny ship?

"Perhaps because those trained in chi-blocking are not permitted to travel outside the Fire Nation?" Iroh suggested mildly.

MG: And here I was assuming it was just a rare and difficult martial art that few people master…

"We do not wish to risk other nations gaining the technique. Out of compassion for its users, if nothing else. I know what unscrupulous generals of the Earth Kingdom - Fong comes to mind - would be willing to do to gain such knowledge." Physical torture of chi-blockers would be the least of it.

MG: *rolls their eyes* Oh, yes, that’s totally what was on Azulon and Ozai’s mind – compassion for their troops. Sounds just like them, doesn’t it? Though this isn’t the full story – we’ll learn more about Ty Lee’s backstory and that of the onmitsu, the order Vathara created that she’s part of, later in the fic. And I’ll have things to say about that when we get there. Also, note the reference to General Fong. He’s going to be a fairly prominent antagonist later in the fic, so keep an eye out for him.

"And there is the difficulty of getting such an agent close enough to an airbender to begin with."

Azula: Ah, so Aang it is, then. Because when I think “energetic twelve-year-old monk who also happens to be the most dangerous being on the planet,” I think the best way to stop him is with a pretty girl. Obviously. *rolls her eyes*

"Yeah, but if you could, he'd be toast," Zuko muttered. "Even if they missed enough that he could still move… without bending, he's just a skinny kid with a staff. He has no combat training.

Zuko: …on the day we met, he wrecked my ship pretty good for a kid with no combat training.

None of them do, master benders or not-" Zuko froze. And swore under his breath; something he had to have picked up from their crew. "Azula's got Ty Lee with her."

Azula: Yes, and Mai too. Congratulations, brother, you’ve learned to count to three. Any other stirring insights to share with us?

"You do not know that," Iroh cautioned.

"I know Azula." Zuko's eyes narrowed, grim. "She'd get away with it. They ran from her, Uncle. Why else would they let her chase them into making stupid mistakes? A tank's not a small target. They could have frozen it. Or swallowed it in rock. They didn't. They ran. They were afraid." His voice dropped. "There's only one thing that scares a bender that much."

Azula: *scoffs* And what am I, chopped komodo-rhino liver? Ty Lee wasn’t the only thing they were afraid of!

"Amaya told me," Iroh said heavily. "I am sorry, nephew. I am so, so sorry I did not know…."

Zuko was smiling at him. Ruefully, but a smile. "It's not as bad as you think, Uncle. Ty Lee's loyal to Azula… but Azula always said it was training. So Ty Lee could help. Sometimes."

Iroh raised a skeptical brow.

"I learned how to dodge. Some of it, anyway." Still that wry, wistful smile. "If I don't see her coming, she can get my bending. But I can move fast enough that she doesn't put me all the way down. Most of the time."

"And so, the swords," Iroh realized.

Zuko: …and apparently swordsmanship was something I took up specifically to deal with Ty Lee, and not as a combat technique that might be useful in lots of situations?

Zuko nodded.

"Well done," Iroh said with quiet pride.

Tired as he was, Zuko still sat straighter.

"Though I am curious to know why you chose that path, rather than enlist aid," Iroh said, very carefully.

Zuko: …because that’s something I had so many options to do?

"Didn't want Azula to try smothering me in my sleep again," Zuko shrugged. "At least with Ty Lee doing it, I was pretty sure I'd still be breathing afterward."

The teacup shattered.

MG: …like I’ve said before, maybe it’s just me but I never thought Azula truly, genuinely wanted Zuko dead until relatively late in the show – her gloating about wanting to become an only child in the cold open of “Southern Raiders” always felt like it was meant to be a fairly significant shift, especially considering she’s visibly starting to lose control in that scene, and it comes right on the heels of “The Boiling Rock” and Azula suffering her most comprehensive defeat to date in that episode. But also note that we’re back to the old “Iroh didn’t realize how bad Zuko’s abuse was and needs to have it explained to him” bit that we saw earlier in the fic and, well, I still don’t care for it, for reasons we’ve discussed.

"…You're bleeding." Zuko pulled flame from the lamp, searing out pottery dust to leave whole skin behind.

Would that my heart healed as easily. "You told your parents of this?"

"Mom told her it was wrong." Zuko kept his voice quiet. Level. "So she went to Father, and told him what horrible lies I was telling to get her in trouble. He said that was unworthy of a great name's son. And he smiled at her."

MG: …honestly, I think Ozai would’ve given at least his tacit approval if he had been told exactly what was going on. Survival of the fittest and all. Though maybe not that blatant while Ursa and Azulon were both still alive.

He looked aside, into memory. "She smiled just like that, at Grandfather's funeral." Zuko swallowed. "Can we not talk about her? She's not here, and Jet is, and arguing with him doesn't work. What do I do, tie him up and drop him down a well?"

Azula: I might. Are there catgators at the bottom, by chance?

"It is tempting," Iroh acknowledged, setting the anger aside. Time enough for fury later, when Zuko would be sure it was not aimed at him. "I can only say, do as you think best at the time." He smiled wryly. "And I am working in a teashop, nephew. Should he be so rude twice - I am certain, given your example, I can improvise."

MG: And let’s be honest, young hothead takes on what they believe to be a harmless old person only to find themselves in way, way over their head is a pretty common trope, anyway.

Zuko nodded, reluctantly satisfied.

"Perhaps an early night would be wise, for both of us," Iroh reflected. "But I would like you to consider something, Prince Zuko."

"Uncle?" Zuko said warily.

"There is a certain freedom of action in being declared a traitor to the throne," Iroh said levelly. "My brother is not here. The laws of our nation do not rule here. Do what you believe is right." He paused. "And never forget that here, she is not a princess, whose every command must be carried out without fail. Nor are you an exile. She is an enemy of Ba Sing Se, and you are a healer, serving our people within these walls. Innocents she would see executed as traitors, simply for seeking sanctuary. If by some stroke of ill luck she chances on us again - strike her down."

Azula: *sniffs* Oh, please. As if you could.

"I'll…." Zuko swallowed dryly, and nodded. "I'll think about that, Uncle."

I pray you do, nephew. Watching Zuko disappear behind a closed screen, Iroh sighed. I never want her to hurt you again. I never want her to believe she has the right.

Ozai. If fate is kind, I will not meet you again. No matter what you have done, you are still my brother, and I would not force Zuko to choose between us. That wound, at least, I would spare him.

But if fate is not kind….

You have a very great deal to answer for.

MG: Spoilers: Iroh doesn’t meet Ozai again during the fic. Unfortunately, neither does Zuko. And considering that Zuko is the main character of this version of the story and Ozai is the monster of his childhood and the ultimate architect of most of his suffering… I think that’s very much a mistake.

Anyway, this chapter is a long one, so we’re stopping here for today. We get some further developments with the Wens, the Dai Li, Amaya, and more lore surrounding the dragons and the true nature of the Fire Nation here, and I suspect what you think about them will come down heavily on how much Vathara’s worldbuilding works for you. And like I said, I don’t care for most of it. The dragon stuff might work fine in other contexts, but for the Fire Nation in particular, in the broader context of the Avatarverse, it bothers me quite a bit, and feels like it vindicates the Fire Nation’s worst crowing about their inherent superiority and specialness, as well as being another plot point that will grow until it riddles through the entire fic, overshadowing a lot of the show’s actual premise and themes. And the Dai Li, I still maintain, are not an organization that needed to be greyed up by having a secret noble purpose, and that will also end up overtaking their characterization in the fic; and frankly, I find Vathara’s need to romanticize and make excuses for both the ruthless secret police and the conquering empire to be very telling about where her priorities are. In any case, that’s all for today! Next time, Amaya has a long talk with Zuko, Iroh and other uninvited guests, and Zuko comes clean with his uncle about some of the things going on with him as they continue to work on their plans. We’ll see you then! Our counts stand at:

Beware the Sugar Queen: 6

The Blind Bandit Wins Again: 8

The Deadly Depths: 6

Detached from Reality: 7

Divine Right to Rule: 34

Elemental Determinism: 35

He Has Much to Learn: 16 (giving another point for some of the discussion around Aang)

Prince Stuko: 45

Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 11

The Real Victims: 15

Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 19

Stations of the Canon: 22

The Superior Element: 25

True Guardians of Balance: 1

The Ultimate Firebenders: 12