Embers: Chapter Eighteen
Jan. 9th, 2026 09:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
masterghandalfWarning: This chapter contains discussion of genocide and abuse.
This is a repost from Das_Sporking2; previous installments of this sporking may be found here.
MG: Well, everyone, it’s time to continue our journey through Vathara’s Embers! Last time, Amaya helped the Dai Li interrogate the Freedom Fighters before being captured, Shirong had a crisis of conscience (but not about what you might think), and Zuko and Iroh fought the spirit and rescued Amaya. Today it’s time to bring the second arc (going by the categorization we’re using in the TOC) of the fic to a close, as we tie up some loose ends and Amaya finds out the truth. Joining us today will be Zuko and Katara!
Chapter 18
Dawn. Amaya could see it in the light filtering through the window-shades. Hear it, in the quiet grumble of Zuko getting breakfast started. Feel it, as Mushi yawned and stretched beside her, warm as the hot rocks wrapped in blankets on her other side.
"Good morning," Mushi said politely, eyes sleepily half-open. "Are you warm enough?"
Zuko: …okay, I know this is probably about helping her recover from the spirit, but considering Amaya and Uncle are supposed to be a couple now, that’s not exactly where my mind is going here.
"If I were any warmer, I'd be in a sauna," Amaya stated crisply. What was he up to? He'd always behaved like a perfect gentleman in the past, and she couldn't have fallen through a winter-frozen lake last night-
Katara: Especially considering it’s summer. But Amaya’s supposed to be from the North, right? Where it’s frozen all year round, like home? Not sure why she’d immediately associated “frozen lake” with a specific season, unless she’s just lived in Ba Sing Se that long.
Memory crashed like an ice shelf into the sea, and she shivered. No. No….
"It is over. Amaya, brave lady, it is over." He caught her hands before she could push away, giving her an intent look.
Zuko: I’d like this a lot more if it was somebody I actually liked and not, you know, Amaya.
"You saved Agent Bon, you know."
"I… no, I tried to kill him…."
"You sheathed him in ice," Mushi said bluntly. "He held on long enough for us to revive him. So you did save him."
"It's not enough," Amaya whispered. Yunxu, an agent whose name she'd never known… they were dead. Because she hadn't been fast enough. Wise enough. Strong enough.
Katara: I don’t know about the nameless guy, but considering Yunxu was into torture and mind control, I can’t say I’m that torn up he’s dead.
"It never is," Mushi said quietly, sitting up. "Evil comes, and we do our best to defy it. But always, there is a loss." He regarded her gravely. "That is the cost of courage. To face evil, because if you did not, more lives would be shattered. Courage scars us all, Amaya. My nephew's is simply more visible than most."
Zuko: That does sound like something Uncle might say, but… *sighs heavily, points up at his previous comment*
"I…" Amaya swallowed, and tried again. "I hurt inside."
"I know."
"I want to hurt something else," she admitted, ashamed. "But it's already dead, and… I know everyone was doing their best to find it, and…." Speak the truth. "Zuko fought it off!"
"My nephew is a firebender," Mushi said bluntly. "He could raise fire in his very veins, to beat it back.
Zuko: Not… really? Setting myself on fire isn’t exactly something I’ve practiced, for good reason! And if you mean metaphorical fires, that’s not the same thing as firebending!
The Superior Element: 48
And even so, he says it was too close. Sometimes all our training and power fails us." He released her hands, and gestured toward the kitchen. "But when we have fallen, and the battle has passed… that is when we must cling most tightly to hope, and find the courage to reach out to our friends. For the truest will come to us, and help us stand again."
He means it. Tears threatened; she'd been so cold and alone, and he was still that same sun-warm rock she could rely on, faithful and kind….
And still, there was that glint of mischief in green eyes, playful and not quite innocent. Amaya lifted her chin. "Get out there, and let a respectable lady dress in peace."
Katara: *sighs* Zuko’s right. A lot of this conversation is really good, and it could be a really sweet moment, but it’s just… Amaya’s left a really, really bad impression of herself so far, and shows no sign of changing, or that her author thinks she needs to change at all, so I’m having a really hard time feeling happy for her and Iroh. Zuko was right last time – he can do so much better.
Mushi snapped his fingers, obviously disappointed. Grinned at her, bowed, and departed.
"Reprobate," she murmured, not unkindly.
It wasn't the best breakfast she'd ever had, but it was warm, and filling; overall, much better than she'd expected. "Huojin wasn't sure either of you could cook," Amaya remarked. And wished she dared pound her head on the table. Not as rested as I thought.
Zuko: …we were on the run for weeks across the whole Earth Kingdom, and there wasn’t exactly a handy village to stop at every night. We can’t always cook well, depending on what we have to work with, but we know how to feed ourselves. I’d think you could’ve figured that out?
Zuko snorted, humor dancing in his eyes. Mushi chuckled. "I did enjoy having a cook in the past," he admitted. "But after I came home from campaign once half-dead from bad food, my late wife insisted I learn, in self-defense. And so I later taught our son, and my nephew. She was a brave woman, my Natsu. Not everyone dares to unleash a proud soldier on a kitchen!"
MG: …you know, I’ve read about how Roman soldiers were required to mill their own flour and bake their own bread; I’m less familiar with the east Asian cultures A:TLA is directly based on, but some quick searches indicates that Chinese and Japanese soldiers had to cook their own rations at least some of the time. So I don’t think “soldier=can’t cook” really holds up; OTOH, Iroh is royalty who would have presumably entered the military already an officer, and likely would’ve always had aides or servants to prepare his food for him (as is alluded to here). So that might provide a better explanation for why a younger Iroh initially didn’t know how to cook, if we wanted to lean into the idea. Maybe I’m just reading too much into a one-off joke, though.
Amaya had to smile, imagining that indignant young soldier. "I would have liked to have met her."
"Me, too," Zuko said softly. "If Mom had been there…."
Mushi rested a hand on his nephew's wrist. "Your mother was only a child then herself, and Shidan and Lady Kotone avoided the capital as much as they could. With good cause. Do not take guilt for what was. Focus on what is."
MG: And yes, there is a reason why Shidan (Ursa’s father in Embers!verse) in particular was determined to stay far away from the royal court, which we’ll be getting down the road.
Words that cleansed and stung at once, like salt on wounds. Amaya sucked in a breath. "The children - down the stairs-"
Katara: *sniffs* I’d be a lot more impressed by your concern now if you hadn’t helped the Dai Li question them last time, you know!
"We didn't go down there." Zuko inhaled the rest of his breakfast, rinsing out his bowl in a hurry. "I'll go. Tell me what I'm looking for, are they going to be hurt-"
Amaya winced. "It's Jet."
"What?"
Zuko: *groans* This is going to be fun…
MG: Fortunately, we’re still a couple of chapters off from you actually having to deal with Jet again, so… yay?
-
For once, Huojin heard Lee coming before he saw him.
"…Idiotic, obsessed, isn't going to take anything less than maiming as a hint…."
Katara: *gives Zuko a long, thoughtful, appraising look* I’m not going to say anything… I’m not going to say anything…
Wouldn't want to be on the other end of that, the Guard reflected.
Zuko: *rolls his eyes* Yes, fear the mighty power of my grumbling, everyone!
"Min again?" he asked, straightening from where he'd been officiously leaning against the wall beside the clinic door. "You're early." Dropping his voice as the young man neared, he nodded toward inside. "Is Amaya all right? Headquarters got orders to post a guard, but not go in…."
"She's shaken up. She's tough." Lee took a deep breath, and reached for the door. "It's going to be ugly."
Zuko: Because all the times I’ve met the Freedom Fighters before in this story have been nothing but iced treats and sunshine, assuming that’s still what we’re talking about.
What happened? Huojin wanted to ask. But bit his tongue. If Lee could have told him on the street, he would have. So he touched his sword and followed, instead.
Blood, and death. Faint. But you could taste it, if you knew the air.
"Huh," Lee muttered to himself. "They cleaned."
Katara: *confused* Who did? The guards, the Dai Li, the spirits? Who’s been in here since you were last time?
"Cleaned?" Huojin said uneasily, following Lee to a slight stain beside the screen to the garden. If that wasn't faint traces of blood spatter, he'd retire to carve wooden tops. "What happened?"
"You're not going to like it…."
You're right. I don't, Huojin decided, as they quickly searched the clinic's upper level while Lee recounted the mad events of last night. Spirits that could take over benders… brr.
Zuko: And nonbenders! Seriously are we forgetting that the very first time we saw it, it tried to take over Jet? He’s not a bender! *beat* I don’t think?
Katara: *flatly* He isn’t. Trust me.
And he just knew Lee had downplayed how much danger he'd been in. "I made it mad until it jumped into the maze." Sure. "But Amaya's alive?"
Zuko: Right, got to make sure Amaya is alive. I know, I know, she’s important to Huojin, but it’s still pretty obvious where the author’s priorities are.
"She'll be okay. She just needs time." Lee smiled faintly. "Uncle's taking her to work. Hot tea, friendly customers… a haima-jiao couldn't get her there if it tried."
Zuko: …if hot tea and friendly customers are all it takes to ward off angry spirits, maybe Uncle should go into the exorcism business…
"But it's dead- right. For the shock." Amaya's mind might know it was dead. If this was anything like a more ordinary assault, her body and spirit would take a lot more convincing. "So what are we really looking for?" Given the Dai Li had apparently clung to their usual mysterious ways and tried to eliminate any sign that something had happened here.
Katara: Well, there’s that part answered. Except it wasn’t “their mysterious ways” that made the Dai Li do things like that, it was “keeping information from people so they could control them.” At least that’s why they kept people from talking about the war, and I’m pretty sure that’s why they’d keep them from learning about spirits, too!
"Something I don't think I'll find." Lighting a lamp, Lee led the way belowground, and sighed.
Rounding the last corner of the stairs himself, Huojin regarded the empty room. "No one's here."
"Not anymore." Lee shook his head. "Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot. The Dai Li had them here for questioning." He looked down, shoulders slumped. "I didn't look down here last night. Neither of us did, we were trying to save Amaya…."
Katara: Well, the spirit didn’t have them, so let me guess – whatever Dai Li agents were here knew where Yunxu and Bon stashed the prisoners, and when they left, they took them with them. Great job, Amaya!
"Sometimes, things don't work out," Huojin admitted. "Lee. I know you're used to being responsible for people. We feel that way in the Guard, too. But when your back's against the wall and someone you rely on is in trouble… you do the best you can with what you know and where you are. You're alive. Amaya's alive. The haima-jiao isn't going to kill anyone else." He crossed his arms, and gave Lee a sidelong glance. "So chin up, take a deep breath, and keep moving. You pulled off a damn miracle last night. Stop whining because you're not perfect."
Zuko: Okay, yeah, but my feelings aren’t really the important thing here, more like the Dai Li might be about to do something worse than death to three people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and even though I don’t like them, like Huojin said, I still feel responsible for them! What about that!?
Prince Stuko: 75 (giving a point for prioritizing Zuko’s feelings over the Freedom Fighters’ fate)
Lee gave him an angry look, that slowly melted into embarrassment. "Was I whining?"
Huojin lifted a hand, rubbed thumb and forefinger together. "Just a little."
"Sorry." Lee shrugged, still a little red. "I just… I feel bad about really only feeling upset because I'll have to tell Amaya."
Zuko: Yeah, no. Like I said, I may not like them, but that doesn’t mean I would want them dead, or worse. And as far as I know, Smellerbee and Longshot’s only crime was having bad taste in friends. But I guess it’s time for guilt by association… because that always ends so well…
"Yeah, well, good riddance," Huojin said darkly. "I warned them. You warned them. Amaya warned them. And you warned them again. You can't save all the idiots from themselves."
Katara: I think the thing they might need saving from are either “angry spirits” or “angry Dai Li” – not sure what they’d have done to bring either of those on themselves, other than being people Vathara doesn’t like!
He shrugged, deliberately. "So you're handling the clinic today?"
"At least the emergencies," Lee nodded.
Zuko: …which I guess I’m a skilled enough healer to be qualified to handle now? *shrugs*
"Closing early, though. Don't want her to worry where I am after dark."
"I'll leave word at headquarters where to find you if we need you," Huojin nodded. The Guard already had their apartment marked down, just in case.
"You can get a message to the Dai Li?"
"We can," Huojin agreed warily.
Katara: Unless the message is “return the Freedom Fighters, please,” not sure I want to hear it.
"Good." Looking a little more determined, Lee headed for the stairs. "I want to make sure Agent Shirong doesn't slip through the cracks just because we all think he's better."
Katara: *sighs* And of course it’s not. And if the Dai Li are supposed to be so good at fighting spirits, shouldn’t they also be better able than most people to tell if someone who got hurt fighting a spirit was better or not?
He cast a faint smile over his shoulder. "And… do you know where in the market I can find some hickory wood, powdered sugar, and grape acid?"
"What for?" Huojin asked, beyond confused.
"You never had smoke-sugar when you were a kid?"
MG: Pretty sure this exact candy is Vathara’s invention, fwiw. It’s a nice little bit of worldbuilding either way, though.
"Well… yeah, I think so, but… you know how to make it?"
Katara: *eyes Zuko* Sounds tasty, but I’m a little surprised a prince would know how to make candy like that!
Zuko: *somewhat embarrassed* Let’s just say I’ve picked up a lot of odd skills over the years.
"Sweet tooth," Lee admitted shamelessly, grinning. "Mom showed me how a long time ago. Before… before a lot of things." He shook off the gloom. "You want the recipe?"
Oh, did he ever.
Katara: Wow, he wants the recipe before he’s even tasted Zuko’s version. I don’t think Zuko’s the only one with a sweet tooth…
-
"You work for that man?" Amaya shook her head as they walked back up to Mushi's apartment through afternoon shadows.
Zuko: You work for – or at least with – the Dai Li. I don’t think Uncle working for a grumpy tea shop owner looks too bad next to that!
"There is no shame in honest work," her host proclaimed. "And tea lightens the cares of those who visit us. Though it never does seem to work on my nephew," he mused.
Zuko: *sheepish* Sorry, Uncle. I was… carrying around a lot back then that I wasn’t able or ready to let go of.
"There's only so much a warm drink can handle," Amaya pointed out wryly. "How long do you intend to put me up when I have a perfectly good home to go to?" I hadn't realized what a cheapskate Pao is. The small fees Zuko was entitled to as an apprentice were more important than she'd realized.
MG: …considering Zuko and Iroh were able to afford a plain but perfectly serviceable apartment in canon, where Amaya didn’t exist, I’m not sure about that?
"Until you feel ready to face the violence that occurred within that home," Mushi said plainly, opening their door and bowing her in. "Or at least so long as you are willing to allow us this kindness. It is what friends do for one another. And a small enough recompense for the harm we did you, unknowing."
"Harm?" Amaya frowned as he closed and latched the door.
Katara: How about we start with some of the harm you do to other people and work from there!
Mushi sighed, and gestured toward the table. "Tea?" he said hopefully.
She lifted a brow, still standing. "An explanation, first."
He inclined his head; as you wish. "You told me it was dangerous for a young waterbender to live with so little family. I failed to consider it might be as perilous for you, even though you are well trained. And so I turned away your offer of family, without explanation."
MG: Because family, of course, is uniquely a need waterbenders have. Riiight.
Elemental Determinism: 47
"You said it was dangerous," Amaya pointed out.
"It is," Mushi acknowledged. "But we nearly lost you. And that would have been… horrible to bear." He sighed. "So. In trying to protect you, I did you harm. It seems a custom of my family…. I would mend that harm, in some small way. So that you may know what it is you risk now, rather than wait until we must flee Ba Sing Se for Jinhai's sake, or our own." He lowered his voice. "With the haima-jiao gone, we are no longer watched. It is safe to speak of such things. If you wish."
Zuko: Yeah, if Shirong was doing his job we’d sure be watched, at least, after everything we let slip to him not long ago! Not to mention, the Dai Li probably watch Amaya herself all the time, if she’s really that important to them!
Her breath caught. He was offering one of the things she valued most in the world: truth. And yet…. "Don't. Don't tell me, just because you feel you've wronged me. You haven't."
"It is more than that," Mushi said firmly. "You are dear to me, Lady Amaya. Were I another man, I would have hopes… but I would, at least, have no lies between us. That much comfort, I would claim." He drew a breath, and met her gaze. "I am Iroh. Son of Fire Lady Ilah, and Fire Lord Azulon."
Katara: …okay, you’d better not be being watched, just admitting it like that!
For a long moment, the words didn't make sense. Couldn't make sense. Azulon; son of Sozin, the Fire Lord who'd begun a century of war. Azulon, the name she and everyone she knew had grown up cursing for his failed assault on the North Pole, and his merciless decimation of the Southern Water Tribe. And Iroh was another name to conjure nightmares. Crown prince, before Ozai took the throne; ruthless general and firebender beyond compare, who had conquered his way across half the Earth Kingdom and held Ba Sing Se under siege for six hundred days.
The Dragon of the West.
Katara: Huh. Someone is actually having a reasonable reaction to learning all of that! *beat* It’s probably not going to last much longer, is it?
"You can't be," Amaya whispered, gaze sweeping frantically across the kind, gentle man in Earth Kingdom green. Warm hands, a shoulder to lean on; gentle correction when his nephew needed it most….
Zuko. If his brother is Zuko's father, then-
Her mind shied from the thought. "You're a tea-maker. You can't be… General Iroh."
"Retired," Iroh said gently. And smiled, sadly. "I have always taken comfort in tea."
Zuko: He’s not lying. Uncle’s been crazy about tea since before I was born. Trust me on this one.
"You can't be," Amaya insisted, panic and hurt and anger mixing together like foaming wine. "Not Sozin's blood, not-" Words failed her.
"The source of all evil in the world?" Iroh said wryly. "I have heard us called that before. And yes. Sozin was evil. Not because he meant to be. Because he believed that he alone knew how to remake the world into perfection, and set out to do so - even if he must murder an entire race." Iroh sighed.
Katara: Oh, I don’t know, I think that when you think you alone know how to build a perfect world and that involves murdering an entire nation and trying to conquer everyone else, that counts as meaning to be evil! But what do I know, my tribe was just the one that got “decimated,” remember?
MG: And I will say that while Vathara still ultimately presents Sozin as having been evil, she does give him at least a few inches of whitewashing to try and make him somewhat more sympathetic than canon (honestly, all moral implications aside, I just think this is unnecessary - I always thought “The Avatar and the Fire Lord” did plenty to explain Sozin’s descent into tyranny and evil, and that it made him rather more interesting in a single episode’s worth of flashbacks than Ozai ever managed to be across the whole series… but I digress).
Katara: *facepalms*
"I did not realize that was evil. Not when I knew him, when I was still a young man.
Zuko: *confused* Great-grandfather died years before Uncle was born? He never knew him?
MG: Remember, Vathara is using the older version of the timeline, the one that had Sozin surviving quite a ways into the war and Azulon’s reign being shorter, rather than the later version where Sozin died relatively early in the war and Azulon ruled for most of it. That explains some discrepancies.
To me he was Grandfather, and Fire Lord; the ultimate power in our land. If he had started a war, he must be in the right." He shook his head, looking into memory. "It was only with time, and great pain, that I learned how wrong he was.
MG: I actually rather like this part, though – showing how Iroh grew up practically worshipping Sozin and only managed to break out of that worldview later in life. I think it sums it up rather nicely, really.
That the beauty, the very hope of the world lies in the fact that it is not perfect, and we must find ways to cherish what is good in it despite that. For reshape the world as we will, none of us is perfect; and if we cannot love one who is flawed, love itself will die. As my brother's died, for all of us. I was too kind. Ursa was too gentle. Zuko… Zuko was too weak, with no desire for power. We were human, and so we failed my brother."
Zuko: *splutters* We failed him? Dad burned off half my face because I embarrassed him by talking out of turn! I don’t think what we did to him is the issue here!
MG: The weird thing is… Embers!Ozai is probably one of the most in-character of the major canon characters in it. He’s virtually the same abusive, cruel, megalomaniac monster he was in the original show, and there’s no serious attempt to ever humanize him or portray him in a positive light (at least none that goes anywhere). So I’m not sure if this is just supposed to be Iroh being empathetic even to someone who doesn’t deserve it, but in any case, it’s kind of weird in context. Honestly, in my less charitable moments I’ve wondered if Ozai gets to still be evil because he abused Zuko and Zuko is Vathara’s fave, and if he hadn’t done that she’d have tried to whitewash him, too. Similar with Azula, though she gets pretty significant character development in the back half of the fic (I have significant issues with how Vathara handles Azula, but… we’ll get there when we get there). Reading this bit again, it looks more like Iroh is saying that in Ozai’s opinion they all “failed” him by not living up to his impossible standards, but I think the wording is extremely unfortunate – making it sound like they all had an obligation to love Ozai and make him a better person and didn’t do it. At least that’s how my first instinct to read it was and why I was taken aback.
They failed Fire Lord Ozai. And hadn't she hoped for that? That all of the Fire Nation would fail, and the war finally be over? And yet…. "You are the war," Amaya whispered brokenly.
Zuko: I mean, Uncle’s been retired for years, but coming from someone who lives in Ba Sing Se… that’s pretty fair.
"I was," Iroh admitted, unflinching. "But when we broke the Outer Wall, and invaded, I lost - much. Good men. Far too many good men. Including my son, Lu Ten. I was… horrified. Near mad with grief. He was all I had left. Or so I thought. But I was also the officer in command, the Dragon of the West. I had to think of my men, and of the Fire Nation. Terrain, numbers, morale; the earthbenders' advantage was too great to overcome without losses that would devastate my troops. Only slaughter or treachery would bring Ba Sing Se down, and I did not wish either. So I ordered the siege ended, our troops withdrawn. Against all orders Azulon had given." He hesitated. "I did not expect to survive that order."
A firebender, breaking loyalty…. Amaya shivered.
MG: You know, I was actually really liking this summation of Iroh’s mindset at the time he broke the siege (though I had to raise my eyebrow at Iroh not wanting to win by treachery, both because statistically sieges end by treachery far more often than by direct assault, and because Iroh himself can be plenty sneaky and underhanded when he wants to be)… but then Vathara just had to go and bring loyalty into things. Have I mentioned how much I hate this concept, and how much it distorts the characters’ relationships? Because I really, really do.
"Once I recovered, I expected to be executed for treason.
MG: Honestly, from what we see of Azulon, I have a very hard time imagining him doing that – hells, he tried to have Zuko killed to punish Ozai for suggesting disinheriting him. We don’t see much of Azulon, and it’s pretty clear he was a tyrant just as ruthless as his father and younger son from what little we do… but I think it’s also pretty clear that whatever else he was, Iroh was his favorite.
But events spared me. Now… now I would end the war, if I could. But more than that, I wish the boy I have raised as a son to survive." Iroh spread empty hands. "Now you know the truth of us, and what you risk by allying with my brother's outcast kin. And you must decide if we are worth it."
"You," Amaya breathed, voice gradually rising, "you reckless, impossible - Tui and La, he is definitely your nephew, you're both utterly insane-"
Zuko: *awkwardly* Okay. Fair enough?
It took at least five minutes of yelling for her to figure out Iroh had preemptively vaporized all the water in the apartment.
Katara: What… how… that would’ve been really obvious… where did all the steam go!?
But that was all right. Zuko could draw water out of wet sand - and where, exactly, did his uncle think he'd learned that little trick?
Zuko: So that’s what I was doing last time! Better than the alternatives?
Air was harder to draw from than a lake-damp shore. But not by much.
Katara: …yeah it is, unless it’s really foggy out! And I can pull water out of mud or wet sand too; you’re not that special!
-
Over the course of sixteen years, especially over the past few months, Zuko had cultivated an intuitive sense for when Things Were About To Blow Up.
Zuko: …okay, can’t really argue there.
It was the little details, mostly. A certain glint in Azula's eye. A scuff of a boot too close in an alley. A tremble of earth that ought to be solid.
And sometimes, it was not so little things. Zhao. The hunch of the Avatar's shoulders, before he turned with mad, glowing eyes.
Katara: *nonplussed* You mean “gone into the Avatar State?” And, uh, by this point had you ever seen it happen like that? I think every time Aang went into the Avatar State when you were around, either he was under water, or in the inner sanctuary in the Fire Temple, or he was about to channel the Ocean Spirit and you’d gone off chasing Zhao, so…
Or, like now, a half-dozen fellow dwellers on this floor at the far end of the corridor from Uncle's apartment, splitting upset looks between each other and the faint sounds of Amaya yelling.
"You're here?" The landlord pushed his way to the front, glaring at Zuko. "You're not supposed to be here! Water's frozen all over the place! How can it be freezing in here when you just got here?"
"Because I didn't do it?" Zuko glared back. "I'm not the only waterbender in the city."
Zuko: Yeah, was “the woman doing the shouting is a waterbender” really that hard to figure out?
"Well, you're the one who lives in this building!" The landlord pointed an imperious finger. "Fix this!"
I am not going to feed him his finger.
Katara: Okay… kind of gross…
Lee's impulse, born of the tribes' historical feuds; more than a little startling, when he was far more used to the glass-razor insults or explosive lethal violence of Fire Nation politics.
Zuko: Wow, so in one sentence we still have proof that Amaya’s technique is still screwing with my head and proof that Vathara still thinks the Water Tribes are violent barbarians compared to the Fire Nation. Great.
Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 24
The Superior Element: 49
Make an enemy maim himself. Yeah, that's Water Tribe.
Katara: As opposed to the Fire Nation, who massacred an entire nation of pacifists to make sure they got one kid! Or, oh, how about carting enemy benders off to prison camps where they can get locked up and tortured for decades! But at least they don’t maim people! *rolls her eyes*
Zuko: Also… *sighs, points at his face* Yeah, my dad the Fire Lord did that. So no, I’m not very impressed.
Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 25
Well. He was not going to do that, no matter how tempting. But he couldn't let this pass, either. Lee was Amaya's apprentice. What he did reflected on her - and not even the Dai Li ordered Amaya around.
Katara: So I guess she just helps them interrogate prisoners when she claims she doesn’t want to for fun, then?
Zuko drew himself up to his full height, and stared the landlord straight in the eye. Not overtly threatening. Not yet.
Beads of sweat broke out on the man's forehead, and he blinked first. "…Please?"
Zuko: Please tell me I’m just being intimidating and not using loyalty on him?
"Give me some time." Warily, Zuko approached his own door. Knocked, and opened it. "Master Amaya? There's ice all through the building…."
The room wasn't quite as much of a wreck as he'd feared. Chairs were upended. Amaya was panting hoarsely, stance firm as a winter-locked lake. Ice. Uncle in the middle of the ice. Which made him want to throw weeks of caution to the wind and do something-
But Uncle was only in ice up to his neck. Meaning he was frozen because he wanted to be frozen.
Katara: Considering what sorts of things Amaya can do, it’s honestly kind of refreshing that she just froze Iroh up to his neck and left him like that. *beat* And I can’t believe I just said that! And wow, what a basis for a healthy romance – he lied to her, and when she found out, she was so mad she froze him solid! You know, there’ve been times I’ve gotten pretty mad at Aang, but I never did that to him!
Okay, there is something I can do. "What do you want me to do with the witnesses?" Zuko deadpanned.
Zuko: Cart them off to Lake Laogai and make them disappear? *beat* What, she’s friends with the Dai Li, that’s what they’d do!
Amaya flushed, mortified, seeing curious faces edge near in the hall. Uncle Iroh tried not to snicker. Much.
"We'll straighten this out," Zuko said to the hallway at large, and firmly closed the door. Waited a minute, and turned around.
Nobody's dead. Good.
Katara: Well, if “no casualties” is the main standard for a domestic spat… that’s a really low bar, isn’t it?
Uncle was still a bit damp, and Master Amaya more than a little pink. And neither of them were quite looking at each other. In a way that raised the hairs on the back of Zuko's neck.
Zuko: Oh, spirits, she did brainwash him, didn’t she!?
MG: Well, it might explain the sudden nosedive Iroh’s characterization takes in the back end of the fic…
Zuko: *flatly* What.
No, no, not good, what do I do, where do I hide, should have kept quiet, they know I'm here-
Panic and exhaustion and two people he cared about were fighting, which meant it was his fault, again….
Thank Agni for windows.
Zuko: Okay, “panicking and fleeing the scene” seems like a pretty good idea, actually. Though if this was actually me, I’d need to be making a plan to come back and rescue Uncle, probably…
-
"He won't come down?"
"Not yet, no," Iroh sighed, picking up the last of the groceries Zuko had dropped in his sudden flight. Raising a brow at some of what he'd found. So you meant for us to celebrate. It appears I have unfortunate timing.
"He's a teenage boy, who hasn't had supper," Amaya said confidently. "He will." Gave Iroh a second look at his silence. "Won't he?"
Katara: Well, if the options are “come down and eat” and “stay up there and starve,” then it seems pretty clear, right? *beat* Right?
"He is quite capable of remaining up there for days, only venturing down to carry out his duties as he has given word to do," Iroh said unhappily.
Zuko: You know, for a story that’s so down on the Air Nomads, that almost makes me sound like a monk, ironically enough.
Caught her frown, and sighed. "It is not defiance, I think…."
Comprehension dawned, and Amaya winced. "His parents fought."
"Not at first," Iroh clarified. "But as my nephew passed four - yes. Often." He hesitated. "You have seen this before?"
"More than I like to think," Amaya admitted. "And it is defiance. Of a sort. You can hurt each other, you can scare me to death, but you can't make me watch." She sighed herself. "Parents can't hurt what they can't catch. I would say Lee's been teaching himself not to get caught for a very long time."
It cut to the bone. "I should have seen-"
MG: On the one hand, yes, this is more good characterization – heartbreaking, but good! On the other hand, I hate how we’re still making Iroh come across as so ignorant of Zuko’s trauma, when he loves him, he’s been traveling with him for years, and he’s very wise and observant, so that Iroh can be the audience surrogate and have things like this explained to him.
"Children are good at hiding things. They want their parents to be all right. No matter what." She touched his shoulder. "It's odd, but… this almost tells me more about the war than anything else."\
Iroh raised a curious brow.
"Sozin destroyed an entire nation to shape the world the way he wanted it," Amaya said quietly. "How much more harm did he do to his own people?"
Zuko: Great-Grandfather, and Grandfather, and Dad did a lot of harm to the Fire Nation between the three of them. Polluting our land to build factories for the war… twisting our whole culture around violence and conquest… sending generations of our people to die on foreign shores for their own power and glory… but it wasn’t worse than wiping the entire Air Nomad nation out of existence except for one hyperactive twelve-year-old everyone expected to somehow save the world. And Amaya is saying this when she comes from another culture my family tried its hardest to conquer or wipe out. Come on – this isn’t hard!
The Real Victims: 33
"I have made my own choices to fight, and to stop," Iroh said plainly. "As must we all. Though I have hopes that our plan will show our people another way forward…." He felt a flicker of fire, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "I apologize, nephew."
"Uncle." Zuko slipped back in through the window, still wary. "You don't… I just… I should have known it… wasn't what I thought."
Katara: So, what, Iroh and Amaya didn’t have a fight that resulted in her freezing him up to his neck? Could’ve fooled me!
"How?" Amaya said practically. "From what your uncle and Huojin have told me, you've never lived around people who just have normal arguments."
Katara: …lady, if your idea of “normal arguments” involves freezing someone up to his neck and screaming at him, I have no idea what to tell you.
"…No. Not really." Zuko looked between them both, tension easing a little. "It is- was it something I did?"
"No," Iroh said firmly, heartened. Courage in battle, Zuko had in plenty. Courage to face the ghosts of his past, and come back… his nephew was healing. "It was merely between us. Explanations, long overdue." He gripped Zuko's shoulder lightly. "Come. Dinner; and I see you have the makings of smoke-sugar. A fine treat."
"Smoke-sugar?" Amaya asked, curious.
"After dinner," Iroh assured her. "My nephew has a light touch with the bubbles."
"Bubbles?"
Iroh grinned at her.
Katara: *mouthing* Bubbles?
And smiled again later, enjoying the warmth of company as Amaya crunched into her first translucent bubble of blown sugar, filled with savory gray hickory smoke.
For life is sweet, and fragile, and always spiced with surprise, Iroh thought, enjoying his own silvery-gray globes. Especially for children of fire.
Zuko: But not everyone else, I guess. Because even our candy has to be special in the Fire Nation!
The Superior Element: 50
He waited until Zuko was about to bite into his third to deadpan, "She knows who we are."
Crunch.
Choking on inhaled smoke, Zuko gave him a glare that should have set ice on fire.
"It explains a great deal," Amaya noted gently. "I couldn't understand why you were both so sure the Fire Nation's time was nearing an end." She laid her hand on the table near Zuko's, almost touching. "But if the crown prince is a waterbender…."
Zuko: And I still don’t think we’re quite wrestling with just how weird a thing that is to happen, by the way. As in “this is supposed to be impossible” kind of weird.
Zuko looked down, and swallowed. "The Fire Lord is cruel." A breath. "But Azula… my sister is insane."
MG: *flatly* As opposed to Ozai, who at a look of absolute ecstatic rapture on his face when using the power of Sozin’s Comet to try and glass the whole Earth Kingdom for resisting his rule. But I will say, I do not like how this fic ends up handling Azula’s mental illness and, well, we’ll see when we get there…
He glanced up at Amaya, green eyes pleading. "If we can do this, if we can show you can live without following the Fire Lord - there are great names who won't pledge loyalty to her. And if they can do that, if they can look after their people and get them out of the war…. If the Avatar's supposed to be about balance, then he can't destroy all of the Fire Nation. It'd be tactically sound for him to spare the noncombatants. It'd be the smart thing to do."
Katara: Uh, news for Zuko, Aang doesn’t want to destroy the Fire Nation! Aang doesn’t want to kill anybody. We were mostly focused on overthrowing your dad, because that’s what Bumi and Roku told Aang he’d have to do to end the war. “Massacring lots of Fire Nationals” was never anyone’s plan!
The Real Victims: 34
"Unfortunately, the Avatar is twelve, and an airbender devoted to peace," Iroh said gravely. "So we do not know if he will find wisdom in time, or listen to those who know war. We can only hope, and prepare."
Katara: So, Aang being a twelve-year-old pacifist makes him… more likely to try to destroy the Fire Nation? What? I… just… what is wrong with that logic?
The Real Victims: 35
"I can see how that would work for the future," Amaya allowed. "But here and now-"
"You can't give a traitor orders," Zuko said harshly. "I gave my word to capture the Avatar. But he's not here." He took a deep breath.
Zuko: And I wasn’t trying to capture Aang because I had orders, I was doing it because I thought if I did I could go home and Dad would forgive me and welcome me back. This isn’t that hard to figure out… I, uh, kind of rarely shut up about it back then.
Katara: *flatly* We know.
"I don't know, Master Amaya. I don't know. I'm here. My people are here. I'm going to do everything I can. But when I make plans… things happen. Things go wrong. Always. So I'm just going to try. As long as I can."
"Which is all anyone can ask," Iroh said firmly. "Do not dwell on it, nephew. We have all had very trying days. I am certain all will look brighter, once we have had some rest."
"I know I'll feel more at ease when I've had a chance to check Shirong for myself," Amaya said gravely. "If he'll allow me."
Katara: Oh, right, can’t forget the Dai Li, at least some of them, are good guys in this. Great.
"He knows it wasn't your fault," Zuko said soberly.
She arched a skeptical brow. "As you do about the Avatar?"
"Oh, no," Iroh stepped in, before blood could be drawn. "I saw the boy let the Ocean take him. That was definitely Avatar Aang's fault." He hmphed. "One would think a bender trained under Monk Gyatso, one of the most legendary airbending masters, would have been more wary of the spirits."
Katara: Which is why you stood there and never gave any sign you disapproved of it or thought it was bad. Especially since you’d already warned Zhao about the terrible things that would happen if he killed the Moon Spirit, and then attacked him when he ignored you and did it anyway. Right.
He Has Much To Learn: 24
"He probably thought he could make friends with it," Zuko griped.
Katara: Actually pretty sure they both wanted to do something about the Moon Spirit being dead, and, well… Aang’s the Avatar. As my brother sometimes likes to point out, weird things happen around Aang.
He Has Much to Learn: 25
"How do you know that about Gyatso? I've never heard anything about legendary airbending masters."
"There are sources of information the Fire Lord would not approve of," Iroh said practically. "Once I had a name, I could make inquiries. None of which yielded information that would have helped in our chase," he added at Zuko's dark look. "But I was curious. Especially when I found he counted Avatar Roku among his truest friends."
"Can you tell me about him?" Zuko didn't squirm under his gaze, though he did redden. "He thought I was someone else. I just want to know who."
Iroh hid a chuckle. "Ah. Well, if I were to guess…. It is likely he thought you were your mother's grandfather." He shrugged. "The records I have seen say nothing of Kuzon knowing Aang, but there is a mention of Gyatso."
Zuko: Hadn’t Uncle and I already figured out that Kuzon probably knew Aang? I’m pretty sure we had this conversation…
"Being a spirit must give you lousy eyesight," Zuko grumbled. "Do I look a century old?"
Zuko: *sighs heavily* Let me guess – there’s a reason Gyatso mistook me for Kuzon, and it’s not because spirits have lousy eyesight, or because he’s apparently my great-grandfather.
MG: *grimly* You would be right.
Zuko: *groans and facepalms*
Glancing at Amaya, he tensed, and made himself relax. "So… you look like you need to talk a little more, so… just call me off the roof when you're done."
That swiftly, he was gone again.
Iroh raised a brow at the healer.
"You're hiding something," she said levelly.
"A suspicion, only," he admitted. "I cannot see that it would make any difference-"
"Iroh."
Ah, how sweet to hear his real name from such a vision of beauty and courage… er. Was that a snowball in her hands?
Katara: *crossing her arms* Okay, starting to think she really did brainwash him. We’re going to have to put up with them being like this for the whole rest of the story, aren’t we?
"I do not think it would help my nephew to know," Iroh answered, sensing for fire to be certain that nephew was out of earshot. "I have no proof. And I can think of none that would prove such wild fancies, truly."
"Tell me."
Iroh sighed. "When Zuko was in the spirit world, he looked for Kuzon for aid. A wise move; they were kin, even though they had never met, for Kuzon died before my nephew was born. And I later learned it was not a natural death, though he was ninety-eight; he was a strong firebender, and I would not have been surprised if he had reached Sozin's age. But he was on Azulon's list." Iroh paused. "Zuko looked, but he did not find. And it has been my experience that spirits know precisely whom they are speaking to."
Zuko: *gets the implication, buries his face even deeper in his hands*
MG: And yes, the implication is what you’re all probably thinking, though it’ll be a while yet before it gets explicitly spelled out for Zuko’s benefit.
Prince Stuko: 76
Amaya let her snowball melt back into her cup. "…I can see why you don't want to tell him."
"Do you?" Iroh asked quietly. "My nephew has been so lonely, so full of pain. Shall I tell him that once he had family who loved him truly, and joy, and a life of peace? Shall I tell him that the Avatar was granted Gyatso as friend and mentor in two lives, yet the spirit who was once Aang's friend is now counted among his enemies?"
MG: …and an author who is insistent that Aang and Zuko can never, ever, ever be friends and Aang is a naïve fool for thinking otherwise; don’t forget that part.
He shook his head. "My nephew has reason enough to resent fate's blows. There is no need to add more."
Amaya nodded. "Will you ever tell him?"
"When the time is right." When Zuko knew enough of the White Lotus to know why they existed. And why they had not acted before.
Katara: …because they were scattered all over the world and Iroh only called them together in a last-ditch effort to liberate Ba Sing Se before the Comet hit?
Another, more deliberate nod. "Are you hiding anything else?"
"Much," Iroh answered honestly. "But nothing else that bears on here and now."
"So you say." Standing, Amaya folded her arms, and gave him a measuring look. "You don't have enough family. One nephew can't keep you honest."
MG: Well, he’s also got a brother… who wants him dead… and a niece… who shot him with lightning the last time they met…
Iroh kept a curious look on his face as he tried to decipher that inscrutable look. "I have been hoping he would find a nice girl, but there was Jet's interference to consider, and we have been very busy…."
Zuko: Yeah, that’s why he tried to set me up with Jin, which was… fun… but nothing came from it. *beat* Did I ever actually go out with Jin in this version? Did it happen and Vathara skipped it, or did it not actually happen at all?
"He's not the one who needs a nice girl." Blue eyes danced. "Though I don't think I've been nice for a few decades."
Katara: *sniffs* I’ll say.
Slowly, Iroh smiled.
He did remember to tell Zuko it was safe to come back down. Later.
MG: And, perhaps thankfully, the chapter ends there. Thank you both for your help, Zuko and Katara. Onward to the AN – it’s a short one this time!
A/N: As far as Zuko and Iroh hiding out in Ba Sing Se goes, I think of that as one big Refuge in Audacity plot on Iroh's part. It's just too implausible for anyone to believe the Dragon of the West and the Crown Prince are in the city. So they don't.
MG: Also, it’s a huge city, and I really doubt most people would recognize Prince Zuko and General Iroh of the Fire Nation (which is not only another country, but one that the Earth Kingdom is at war with!) on sight, especially when they’re wearing Earth Kingdom civilian clothes. Looking at Zuko and Iroh, I think all most people would see are a young man with a burn scar (and again, they’ve been at war with the Fire Nation – probably not an uncommon sight!) and an older man gone somewhat to seed. I don’t think they’re exactly going to stand out among the thousands of other refugees in the city.
And as far as the pair not figuring out Aang is also in Ba Sing Se... well, they didn't figure it out in canon until the leaflet dropped on Zuko's head. So my thought is that Iroh, who desperately wants to keep Zuko away from the Avatar, probably told his White Lotus contacts not to tell him where Aang was. If he doesn't know, he's not lying to Zuko.
MG: And in canon, when Iroh and Zuko were making plans to get into Ba Sing Se with the White Lotus florist, Aang and his friends… were lost in the middle of the desert. I doubt the White Lotus had any idea where they were at that moment. And again, it’s a big city, and at least in canon Zuko and Iroh were in the Lower Ring and not exactly rubbing shoulders with important people, whereas the Gaang were in the Upper Ring as “guests” of the King, so I doubt Zuko would’ve even been in a position to hear anything but garbled rumors (though Embers may have created a plot hole, since Zuko has been hobnobbing with the Dai Li and a well-connected professor and visited the palace at least twice and not heard anything… maybe he just wasn’t lucky enough to overhear anything useful).
And the Gaang's about to pop up again, next chapter. Toph rules!
MG: That they are, alas. And I’ll notice that Toph and only Toph gets the shoutout, despite being only one member of the Gaang and not the most important (albeit probably the most powerful after Aang himself). Oh, no, Vathara isn’t biased at all, what made you think that?
This chapter… is mostly falling action. We mostly just tie up some loose ends involving the Freedom Fighters, Amaya learning Zuko and Iroh’s secret identities and them all making up for it (eventually…) and so on. The weirdest thing about this chapter overall is probably the not-so-subtle sympathy for the Fire Nation and disparaging of Aang, which I should be used to by now but felt especially jarring this time around - possibly because of how random the sudden moment implying the Fire Nation has suffered worse than the Air Nomads for their own war effort(!), and of course Iroh agreeing that Koizilla was terrible and never should have happened, despite showing no such disapproval when he was actually there.
And of course, we get the reveal (Iroh is speculating, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone he’s right) that Zuko is the reincarnation of Kuzon. I’ll have more to say on it when we get more into the circumstances of how and why it happened and what it means, but for now I’ll just say I don’t like it. Partially, it’s just a matter of taste. I’ve already gone over how I don’t much care for how Vathara can’t let details just sit and exist – every background detail has to be important, and of course Kuzon can’t just be Aang’s old friend from the Fire Nation a hundred years ago, he had to be an actually important noble heir and budding firebending master and he’s connected to Aang’s most recurring rival and foil in the present day. I’ve mentioned before that I think this sort of thing can, when overused, make a story’s world feel smaller rather than bigger and make everything feel connected to an artificial degree, so I won’t go into it again. I will say that Zuko is now a fire-healer, a descendant of dragons, a descendant of Kuzon, a supposedly impossible dual-element bender, and Kuzon reincarnated, on top of his canonical heritage and skills. That’s, like, five different noncanonical ways Zuko is special, any one of which would’ve been more than enough to build an entire story around. All of them at once just feels like massive overkill, and once again makes it really, really obvious who the author’s favorite character is. I’ve seen it argued that it’s just because Zuko is the protagonist in Embers and isn’t in canon, and this is all just typical protagonist stuff… but I don’t think it is. It feels like more than that to me, can’t lie.
Anyway, we’re also now done with the fic’s second arc, per the TVTropes categorization we’re using! Technically, you could also argue it’s only the first half of a longer Ba Sing Se arc, but here I think the division makes sense. This part of the story has been pretty episodic so far, mostly dealing with Zuko’s various misadventures as he arrives in Ba Sing Se, makes some friends, discovers new abilities, and ultimately has to fight and vanquish a minor arc villain. The overall theme tying all of this together is Zuko making his new life in Ba Sing Se and the implications thereof. This is also where a lot of the more recognizably Embers-y elements start coming into play or becoming more obvious. We meet a lot of Vathara’s OCs for the first time here, especially Amaya, Shirong and the Wens. The Wens, as I’ve mentioned before, are probably my favorite of her OCs and have a fun family dynamic while helping to ground the story’s more fantastical elements in human-level drama; Amaya and Shirong, on the other hand, it’s hard for me to get past the fact that they’re a reckless mind-controller and a loyal Dai Li agent, respectively – and that Vathara really doesn’t seem willing to grapple with the severity of either of those things. And, well, this is also the part of the fic where we start seeing some of the fic’s more central worldbuilding elements come into play with the introduction of the yaoren (still unnamed at this point) and Zuko becoming one… but also some of its more unsettling thematic elements with the growing lionization of (most of) the Dai Li, to go along with the already established favoring of the Fire Nation. In any case, though we’re deep enough into the fic (about a fifth of the way through the overall spork, per my calculations) to start seeing some of the shape of it, we still have some major elements that have yet to be introduced (including some of the most notorious ones) and what’s going to be the fic’s core plot arc (and the identities of its two other big bads in addition to Ozai) has only been alluded to in very vague ways. So, we still have a fair distance to go before we get into some of this spork’s real meat.
The next arc, the second part of the Ba Sing Se storyline, is going to be where the fic catches up to the final arc of the show’s Book 2 (“Lake Laogai” to “The Crossroads of Destiny”) and the Gaang and Zuko’s story starts intersecting again. First, though, we’re going to be checking back in on Shirong and getting some more Fire Nation and dragon lore. We’ll see you then! Our counts stand at:
Beware the Sugar Queen: 7
The Blind Bandit Wins Again: 13
The Deadly Depths: 28
Detached from Reality: 11
Divine Right to Rule: 43
Elemental Determinism: 48
He Has Much to Learn: 25
Prince Stuko: 76
Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 34
The Real Victims: 35
Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 25
Stations of the Canon: 27
The Superior Element: 50
True Guardians of Balance: 1
The Ultimate Firebenders: 19
This is a repost from Das_Sporking2; previous installments of this sporking may be found here.
MG: Well, everyone, it’s time to continue our journey through Vathara’s Embers! Last time, Amaya helped the Dai Li interrogate the Freedom Fighters before being captured, Shirong had a crisis of conscience (but not about what you might think), and Zuko and Iroh fought the spirit and rescued Amaya. Today it’s time to bring the second arc (going by the categorization we’re using in the TOC) of the fic to a close, as we tie up some loose ends and Amaya finds out the truth. Joining us today will be Zuko and Katara!
Chapter 18
Dawn. Amaya could see it in the light filtering through the window-shades. Hear it, in the quiet grumble of Zuko getting breakfast started. Feel it, as Mushi yawned and stretched beside her, warm as the hot rocks wrapped in blankets on her other side.
"Good morning," Mushi said politely, eyes sleepily half-open. "Are you warm enough?"
Zuko: …okay, I know this is probably about helping her recover from the spirit, but considering Amaya and Uncle are supposed to be a couple now, that’s not exactly where my mind is going here.
"If I were any warmer, I'd be in a sauna," Amaya stated crisply. What was he up to? He'd always behaved like a perfect gentleman in the past, and she couldn't have fallen through a winter-frozen lake last night-
Katara: Especially considering it’s summer. But Amaya’s supposed to be from the North, right? Where it’s frozen all year round, like home? Not sure why she’d immediately associated “frozen lake” with a specific season, unless she’s just lived in Ba Sing Se that long.
Memory crashed like an ice shelf into the sea, and she shivered. No. No….
"It is over. Amaya, brave lady, it is over." He caught her hands before she could push away, giving her an intent look.
Zuko: I’d like this a lot more if it was somebody I actually liked and not, you know, Amaya.
"You saved Agent Bon, you know."
"I… no, I tried to kill him…."
"You sheathed him in ice," Mushi said bluntly. "He held on long enough for us to revive him. So you did save him."
"It's not enough," Amaya whispered. Yunxu, an agent whose name she'd never known… they were dead. Because she hadn't been fast enough. Wise enough. Strong enough.
Katara: I don’t know about the nameless guy, but considering Yunxu was into torture and mind control, I can’t say I’m that torn up he’s dead.
"It never is," Mushi said quietly, sitting up. "Evil comes, and we do our best to defy it. But always, there is a loss." He regarded her gravely. "That is the cost of courage. To face evil, because if you did not, more lives would be shattered. Courage scars us all, Amaya. My nephew's is simply more visible than most."
Zuko: That does sound like something Uncle might say, but… *sighs heavily, points up at his previous comment*
"I…" Amaya swallowed, and tried again. "I hurt inside."
"I know."
"I want to hurt something else," she admitted, ashamed. "But it's already dead, and… I know everyone was doing their best to find it, and…." Speak the truth. "Zuko fought it off!"
"My nephew is a firebender," Mushi said bluntly. "He could raise fire in his very veins, to beat it back.
Zuko: Not… really? Setting myself on fire isn’t exactly something I’ve practiced, for good reason! And if you mean metaphorical fires, that’s not the same thing as firebending!
The Superior Element: 48
And even so, he says it was too close. Sometimes all our training and power fails us." He released her hands, and gestured toward the kitchen. "But when we have fallen, and the battle has passed… that is when we must cling most tightly to hope, and find the courage to reach out to our friends. For the truest will come to us, and help us stand again."
He means it. Tears threatened; she'd been so cold and alone, and he was still that same sun-warm rock she could rely on, faithful and kind….
And still, there was that glint of mischief in green eyes, playful and not quite innocent. Amaya lifted her chin. "Get out there, and let a respectable lady dress in peace."
Katara: *sighs* Zuko’s right. A lot of this conversation is really good, and it could be a really sweet moment, but it’s just… Amaya’s left a really, really bad impression of herself so far, and shows no sign of changing, or that her author thinks she needs to change at all, so I’m having a really hard time feeling happy for her and Iroh. Zuko was right last time – he can do so much better.
Mushi snapped his fingers, obviously disappointed. Grinned at her, bowed, and departed.
"Reprobate," she murmured, not unkindly.
It wasn't the best breakfast she'd ever had, but it was warm, and filling; overall, much better than she'd expected. "Huojin wasn't sure either of you could cook," Amaya remarked. And wished she dared pound her head on the table. Not as rested as I thought.
Zuko: …we were on the run for weeks across the whole Earth Kingdom, and there wasn’t exactly a handy village to stop at every night. We can’t always cook well, depending on what we have to work with, but we know how to feed ourselves. I’d think you could’ve figured that out?
Zuko snorted, humor dancing in his eyes. Mushi chuckled. "I did enjoy having a cook in the past," he admitted. "But after I came home from campaign once half-dead from bad food, my late wife insisted I learn, in self-defense. And so I later taught our son, and my nephew. She was a brave woman, my Natsu. Not everyone dares to unleash a proud soldier on a kitchen!"
MG: …you know, I’ve read about how Roman soldiers were required to mill their own flour and bake their own bread; I’m less familiar with the east Asian cultures A:TLA is directly based on, but some quick searches indicates that Chinese and Japanese soldiers had to cook their own rations at least some of the time. So I don’t think “soldier=can’t cook” really holds up; OTOH, Iroh is royalty who would have presumably entered the military already an officer, and likely would’ve always had aides or servants to prepare his food for him (as is alluded to here). So that might provide a better explanation for why a younger Iroh initially didn’t know how to cook, if we wanted to lean into the idea. Maybe I’m just reading too much into a one-off joke, though.
Amaya had to smile, imagining that indignant young soldier. "I would have liked to have met her."
"Me, too," Zuko said softly. "If Mom had been there…."
Mushi rested a hand on his nephew's wrist. "Your mother was only a child then herself, and Shidan and Lady Kotone avoided the capital as much as they could. With good cause. Do not take guilt for what was. Focus on what is."
MG: And yes, there is a reason why Shidan (Ursa’s father in Embers!verse) in particular was determined to stay far away from the royal court, which we’ll be getting down the road.
Words that cleansed and stung at once, like salt on wounds. Amaya sucked in a breath. "The children - down the stairs-"
Katara: *sniffs* I’d be a lot more impressed by your concern now if you hadn’t helped the Dai Li question them last time, you know!
"We didn't go down there." Zuko inhaled the rest of his breakfast, rinsing out his bowl in a hurry. "I'll go. Tell me what I'm looking for, are they going to be hurt-"
Amaya winced. "It's Jet."
"What?"
Zuko: *groans* This is going to be fun…
MG: Fortunately, we’re still a couple of chapters off from you actually having to deal with Jet again, so… yay?
-
For once, Huojin heard Lee coming before he saw him.
"…Idiotic, obsessed, isn't going to take anything less than maiming as a hint…."
Katara: *gives Zuko a long, thoughtful, appraising look* I’m not going to say anything… I’m not going to say anything…
Wouldn't want to be on the other end of that, the Guard reflected.
Zuko: *rolls his eyes* Yes, fear the mighty power of my grumbling, everyone!
"Min again?" he asked, straightening from where he'd been officiously leaning against the wall beside the clinic door. "You're early." Dropping his voice as the young man neared, he nodded toward inside. "Is Amaya all right? Headquarters got orders to post a guard, but not go in…."
"She's shaken up. She's tough." Lee took a deep breath, and reached for the door. "It's going to be ugly."
Zuko: Because all the times I’ve met the Freedom Fighters before in this story have been nothing but iced treats and sunshine, assuming that’s still what we’re talking about.
What happened? Huojin wanted to ask. But bit his tongue. If Lee could have told him on the street, he would have. So he touched his sword and followed, instead.
Blood, and death. Faint. But you could taste it, if you knew the air.
"Huh," Lee muttered to himself. "They cleaned."
Katara: *confused* Who did? The guards, the Dai Li, the spirits? Who’s been in here since you were last time?
"Cleaned?" Huojin said uneasily, following Lee to a slight stain beside the screen to the garden. If that wasn't faint traces of blood spatter, he'd retire to carve wooden tops. "What happened?"
"You're not going to like it…."
You're right. I don't, Huojin decided, as they quickly searched the clinic's upper level while Lee recounted the mad events of last night. Spirits that could take over benders… brr.
Zuko: And nonbenders! Seriously are we forgetting that the very first time we saw it, it tried to take over Jet? He’s not a bender! *beat* I don’t think?
Katara: *flatly* He isn’t. Trust me.
And he just knew Lee had downplayed how much danger he'd been in. "I made it mad until it jumped into the maze." Sure. "But Amaya's alive?"
Zuko: Right, got to make sure Amaya is alive. I know, I know, she’s important to Huojin, but it’s still pretty obvious where the author’s priorities are.
"She'll be okay. She just needs time." Lee smiled faintly. "Uncle's taking her to work. Hot tea, friendly customers… a haima-jiao couldn't get her there if it tried."
Zuko: …if hot tea and friendly customers are all it takes to ward off angry spirits, maybe Uncle should go into the exorcism business…
"But it's dead- right. For the shock." Amaya's mind might know it was dead. If this was anything like a more ordinary assault, her body and spirit would take a lot more convincing. "So what are we really looking for?" Given the Dai Li had apparently clung to their usual mysterious ways and tried to eliminate any sign that something had happened here.
Katara: Well, there’s that part answered. Except it wasn’t “their mysterious ways” that made the Dai Li do things like that, it was “keeping information from people so they could control them.” At least that’s why they kept people from talking about the war, and I’m pretty sure that’s why they’d keep them from learning about spirits, too!
"Something I don't think I'll find." Lighting a lamp, Lee led the way belowground, and sighed.
Rounding the last corner of the stairs himself, Huojin regarded the empty room. "No one's here."
"Not anymore." Lee shook his head. "Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot. The Dai Li had them here for questioning." He looked down, shoulders slumped. "I didn't look down here last night. Neither of us did, we were trying to save Amaya…."
Katara: Well, the spirit didn’t have them, so let me guess – whatever Dai Li agents were here knew where Yunxu and Bon stashed the prisoners, and when they left, they took them with them. Great job, Amaya!
"Sometimes, things don't work out," Huojin admitted. "Lee. I know you're used to being responsible for people. We feel that way in the Guard, too. But when your back's against the wall and someone you rely on is in trouble… you do the best you can with what you know and where you are. You're alive. Amaya's alive. The haima-jiao isn't going to kill anyone else." He crossed his arms, and gave Lee a sidelong glance. "So chin up, take a deep breath, and keep moving. You pulled off a damn miracle last night. Stop whining because you're not perfect."
Zuko: Okay, yeah, but my feelings aren’t really the important thing here, more like the Dai Li might be about to do something worse than death to three people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and even though I don’t like them, like Huojin said, I still feel responsible for them! What about that!?
Prince Stuko: 75 (giving a point for prioritizing Zuko’s feelings over the Freedom Fighters’ fate)
Lee gave him an angry look, that slowly melted into embarrassment. "Was I whining?"
Huojin lifted a hand, rubbed thumb and forefinger together. "Just a little."
"Sorry." Lee shrugged, still a little red. "I just… I feel bad about really only feeling upset because I'll have to tell Amaya."
Zuko: Yeah, no. Like I said, I may not like them, but that doesn’t mean I would want them dead, or worse. And as far as I know, Smellerbee and Longshot’s only crime was having bad taste in friends. But I guess it’s time for guilt by association… because that always ends so well…
"Yeah, well, good riddance," Huojin said darkly. "I warned them. You warned them. Amaya warned them. And you warned them again. You can't save all the idiots from themselves."
Katara: I think the thing they might need saving from are either “angry spirits” or “angry Dai Li” – not sure what they’d have done to bring either of those on themselves, other than being people Vathara doesn’t like!
He shrugged, deliberately. "So you're handling the clinic today?"
"At least the emergencies," Lee nodded.
Zuko: …which I guess I’m a skilled enough healer to be qualified to handle now? *shrugs*
"Closing early, though. Don't want her to worry where I am after dark."
"I'll leave word at headquarters where to find you if we need you," Huojin nodded. The Guard already had their apartment marked down, just in case.
"You can get a message to the Dai Li?"
"We can," Huojin agreed warily.
Katara: Unless the message is “return the Freedom Fighters, please,” not sure I want to hear it.
"Good." Looking a little more determined, Lee headed for the stairs. "I want to make sure Agent Shirong doesn't slip through the cracks just because we all think he's better."
Katara: *sighs* And of course it’s not. And if the Dai Li are supposed to be so good at fighting spirits, shouldn’t they also be better able than most people to tell if someone who got hurt fighting a spirit was better or not?
He cast a faint smile over his shoulder. "And… do you know where in the market I can find some hickory wood, powdered sugar, and grape acid?"
"What for?" Huojin asked, beyond confused.
"You never had smoke-sugar when you were a kid?"
MG: Pretty sure this exact candy is Vathara’s invention, fwiw. It’s a nice little bit of worldbuilding either way, though.
"Well… yeah, I think so, but… you know how to make it?"
Katara: *eyes Zuko* Sounds tasty, but I’m a little surprised a prince would know how to make candy like that!
Zuko: *somewhat embarrassed* Let’s just say I’ve picked up a lot of odd skills over the years.
"Sweet tooth," Lee admitted shamelessly, grinning. "Mom showed me how a long time ago. Before… before a lot of things." He shook off the gloom. "You want the recipe?"
Oh, did he ever.
Katara: Wow, he wants the recipe before he’s even tasted Zuko’s version. I don’t think Zuko’s the only one with a sweet tooth…
-
"You work for that man?" Amaya shook her head as they walked back up to Mushi's apartment through afternoon shadows.
Zuko: You work for – or at least with – the Dai Li. I don’t think Uncle working for a grumpy tea shop owner looks too bad next to that!
"There is no shame in honest work," her host proclaimed. "And tea lightens the cares of those who visit us. Though it never does seem to work on my nephew," he mused.
Zuko: *sheepish* Sorry, Uncle. I was… carrying around a lot back then that I wasn’t able or ready to let go of.
"There's only so much a warm drink can handle," Amaya pointed out wryly. "How long do you intend to put me up when I have a perfectly good home to go to?" I hadn't realized what a cheapskate Pao is. The small fees Zuko was entitled to as an apprentice were more important than she'd realized.
MG: …considering Zuko and Iroh were able to afford a plain but perfectly serviceable apartment in canon, where Amaya didn’t exist, I’m not sure about that?
"Until you feel ready to face the violence that occurred within that home," Mushi said plainly, opening their door and bowing her in. "Or at least so long as you are willing to allow us this kindness. It is what friends do for one another. And a small enough recompense for the harm we did you, unknowing."
"Harm?" Amaya frowned as he closed and latched the door.
Katara: How about we start with some of the harm you do to other people and work from there!
Mushi sighed, and gestured toward the table. "Tea?" he said hopefully.
She lifted a brow, still standing. "An explanation, first."
He inclined his head; as you wish. "You told me it was dangerous for a young waterbender to live with so little family. I failed to consider it might be as perilous for you, even though you are well trained. And so I turned away your offer of family, without explanation."
MG: Because family, of course, is uniquely a need waterbenders have. Riiight.
Elemental Determinism: 47
"You said it was dangerous," Amaya pointed out.
"It is," Mushi acknowledged. "But we nearly lost you. And that would have been… horrible to bear." He sighed. "So. In trying to protect you, I did you harm. It seems a custom of my family…. I would mend that harm, in some small way. So that you may know what it is you risk now, rather than wait until we must flee Ba Sing Se for Jinhai's sake, or our own." He lowered his voice. "With the haima-jiao gone, we are no longer watched. It is safe to speak of such things. If you wish."
Zuko: Yeah, if Shirong was doing his job we’d sure be watched, at least, after everything we let slip to him not long ago! Not to mention, the Dai Li probably watch Amaya herself all the time, if she’s really that important to them!
Her breath caught. He was offering one of the things she valued most in the world: truth. And yet…. "Don't. Don't tell me, just because you feel you've wronged me. You haven't."
"It is more than that," Mushi said firmly. "You are dear to me, Lady Amaya. Were I another man, I would have hopes… but I would, at least, have no lies between us. That much comfort, I would claim." He drew a breath, and met her gaze. "I am Iroh. Son of Fire Lady Ilah, and Fire Lord Azulon."
Katara: …okay, you’d better not be being watched, just admitting it like that!
For a long moment, the words didn't make sense. Couldn't make sense. Azulon; son of Sozin, the Fire Lord who'd begun a century of war. Azulon, the name she and everyone she knew had grown up cursing for his failed assault on the North Pole, and his merciless decimation of the Southern Water Tribe. And Iroh was another name to conjure nightmares. Crown prince, before Ozai took the throne; ruthless general and firebender beyond compare, who had conquered his way across half the Earth Kingdom and held Ba Sing Se under siege for six hundred days.
The Dragon of the West.
Katara: Huh. Someone is actually having a reasonable reaction to learning all of that! *beat* It’s probably not going to last much longer, is it?
"You can't be," Amaya whispered, gaze sweeping frantically across the kind, gentle man in Earth Kingdom green. Warm hands, a shoulder to lean on; gentle correction when his nephew needed it most….
Zuko. If his brother is Zuko's father, then-
Her mind shied from the thought. "You're a tea-maker. You can't be… General Iroh."
"Retired," Iroh said gently. And smiled, sadly. "I have always taken comfort in tea."
Zuko: He’s not lying. Uncle’s been crazy about tea since before I was born. Trust me on this one.
"You can't be," Amaya insisted, panic and hurt and anger mixing together like foaming wine. "Not Sozin's blood, not-" Words failed her.
"The source of all evil in the world?" Iroh said wryly. "I have heard us called that before. And yes. Sozin was evil. Not because he meant to be. Because he believed that he alone knew how to remake the world into perfection, and set out to do so - even if he must murder an entire race." Iroh sighed.
Katara: Oh, I don’t know, I think that when you think you alone know how to build a perfect world and that involves murdering an entire nation and trying to conquer everyone else, that counts as meaning to be evil! But what do I know, my tribe was just the one that got “decimated,” remember?
MG: And I will say that while Vathara still ultimately presents Sozin as having been evil, she does give him at least a few inches of whitewashing to try and make him somewhat more sympathetic than canon (honestly, all moral implications aside, I just think this is unnecessary - I always thought “The Avatar and the Fire Lord” did plenty to explain Sozin’s descent into tyranny and evil, and that it made him rather more interesting in a single episode’s worth of flashbacks than Ozai ever managed to be across the whole series… but I digress).
Katara: *facepalms*
"I did not realize that was evil. Not when I knew him, when I was still a young man.
Zuko: *confused* Great-grandfather died years before Uncle was born? He never knew him?
MG: Remember, Vathara is using the older version of the timeline, the one that had Sozin surviving quite a ways into the war and Azulon’s reign being shorter, rather than the later version where Sozin died relatively early in the war and Azulon ruled for most of it. That explains some discrepancies.
To me he was Grandfather, and Fire Lord; the ultimate power in our land. If he had started a war, he must be in the right." He shook his head, looking into memory. "It was only with time, and great pain, that I learned how wrong he was.
MG: I actually rather like this part, though – showing how Iroh grew up practically worshipping Sozin and only managed to break out of that worldview later in life. I think it sums it up rather nicely, really.
That the beauty, the very hope of the world lies in the fact that it is not perfect, and we must find ways to cherish what is good in it despite that. For reshape the world as we will, none of us is perfect; and if we cannot love one who is flawed, love itself will die. As my brother's died, for all of us. I was too kind. Ursa was too gentle. Zuko… Zuko was too weak, with no desire for power. We were human, and so we failed my brother."
Zuko: *splutters* We failed him? Dad burned off half my face because I embarrassed him by talking out of turn! I don’t think what we did to him is the issue here!
MG: The weird thing is… Embers!Ozai is probably one of the most in-character of the major canon characters in it. He’s virtually the same abusive, cruel, megalomaniac monster he was in the original show, and there’s no serious attempt to ever humanize him or portray him in a positive light (at least none that goes anywhere). So I’m not sure if this is just supposed to be Iroh being empathetic even to someone who doesn’t deserve it, but in any case, it’s kind of weird in context. Honestly, in my less charitable moments I’ve wondered if Ozai gets to still be evil because he abused Zuko and Zuko is Vathara’s fave, and if he hadn’t done that she’d have tried to whitewash him, too. Similar with Azula, though she gets pretty significant character development in the back half of the fic (I have significant issues with how Vathara handles Azula, but… we’ll get there when we get there). Reading this bit again, it looks more like Iroh is saying that in Ozai’s opinion they all “failed” him by not living up to his impossible standards, but I think the wording is extremely unfortunate – making it sound like they all had an obligation to love Ozai and make him a better person and didn’t do it. At least that’s how my first instinct to read it was and why I was taken aback.
They failed Fire Lord Ozai. And hadn't she hoped for that? That all of the Fire Nation would fail, and the war finally be over? And yet…. "You are the war," Amaya whispered brokenly.
Zuko: I mean, Uncle’s been retired for years, but coming from someone who lives in Ba Sing Se… that’s pretty fair.
"I was," Iroh admitted, unflinching. "But when we broke the Outer Wall, and invaded, I lost - much. Good men. Far too many good men. Including my son, Lu Ten. I was… horrified. Near mad with grief. He was all I had left. Or so I thought. But I was also the officer in command, the Dragon of the West. I had to think of my men, and of the Fire Nation. Terrain, numbers, morale; the earthbenders' advantage was too great to overcome without losses that would devastate my troops. Only slaughter or treachery would bring Ba Sing Se down, and I did not wish either. So I ordered the siege ended, our troops withdrawn. Against all orders Azulon had given." He hesitated. "I did not expect to survive that order."
A firebender, breaking loyalty…. Amaya shivered.
MG: You know, I was actually really liking this summation of Iroh’s mindset at the time he broke the siege (though I had to raise my eyebrow at Iroh not wanting to win by treachery, both because statistically sieges end by treachery far more often than by direct assault, and because Iroh himself can be plenty sneaky and underhanded when he wants to be)… but then Vathara just had to go and bring loyalty into things. Have I mentioned how much I hate this concept, and how much it distorts the characters’ relationships? Because I really, really do.
"Once I recovered, I expected to be executed for treason.
MG: Honestly, from what we see of Azulon, I have a very hard time imagining him doing that – hells, he tried to have Zuko killed to punish Ozai for suggesting disinheriting him. We don’t see much of Azulon, and it’s pretty clear he was a tyrant just as ruthless as his father and younger son from what little we do… but I think it’s also pretty clear that whatever else he was, Iroh was his favorite.
But events spared me. Now… now I would end the war, if I could. But more than that, I wish the boy I have raised as a son to survive." Iroh spread empty hands. "Now you know the truth of us, and what you risk by allying with my brother's outcast kin. And you must decide if we are worth it."
"You," Amaya breathed, voice gradually rising, "you reckless, impossible - Tui and La, he is definitely your nephew, you're both utterly insane-"
Zuko: *awkwardly* Okay. Fair enough?
It took at least five minutes of yelling for her to figure out Iroh had preemptively vaporized all the water in the apartment.
Katara: What… how… that would’ve been really obvious… where did all the steam go!?
But that was all right. Zuko could draw water out of wet sand - and where, exactly, did his uncle think he'd learned that little trick?
Zuko: So that’s what I was doing last time! Better than the alternatives?
Air was harder to draw from than a lake-damp shore. But not by much.
Katara: …yeah it is, unless it’s really foggy out! And I can pull water out of mud or wet sand too; you’re not that special!
-
Over the course of sixteen years, especially over the past few months, Zuko had cultivated an intuitive sense for when Things Were About To Blow Up.
Zuko: …okay, can’t really argue there.
It was the little details, mostly. A certain glint in Azula's eye. A scuff of a boot too close in an alley. A tremble of earth that ought to be solid.
And sometimes, it was not so little things. Zhao. The hunch of the Avatar's shoulders, before he turned with mad, glowing eyes.
Katara: *nonplussed* You mean “gone into the Avatar State?” And, uh, by this point had you ever seen it happen like that? I think every time Aang went into the Avatar State when you were around, either he was under water, or in the inner sanctuary in the Fire Temple, or he was about to channel the Ocean Spirit and you’d gone off chasing Zhao, so…
Or, like now, a half-dozen fellow dwellers on this floor at the far end of the corridor from Uncle's apartment, splitting upset looks between each other and the faint sounds of Amaya yelling.
"You're here?" The landlord pushed his way to the front, glaring at Zuko. "You're not supposed to be here! Water's frozen all over the place! How can it be freezing in here when you just got here?"
"Because I didn't do it?" Zuko glared back. "I'm not the only waterbender in the city."
Zuko: Yeah, was “the woman doing the shouting is a waterbender” really that hard to figure out?
"Well, you're the one who lives in this building!" The landlord pointed an imperious finger. "Fix this!"
I am not going to feed him his finger.
Katara: Okay… kind of gross…
Lee's impulse, born of the tribes' historical feuds; more than a little startling, when he was far more used to the glass-razor insults or explosive lethal violence of Fire Nation politics.
Zuko: Wow, so in one sentence we still have proof that Amaya’s technique is still screwing with my head and proof that Vathara still thinks the Water Tribes are violent barbarians compared to the Fire Nation. Great.
Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 24
The Superior Element: 49
Make an enemy maim himself. Yeah, that's Water Tribe.
Katara: As opposed to the Fire Nation, who massacred an entire nation of pacifists to make sure they got one kid! Or, oh, how about carting enemy benders off to prison camps where they can get locked up and tortured for decades! But at least they don’t maim people! *rolls her eyes*
Zuko: Also… *sighs, points at his face* Yeah, my dad the Fire Lord did that. So no, I’m not very impressed.
Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 25
Well. He was not going to do that, no matter how tempting. But he couldn't let this pass, either. Lee was Amaya's apprentice. What he did reflected on her - and not even the Dai Li ordered Amaya around.
Katara: So I guess she just helps them interrogate prisoners when she claims she doesn’t want to for fun, then?
Zuko drew himself up to his full height, and stared the landlord straight in the eye. Not overtly threatening. Not yet.
Beads of sweat broke out on the man's forehead, and he blinked first. "…Please?"
Zuko: Please tell me I’m just being intimidating and not using loyalty on him?
"Give me some time." Warily, Zuko approached his own door. Knocked, and opened it. "Master Amaya? There's ice all through the building…."
The room wasn't quite as much of a wreck as he'd feared. Chairs were upended. Amaya was panting hoarsely, stance firm as a winter-locked lake. Ice. Uncle in the middle of the ice. Which made him want to throw weeks of caution to the wind and do something-
But Uncle was only in ice up to his neck. Meaning he was frozen because he wanted to be frozen.
Katara: Considering what sorts of things Amaya can do, it’s honestly kind of refreshing that she just froze Iroh up to his neck and left him like that. *beat* And I can’t believe I just said that! And wow, what a basis for a healthy romance – he lied to her, and when she found out, she was so mad she froze him solid! You know, there’ve been times I’ve gotten pretty mad at Aang, but I never did that to him!
Okay, there is something I can do. "What do you want me to do with the witnesses?" Zuko deadpanned.
Zuko: Cart them off to Lake Laogai and make them disappear? *beat* What, she’s friends with the Dai Li, that’s what they’d do!
Amaya flushed, mortified, seeing curious faces edge near in the hall. Uncle Iroh tried not to snicker. Much.
"We'll straighten this out," Zuko said to the hallway at large, and firmly closed the door. Waited a minute, and turned around.
Nobody's dead. Good.
Katara: Well, if “no casualties” is the main standard for a domestic spat… that’s a really low bar, isn’t it?
Uncle was still a bit damp, and Master Amaya more than a little pink. And neither of them were quite looking at each other. In a way that raised the hairs on the back of Zuko's neck.
Zuko: Oh, spirits, she did brainwash him, didn’t she!?
MG: Well, it might explain the sudden nosedive Iroh’s characterization takes in the back end of the fic…
Zuko: *flatly* What.
No, no, not good, what do I do, where do I hide, should have kept quiet, they know I'm here-
Panic and exhaustion and two people he cared about were fighting, which meant it was his fault, again….
Thank Agni for windows.
Zuko: Okay, “panicking and fleeing the scene” seems like a pretty good idea, actually. Though if this was actually me, I’d need to be making a plan to come back and rescue Uncle, probably…
-
"He won't come down?"
"Not yet, no," Iroh sighed, picking up the last of the groceries Zuko had dropped in his sudden flight. Raising a brow at some of what he'd found. So you meant for us to celebrate. It appears I have unfortunate timing.
"He's a teenage boy, who hasn't had supper," Amaya said confidently. "He will." Gave Iroh a second look at his silence. "Won't he?"
Katara: Well, if the options are “come down and eat” and “stay up there and starve,” then it seems pretty clear, right? *beat* Right?
"He is quite capable of remaining up there for days, only venturing down to carry out his duties as he has given word to do," Iroh said unhappily.
Zuko: You know, for a story that’s so down on the Air Nomads, that almost makes me sound like a monk, ironically enough.
Caught her frown, and sighed. "It is not defiance, I think…."
Comprehension dawned, and Amaya winced. "His parents fought."
"Not at first," Iroh clarified. "But as my nephew passed four - yes. Often." He hesitated. "You have seen this before?"
"More than I like to think," Amaya admitted. "And it is defiance. Of a sort. You can hurt each other, you can scare me to death, but you can't make me watch." She sighed herself. "Parents can't hurt what they can't catch. I would say Lee's been teaching himself not to get caught for a very long time."
It cut to the bone. "I should have seen-"
MG: On the one hand, yes, this is more good characterization – heartbreaking, but good! On the other hand, I hate how we’re still making Iroh come across as so ignorant of Zuko’s trauma, when he loves him, he’s been traveling with him for years, and he’s very wise and observant, so that Iroh can be the audience surrogate and have things like this explained to him.
"Children are good at hiding things. They want their parents to be all right. No matter what." She touched his shoulder. "It's odd, but… this almost tells me more about the war than anything else."\
Iroh raised a curious brow.
"Sozin destroyed an entire nation to shape the world the way he wanted it," Amaya said quietly. "How much more harm did he do to his own people?"
Zuko: Great-Grandfather, and Grandfather, and Dad did a lot of harm to the Fire Nation between the three of them. Polluting our land to build factories for the war… twisting our whole culture around violence and conquest… sending generations of our people to die on foreign shores for their own power and glory… but it wasn’t worse than wiping the entire Air Nomad nation out of existence except for one hyperactive twelve-year-old everyone expected to somehow save the world. And Amaya is saying this when she comes from another culture my family tried its hardest to conquer or wipe out. Come on – this isn’t hard!
The Real Victims: 33
"I have made my own choices to fight, and to stop," Iroh said plainly. "As must we all. Though I have hopes that our plan will show our people another way forward…." He felt a flicker of fire, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "I apologize, nephew."
"Uncle." Zuko slipped back in through the window, still wary. "You don't… I just… I should have known it… wasn't what I thought."
Katara: So, what, Iroh and Amaya didn’t have a fight that resulted in her freezing him up to his neck? Could’ve fooled me!
"How?" Amaya said practically. "From what your uncle and Huojin have told me, you've never lived around people who just have normal arguments."
Katara: …lady, if your idea of “normal arguments” involves freezing someone up to his neck and screaming at him, I have no idea what to tell you.
"…No. Not really." Zuko looked between them both, tension easing a little. "It is- was it something I did?"
"No," Iroh said firmly, heartened. Courage in battle, Zuko had in plenty. Courage to face the ghosts of his past, and come back… his nephew was healing. "It was merely between us. Explanations, long overdue." He gripped Zuko's shoulder lightly. "Come. Dinner; and I see you have the makings of smoke-sugar. A fine treat."
"Smoke-sugar?" Amaya asked, curious.
"After dinner," Iroh assured her. "My nephew has a light touch with the bubbles."
"Bubbles?"
Iroh grinned at her.
Katara: *mouthing* Bubbles?
And smiled again later, enjoying the warmth of company as Amaya crunched into her first translucent bubble of blown sugar, filled with savory gray hickory smoke.
For life is sweet, and fragile, and always spiced with surprise, Iroh thought, enjoying his own silvery-gray globes. Especially for children of fire.
Zuko: But not everyone else, I guess. Because even our candy has to be special in the Fire Nation!
The Superior Element: 50
He waited until Zuko was about to bite into his third to deadpan, "She knows who we are."
Crunch.
Choking on inhaled smoke, Zuko gave him a glare that should have set ice on fire.
"It explains a great deal," Amaya noted gently. "I couldn't understand why you were both so sure the Fire Nation's time was nearing an end." She laid her hand on the table near Zuko's, almost touching. "But if the crown prince is a waterbender…."
Zuko: And I still don’t think we’re quite wrestling with just how weird a thing that is to happen, by the way. As in “this is supposed to be impossible” kind of weird.
Zuko looked down, and swallowed. "The Fire Lord is cruel." A breath. "But Azula… my sister is insane."
MG: *flatly* As opposed to Ozai, who at a look of absolute ecstatic rapture on his face when using the power of Sozin’s Comet to try and glass the whole Earth Kingdom for resisting his rule. But I will say, I do not like how this fic ends up handling Azula’s mental illness and, well, we’ll see when we get there…
He glanced up at Amaya, green eyes pleading. "If we can do this, if we can show you can live without following the Fire Lord - there are great names who won't pledge loyalty to her. And if they can do that, if they can look after their people and get them out of the war…. If the Avatar's supposed to be about balance, then he can't destroy all of the Fire Nation. It'd be tactically sound for him to spare the noncombatants. It'd be the smart thing to do."
Katara: Uh, news for Zuko, Aang doesn’t want to destroy the Fire Nation! Aang doesn’t want to kill anybody. We were mostly focused on overthrowing your dad, because that’s what Bumi and Roku told Aang he’d have to do to end the war. “Massacring lots of Fire Nationals” was never anyone’s plan!
The Real Victims: 34
"Unfortunately, the Avatar is twelve, and an airbender devoted to peace," Iroh said gravely. "So we do not know if he will find wisdom in time, or listen to those who know war. We can only hope, and prepare."
Katara: So, Aang being a twelve-year-old pacifist makes him… more likely to try to destroy the Fire Nation? What? I… just… what is wrong with that logic?
The Real Victims: 35
"I can see how that would work for the future," Amaya allowed. "But here and now-"
"You can't give a traitor orders," Zuko said harshly. "I gave my word to capture the Avatar. But he's not here." He took a deep breath.
Zuko: And I wasn’t trying to capture Aang because I had orders, I was doing it because I thought if I did I could go home and Dad would forgive me and welcome me back. This isn’t that hard to figure out… I, uh, kind of rarely shut up about it back then.
Katara: *flatly* We know.
"I don't know, Master Amaya. I don't know. I'm here. My people are here. I'm going to do everything I can. But when I make plans… things happen. Things go wrong. Always. So I'm just going to try. As long as I can."
"Which is all anyone can ask," Iroh said firmly. "Do not dwell on it, nephew. We have all had very trying days. I am certain all will look brighter, once we have had some rest."
"I know I'll feel more at ease when I've had a chance to check Shirong for myself," Amaya said gravely. "If he'll allow me."
Katara: Oh, right, can’t forget the Dai Li, at least some of them, are good guys in this. Great.
"He knows it wasn't your fault," Zuko said soberly.
She arched a skeptical brow. "As you do about the Avatar?"
"Oh, no," Iroh stepped in, before blood could be drawn. "I saw the boy let the Ocean take him. That was definitely Avatar Aang's fault." He hmphed. "One would think a bender trained under Monk Gyatso, one of the most legendary airbending masters, would have been more wary of the spirits."
Katara: Which is why you stood there and never gave any sign you disapproved of it or thought it was bad. Especially since you’d already warned Zhao about the terrible things that would happen if he killed the Moon Spirit, and then attacked him when he ignored you and did it anyway. Right.
He Has Much To Learn: 24
"He probably thought he could make friends with it," Zuko griped.
Katara: Actually pretty sure they both wanted to do something about the Moon Spirit being dead, and, well… Aang’s the Avatar. As my brother sometimes likes to point out, weird things happen around Aang.
He Has Much to Learn: 25
"How do you know that about Gyatso? I've never heard anything about legendary airbending masters."
"There are sources of information the Fire Lord would not approve of," Iroh said practically. "Once I had a name, I could make inquiries. None of which yielded information that would have helped in our chase," he added at Zuko's dark look. "But I was curious. Especially when I found he counted Avatar Roku among his truest friends."
"Can you tell me about him?" Zuko didn't squirm under his gaze, though he did redden. "He thought I was someone else. I just want to know who."
Iroh hid a chuckle. "Ah. Well, if I were to guess…. It is likely he thought you were your mother's grandfather." He shrugged. "The records I have seen say nothing of Kuzon knowing Aang, but there is a mention of Gyatso."
Zuko: Hadn’t Uncle and I already figured out that Kuzon probably knew Aang? I’m pretty sure we had this conversation…
"Being a spirit must give you lousy eyesight," Zuko grumbled. "Do I look a century old?"
Zuko: *sighs heavily* Let me guess – there’s a reason Gyatso mistook me for Kuzon, and it’s not because spirits have lousy eyesight, or because he’s apparently my great-grandfather.
MG: *grimly* You would be right.
Zuko: *groans and facepalms*
Glancing at Amaya, he tensed, and made himself relax. "So… you look like you need to talk a little more, so… just call me off the roof when you're done."
That swiftly, he was gone again.
Iroh raised a brow at the healer.
"You're hiding something," she said levelly.
"A suspicion, only," he admitted. "I cannot see that it would make any difference-"
"Iroh."
Ah, how sweet to hear his real name from such a vision of beauty and courage… er. Was that a snowball in her hands?
Katara: *crossing her arms* Okay, starting to think she really did brainwash him. We’re going to have to put up with them being like this for the whole rest of the story, aren’t we?
"I do not think it would help my nephew to know," Iroh answered, sensing for fire to be certain that nephew was out of earshot. "I have no proof. And I can think of none that would prove such wild fancies, truly."
"Tell me."
Iroh sighed. "When Zuko was in the spirit world, he looked for Kuzon for aid. A wise move; they were kin, even though they had never met, for Kuzon died before my nephew was born. And I later learned it was not a natural death, though he was ninety-eight; he was a strong firebender, and I would not have been surprised if he had reached Sozin's age. But he was on Azulon's list." Iroh paused. "Zuko looked, but he did not find. And it has been my experience that spirits know precisely whom they are speaking to."
Zuko: *gets the implication, buries his face even deeper in his hands*
MG: And yes, the implication is what you’re all probably thinking, though it’ll be a while yet before it gets explicitly spelled out for Zuko’s benefit.
Prince Stuko: 76
Amaya let her snowball melt back into her cup. "…I can see why you don't want to tell him."
"Do you?" Iroh asked quietly. "My nephew has been so lonely, so full of pain. Shall I tell him that once he had family who loved him truly, and joy, and a life of peace? Shall I tell him that the Avatar was granted Gyatso as friend and mentor in two lives, yet the spirit who was once Aang's friend is now counted among his enemies?"
MG: …and an author who is insistent that Aang and Zuko can never, ever, ever be friends and Aang is a naïve fool for thinking otherwise; don’t forget that part.
He shook his head. "My nephew has reason enough to resent fate's blows. There is no need to add more."
Amaya nodded. "Will you ever tell him?"
"When the time is right." When Zuko knew enough of the White Lotus to know why they existed. And why they had not acted before.
Katara: …because they were scattered all over the world and Iroh only called them together in a last-ditch effort to liberate Ba Sing Se before the Comet hit?
Another, more deliberate nod. "Are you hiding anything else?"
"Much," Iroh answered honestly. "But nothing else that bears on here and now."
"So you say." Standing, Amaya folded her arms, and gave him a measuring look. "You don't have enough family. One nephew can't keep you honest."
MG: Well, he’s also got a brother… who wants him dead… and a niece… who shot him with lightning the last time they met…
Iroh kept a curious look on his face as he tried to decipher that inscrutable look. "I have been hoping he would find a nice girl, but there was Jet's interference to consider, and we have been very busy…."
Zuko: Yeah, that’s why he tried to set me up with Jin, which was… fun… but nothing came from it. *beat* Did I ever actually go out with Jin in this version? Did it happen and Vathara skipped it, or did it not actually happen at all?
"He's not the one who needs a nice girl." Blue eyes danced. "Though I don't think I've been nice for a few decades."
Katara: *sniffs* I’ll say.
Slowly, Iroh smiled.
He did remember to tell Zuko it was safe to come back down. Later.
MG: And, perhaps thankfully, the chapter ends there. Thank you both for your help, Zuko and Katara. Onward to the AN – it’s a short one this time!
A/N: As far as Zuko and Iroh hiding out in Ba Sing Se goes, I think of that as one big Refuge in Audacity plot on Iroh's part. It's just too implausible for anyone to believe the Dragon of the West and the Crown Prince are in the city. So they don't.
MG: Also, it’s a huge city, and I really doubt most people would recognize Prince Zuko and General Iroh of the Fire Nation (which is not only another country, but one that the Earth Kingdom is at war with!) on sight, especially when they’re wearing Earth Kingdom civilian clothes. Looking at Zuko and Iroh, I think all most people would see are a young man with a burn scar (and again, they’ve been at war with the Fire Nation – probably not an uncommon sight!) and an older man gone somewhat to seed. I don’t think they’re exactly going to stand out among the thousands of other refugees in the city.
And as far as the pair not figuring out Aang is also in Ba Sing Se... well, they didn't figure it out in canon until the leaflet dropped on Zuko's head. So my thought is that Iroh, who desperately wants to keep Zuko away from the Avatar, probably told his White Lotus contacts not to tell him where Aang was. If he doesn't know, he's not lying to Zuko.
MG: And in canon, when Iroh and Zuko were making plans to get into Ba Sing Se with the White Lotus florist, Aang and his friends… were lost in the middle of the desert. I doubt the White Lotus had any idea where they were at that moment. And again, it’s a big city, and at least in canon Zuko and Iroh were in the Lower Ring and not exactly rubbing shoulders with important people, whereas the Gaang were in the Upper Ring as “guests” of the King, so I doubt Zuko would’ve even been in a position to hear anything but garbled rumors (though Embers may have created a plot hole, since Zuko has been hobnobbing with the Dai Li and a well-connected professor and visited the palace at least twice and not heard anything… maybe he just wasn’t lucky enough to overhear anything useful).
And the Gaang's about to pop up again, next chapter. Toph rules!
MG: That they are, alas. And I’ll notice that Toph and only Toph gets the shoutout, despite being only one member of the Gaang and not the most important (albeit probably the most powerful after Aang himself). Oh, no, Vathara isn’t biased at all, what made you think that?
This chapter… is mostly falling action. We mostly just tie up some loose ends involving the Freedom Fighters, Amaya learning Zuko and Iroh’s secret identities and them all making up for it (eventually…) and so on. The weirdest thing about this chapter overall is probably the not-so-subtle sympathy for the Fire Nation and disparaging of Aang, which I should be used to by now but felt especially jarring this time around - possibly because of how random the sudden moment implying the Fire Nation has suffered worse than the Air Nomads for their own war effort(!), and of course Iroh agreeing that Koizilla was terrible and never should have happened, despite showing no such disapproval when he was actually there.
And of course, we get the reveal (Iroh is speculating, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone he’s right) that Zuko is the reincarnation of Kuzon. I’ll have more to say on it when we get more into the circumstances of how and why it happened and what it means, but for now I’ll just say I don’t like it. Partially, it’s just a matter of taste. I’ve already gone over how I don’t much care for how Vathara can’t let details just sit and exist – every background detail has to be important, and of course Kuzon can’t just be Aang’s old friend from the Fire Nation a hundred years ago, he had to be an actually important noble heir and budding firebending master and he’s connected to Aang’s most recurring rival and foil in the present day. I’ve mentioned before that I think this sort of thing can, when overused, make a story’s world feel smaller rather than bigger and make everything feel connected to an artificial degree, so I won’t go into it again. I will say that Zuko is now a fire-healer, a descendant of dragons, a descendant of Kuzon, a supposedly impossible dual-element bender, and Kuzon reincarnated, on top of his canonical heritage and skills. That’s, like, five different noncanonical ways Zuko is special, any one of which would’ve been more than enough to build an entire story around. All of them at once just feels like massive overkill, and once again makes it really, really obvious who the author’s favorite character is. I’ve seen it argued that it’s just because Zuko is the protagonist in Embers and isn’t in canon, and this is all just typical protagonist stuff… but I don’t think it is. It feels like more than that to me, can’t lie.
Anyway, we’re also now done with the fic’s second arc, per the TVTropes categorization we’re using! Technically, you could also argue it’s only the first half of a longer Ba Sing Se arc, but here I think the division makes sense. This part of the story has been pretty episodic so far, mostly dealing with Zuko’s various misadventures as he arrives in Ba Sing Se, makes some friends, discovers new abilities, and ultimately has to fight and vanquish a minor arc villain. The overall theme tying all of this together is Zuko making his new life in Ba Sing Se and the implications thereof. This is also where a lot of the more recognizably Embers-y elements start coming into play or becoming more obvious. We meet a lot of Vathara’s OCs for the first time here, especially Amaya, Shirong and the Wens. The Wens, as I’ve mentioned before, are probably my favorite of her OCs and have a fun family dynamic while helping to ground the story’s more fantastical elements in human-level drama; Amaya and Shirong, on the other hand, it’s hard for me to get past the fact that they’re a reckless mind-controller and a loyal Dai Li agent, respectively – and that Vathara really doesn’t seem willing to grapple with the severity of either of those things. And, well, this is also the part of the fic where we start seeing some of the fic’s more central worldbuilding elements come into play with the introduction of the yaoren (still unnamed at this point) and Zuko becoming one… but also some of its more unsettling thematic elements with the growing lionization of (most of) the Dai Li, to go along with the already established favoring of the Fire Nation. In any case, though we’re deep enough into the fic (about a fifth of the way through the overall spork, per my calculations) to start seeing some of the shape of it, we still have some major elements that have yet to be introduced (including some of the most notorious ones) and what’s going to be the fic’s core plot arc (and the identities of its two other big bads in addition to Ozai) has only been alluded to in very vague ways. So, we still have a fair distance to go before we get into some of this spork’s real meat.
The next arc, the second part of the Ba Sing Se storyline, is going to be where the fic catches up to the final arc of the show’s Book 2 (“Lake Laogai” to “The Crossroads of Destiny”) and the Gaang and Zuko’s story starts intersecting again. First, though, we’re going to be checking back in on Shirong and getting some more Fire Nation and dragon lore. We’ll see you then! Our counts stand at:
Beware the Sugar Queen: 7
The Blind Bandit Wins Again: 13
The Deadly Depths: 28
Detached from Reality: 11
Divine Right to Rule: 43
Elemental Determinism: 48
He Has Much to Learn: 25
Prince Stuko: 76
Protectors of our Cultural Heritage: 34
The Real Victims: 35
Simple Rubes from the Water Tribes: 25
Stations of the Canon: 27
The Superior Element: 50
True Guardians of Balance: 1
The Ultimate Firebenders: 19
