(no subject)
A/N: Thanks for your reviews! I'd just like to say thank you for sticking around to read this! The story's going to be different now. I know alot of people don't read author notes, but this is to help dispell some confusion. For the majority of the time from here on in, Zuko will be called by the alias he took in Ba Sing Se, Lee. It's to symbolize him completely burying the ties to his past. I know, I'm weird. Anyway, Enjoy the chapter! Hope you like the little bit at the end!
PS: For those who don't know, this story is intended to be slash. If you don't like, don't read. For those who don't mind it too much, or love slash, I'm integrating it slowly into the story. I can't stand sudden relationships.
“Watch how you’re holding that spear, Lee!” Lee looked behind him, into the longboat. Sokka was there, walking over to him. “I thought you said you knew how to spearfish.” The scarred boy smiled at his friend apologetically and relaxed his position. “It looked like you were about to charge the water, which, by the way, I don’t recommend, even if you’re a Fire Bender.
“So show me how to do this, then, instead of whining over it, Sokka,” Lee said then in his trademark bossy tone. Sokka grabbed the spear from the boy and mimicked what the other had said in a mocking tone. Lee chuckled and smacked Sokka lightly on the forehead.
“Okay,” Sokka began. “First things first.” He grabbed the spear and clutched it as if he were in a Martial Arts pose, the same way Zuko had been standing at the edge of the boat. “This stance is all wrong. You’re trying to kill a fish, not a person. This requires more agility and accuracy.” He changed his stance so that he had one arm out in front of him and the other arm with the spear high above his head, and in that position, he froze. Lee held in a laugh as he watched this.
It was slightly comical how serious Sokka had suddenly become over a fish, especially since it was rare for the boy not to tell a joke. As soon as he finished that thought, Sokka snapped his arm forward in a practiced throw. The spear flew from his hand with rope trailing behind it. The spear pierced the water, and a moment later, the calm blue liquid was stained with blood. Sokka straightened back up and turned to look at Lee. “And that, my friend, is how a master fishes.” The smug look he’d acquired disappeared into a mask of confusion as he looked at his friend. “What’s so funny?”
“You, O Wise and Great Fish Master,” Lee told the other. Sokka glared at Lee for a moment before he started reeling the spear back in. A large fish was stuck on the blade, much to Sokka’s pleasure.
“You wish you could get a fish like this,” Sokka said as he put it in with the rest of the collective haul on the longboat.
“I probably could,” Lee retorted. “The thing’s the size of a palace door.” Sokka glared at him for a moment but said nothing. The two went back to fishing until at last it was time for the longboat to come home.
----
It’d been nearly two months since their return from the Capital City. A great majority of Water Tribe men were home now, with the exception of a few brigades out abroad, helping the Earth Kingdom with their reclamation of their home. For Sokka, it was paradise. People were finally paying attention to him, a war hero, and one of the greatest living legends that the Water Tribe had ever produced, along with his sister. The Fire Nation never managed to make it down to the South Pole while they were gone, much to Sokka’s relief. Everything he worked for would have been lost if they had. Aang, Iroh, and Toph, who’d only stayed for a week before demanding to be taken to some place where there was earth, had even gotten the hero treatment. The only one who’d seemed to be left out from all the celebrations, Sokka had noticed a few days in, was Zuko.
Zuko faced a unique position inside the walls of the Southern Water Tribe. While no one dared say anything about it in the open, the women and children had remembered the scarred soldier who’d attacked a defenseless village. Although people weren’t hostile towards him, it was apparent, for the first month or so at least, that he wasn’t welcome in the tribe. He stuck to himself mostly, wandering around the village, avoiding eye contact when possible, and only speaking to Iroh and on occasion to Aang or Sokka.
It was about a week in that Sokka truly tried seeking out Zuko’s friendship. Iroh told him about Zuko’s past, why he’d gone after the Avatar and the reason for his betrayal in Ba Sing Se. At first, Sokka didn’t really see the point, but tried comprehending the situation, to put himself in Zuko’s shoes. He found that, given the circumstances, he probably would have done much of the same thing. He started talking with Zuko more, letting him know more about his life, and in turn, more and more each day, Zuko started to come out of his shell.
Eventually, Sokka and Zuko became good friends, partly because they were the only two in the entire tribe their age, but also because they shared much of the same experiences over the past two years. Sokka began to wonder, had Zuko been born not in the Fire Nation royalty, would he be as cold and distant as he was around other people?
Then the real strange twist of events came. After about a month, Zuko started insisting everyone call him Lee, and wouldn’t acknowledge when people would call him by his real name, saying only that Prince Zuko died when his father attacked him at the Secret River. No one really questioned him that much, and eventually, everyone started calling him Lee. Iroh took this as a good sign, and when Sokka asked the old man of the sudden change, Iroh smiled and said, “Zuko told me he didn’t want to be a prince anymore when we left the Fire Nation. Lee was his alias in Ba Sing Se, a simple peasant boy who worked in a tea shop. Choosing that name is his way of saying goodbye to his past, to a life he never really felt comfortable in.”
Sokka pondered that for a while, but let it drop away. It was Zuko’s choice, not his. After that, Zuko, the newly-coined Lee, began to talk to other people in the village as well, not just Sokka and Iroh. In reality, it was him saying a quiet hello to people he passed by, but in terms of the boy in question, it was a major leap.
About that time, Katara had begun to let go of her grudge, seeing that Aang and Sokka had forgiven him, and so Lee, Katara, Aang, and Sokka became their own little group in the tribe. It was rare for anybody to see one of them without at least one of the other, seeing as Iroh began to teach both Lee and Aang Fire bending, Sokka and Lee trained and hunted together, Katara and Aang helped with rebuilding the destroyed tribe with other Water benders from the Northern Tribe, and all four spent their leisure time together, walking, penguin sledding, boat-racing, and the like.
Their physical appearances changed as well. Lee cut his hair shorter, Sokka cut his so that it was a longer variant of his wolf-tail, the only difference being the ponytail was longer, and he allowed a pair of bangs to frame his face, Katara kept the Fire Nation hairstyle she’d adopted, and Aang shaved himself bald again, his Air Temple tattoos showing proudly once again.
All seemed to be going well for the group, and although the village wasn’t entirely rebuilt, nor was the war still over, the tribe seemed to be lapsing back into a state of peace it hadn’t known since the hundred year-long war had started, and not a moment too soon. The end of summer was coming, and with it, a long-held Water Tribe festival to bring in the new season, although to Sokka, having traveled the world and seeing how drastically the seasons changed, why someone would do something like that, but disregarded it. Festivals meant abundances in things, especially food, and since they were in the South Pole, meat was a high commodity.
----
Sokka and Lee joked with each other as they brought in that day’s haul, fish for the Ocean Festival that was to take place that night. They’d been preparing for a week, setting up the surprisingly intricate decorations around the fixed part of town, digging and melting out holes in the ground for Water benders to use as entertainment props, cooking, cleaning, hunting, fishing, and the like, until the plain, dilapidated, and albeit destroyed village, at least in the area set up, looked clean and new.
“So, what exactly is the Autumn Festival about?” Lee asked Sokka as they finally unloaded the last of the haul.
Sokka turned to the boy and sighed. “Symbolically, it’s supposed to be the welcoming in of the new season, where the Tribes get together, observe the changes that had occurred during the summer, and pray to the Ocean Spirit and Yue for a calm sea.”
“Who’s Yue?” Lee asked. He frowned as Sokka’s face began to fall.
“She was the princess of the Northern Water Tribe,” he told his friend. “We arrived at the North Pole a month or so before Admiral Zhao’s fleet began their siege. In that time, Yue and I became close friends, and we were beginning to become more, though we both knew it couldn’t be. Yue was betrothed to this boy named Hahn, and because of that, we couldn’t be together. Her father trusted her safety to me when the siege began, and I failed. Zhao’s men made it into the city, and he killed the Moon Spirit. Water benders get their ability to bend from the moon, so the advantage the Northern Water Tribe had against his fleet had vanished, along with our hope. Yue sacrificed herself in order to save the Water Tribes.”
Lee felt a pang in his chest. Although their stories had their differences, Lee couldn’t help but make the connections through sacrifice in order to protect others. He put a comforting hand on Sokka’s shoulder, and said in a calming voice. “I’m sorry Sokka. I know how you feel.” Sokka nodded, placing his own hand on Lee’s.
“It’s ok. I’m over it, for the most part,” Sokka told his friend. He dropped his own hand and smiled a bit. “But let’s forget that stuff. My dad needs to talk to you and Iroh.”
----
Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe stood before Lee and Iroh, his face as warm as ever. The bandages he’d worn previously were gone; in place of it a wicked scar that traced the lining of his biceps. He wore a Polar Bear headdress as well as a ceremonial parka. Today was an important day for those of the South Pole, and everyone, even Iroh and Lee, had dressed their best. Iroh was wearing a thin parka with Arctic Hen feathers sewn into each sleeve. Lee’s consisted of a normal parka, with the exception that the lining had an ocean-wave pattern to it.
“It’s good to see you two,” Hakoda told the two kindly. “I’m sorry that I haven’t asked earlier, but how do you two find the Tribe? I know it’s a far cry from palace life, and an even farther one from the climate in the Fire Nation.”
Iroh smiled and bowed respectfully. “We find it quite nice here, actually. Lee and I enjoy our time here greatly, and are thankful to our hosts for having us.” Hakoda smiled and gave a bow in return.
“That is great praise coming from someone as famous as you, general,” Hakoda told the man, “which brings me to why I asked my son to bring you here. My people like you two very much, and several have asked me if you were going to stay.”
Lee smiled and blushed a bit at this revelation. Iroh smiled as well and bowed once again. “It’s even more of an honor to hear such praise, but we don’t want to impose on your people. We are, after all, outsiders,” the old man told the chief.
“And I wonder now, if you would like to change that position,” Hakoda told the man. Lee stared at the man in confusion, trying to decipher the meaning of the man’s words. “As you two know, we have been preparing for the Autumn Festival. The Autumn Festival is meant to look back upon the events of the summer and remember what had transpired. Your arrival is one of the larger things many people can remember, and we’d like this Autumn Festival to start out with a change. Iroh, Zu-I mean Lee, I would be honored if you would accept my offer to make you two members of the Southern Water Tribe.”
“Yes,” Lee blurted out almost immediately, his heart pounding uncontrollably in his chest. He’d wanted that ever since he’d arrived at the South Pole. He didn’t want to leave behind his new friends and the people he’d come to care for, even if it seemed they didn’t care for him. “We’d love to, wouldn’t we, Uncle?”
Iroh smiled and nodded. “I have to agree with my nephew. That course would be most pleasing.”
Hakoda grinned, placing a hand on each man’s shoulder. “Then it’s settled,” he said warmly. “Tonight, we will become brothers.”
----
As the sun set that frigid evening in the Water Tribe, people began to make their way to the fully decorated square in the center of the town. Everybody, young and old, spoke with one another, recounting their separate stories from the war or at home. Young men that had left for war years ago came home to find the women they’d married had children and were still in the glow of newfound fatherhood. Mothers worried over sons, children got into trouble, and so on and so on. Whilst observing this, Sokka found it hard to believe, had someone come not half a year ago, they would have found a somber village with no man or teenager in sight. The Southern Water Tribe had most certainly revived somewhat.
He smiled nostalgically, and returned his attention to the small group he was in. What he found were Lee and Aang glaring at each other angrily. Lee had on his best Jerky-Zuko look, while Aang looked like he was going to clear his bowls with the amount of force he was scrunching his face. “What’s wrong, Katara?” Sokka asked his nearby sister. The girl just shrugged and looked back at the two boys. It went on like this for another minute or so before Aang blinked. Lee whooped in triumph and pointed at Aang.
“Ha!” he shouted, scaring nearby passersby. “At last I’ve won, Avatar!” Sokka smacked his head in agitation. Lee turned and looked at the boy, confusion on his face.
“What’s wrong, Sokka?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Sokka replied. “It’s just that you’ve been around me too long.” Aang giggled and Sokka shot a simpering look at the kid.
“Come on!” Katara shouted suddenly and impatiently. “We need to get to the square before the festival starts! I’m opening it!” Lee gasped and ran towards the center of the village- where the village from two years ago had stood before- Katara not far behind him. Sokka looked at Aang, who in turn shrugged, and the two walked on.
----
The three pits from before, previously empty, had since been filled with water. Three benders stood at each pit, with Katara in the middle, and slowly began to bend. With growing interest, Lee watched as tendrils of water flowed out from the pits and circled around one another, flowing in individual liquid streams, joining with one another to form an enormous orb before freezing up into a solid ball of ice. Each bender stopped their motion for a moment, inhaling deeply, before jerking their arms in a violent motion. The ice globe shattered, sending shards of lethal ice flying anywhere. A few people screamed, but before the shards made contact with anyone, they exploded into great clouds of steam. A steady beat of war drums began to fill the air as the bender’s forms disappeared, to be replaced by one of a man in a large bear headdress. In his hand he carried a ceremonial Water Tribe spear. Before the steam dissipated, Lee already knew it was Hakoda.
At last the steam dissipated, and the war drums ceased. Hakoda looked regally at the people gathered in the square, the setting sun behind him, a red-orange glow. “I’d like to welcome you, my fellow Tribesmen, of both the Southern and Northern Tribes. This is the first time in years that this great of an amount of people have celebrated the Autumn Festival. I’d like to thank my mother-in-law, Elder Kanna, for seeing over the doings of the tribe in my absence, and the women of our tribe, for protecting our people.” A cheer was issued from the crowd.
“The Autumn Festival is about change, about remembering the past and giving way to the future,” Hakoda continued. “Great change has taken place. The tide of this great and terrible war is turning for the better, and we expect our tribe to be whole once again by the end of the year.” An even greater cheer, which Lee let fall upon him like a waterfall. When at last it stopped, Hakoda continued on. “Also, as I am sure each and every one of you are aware, we have a few new faces that do not belong to our tribe.” Lee’s face flushed as he felt everyone’s eyes fall on him and his uncle.
“In the past months, General Iroh and Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation have stayed here, living our life and seeing what it’s truly like to be of this tribe. I spoke with them earlier this day, and they find our life to be much more pleasing than the one they led in the Fire Nation.” Lee didn’t think it was possible, but an even louder cheer rose from the crowd, along with a prideful chant of ‘Water Tribe’, which Lee had the sneaking suspicion it was started by Sokka. “Among this conversation, I extended them an offering to join our tribe. This festival marks the change from summer to autumn, and as such, the steady change from Fire to Water. It would be my honor, and my privilege, to pledge these good men into our tribe.” At this phrase, another cheer was issued, to Lee’s surprise.
Behind him, his uncle had stood up, and taking the cue, Lee did so as well. The two made their way to Chief Hakoda and kneeled in the fashion of the Southern Water Tribe. Two women, dressed in ceremonial clothing, came forward as well, both holding a wooden box with the symbol of the Water Tribe on it, a crescent moon next to ocean waves. Hakoda moved to Iroh and placed the spear on the man’s shoulder. “Do you, General Iroh, accept this offer, to be adopted by the people of the Southern Water Tribe, and in so doing, promise to live by and uphold the laws of this land?”
“I do,” was Iroh’s solemn response. Hakoda then removed his spear from the man’s shoulder and placed it on Lee’s shoulder.
“Do you, Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation, accept this offer, to be adopted by the people of the Southern Water Tribe, and in so doing, absolve yourself of the man you once were, promising to live by and uphold the laws of this land?” Hakoda recited.
“I do,” Lee said as solemnly as his uncle.
“Then, by this pledge that you have both taken, you are now Iroh and Lee, brothers of the Southern Water Tribe,” Hakoda said to the two. “May the Moon guide your paths for all eternity.” The women moved forward and opened the boxes. Inside were bone chokers, the jewelry of Water Tribe males. Hakoda fastened the chokers onto each of them, and once finished, turned them around to face the crowd. The crowd cheered as Iroh and Lee bowed to their brothers, returning to their seats.
“Let the festival begin!”
----
Sokka wandered away from the main square alone. It was late in the night and he doubted that anyone was asleep at the time. He kept walking, past the inner ring that comprised the main square, moving past the igloos and houses that had been recently constructed, beyond the new snow wall, and out into the tundra, heading for a nearby hill.
When at last he arrived, he looked out into the starry sky at the full moon, the laughter of his people filtering to his ears, even as far away as he was. Tonight had been fun, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Yue, wondering if she was watching him now, as he was watching her.
“Hey,” a voice called out from behind him. He screeched in panic, then calmed down when he saw that it was Lee. The young Fire bender had a torch in his right hand, and was playing with his new choker with his left. “Why are you so far out here?” Lee asked curiously as he sat next to Sokka.
“The crowd was getting to me,” Sokka confessed. “Everyone was being all couple-y except the little kids, even Katara and Aang were. I felt left out.” Lee nodded and sat down, sticking the torch into the ground.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, I felt left out, too,” Lee confessed. Sokka looked at the boy for a moment and laughed.
“Listen to us, a pair of losers,” Sokka said carelessly. Lee chuckled a bit and leaned back. Sokka had explained to Lee early on about the lack of teens in the village. Fire Nation raids killed them off. It was a great loss, but Sokka had coped with it.
“So, what happens now?” Lee asked as he looked at the moon.
“Well, I guess we mop up your sister, get a new person on the throne, and try to restore peace,” Sokka told the other. “What else?” At the end of those words, a sudden dull orange streak in the sky began to drag itself lazily across the night sky. “What’s that?” Sokka asked lazily. He looked to see Zuko sigh contentedly as he watched the object.
“It’s Sozin’s Comet.”