Look! LOOK!

[yukinoomoni]

Story Title: Decide
Fandom: A:TLA
Characters: Kazuko/Mai, Aang, Iroh
Summary: When Mai and Aang confront Kazuko, Kazuko in turn confronts Iroh. Much shouting, hair-ruffling, and tea ensues.


Kazuko's laugh was strained and derisive, and her eyes were blazing. Both Mai and Aang winced as one, unable to help it. "You're both insane. Insane. You've been in the sun for too long, or you ate something gone bad and now you think the spirits talk to you or something."

Mai made a face. "You're being overly dramatic," she answered.

"No, I am not!" Kazuko answered furiously. Even in her regular clothes, with her hair down and the fact that they all sat together on the same level, she still commanded an authority that came with her office. "You're the ones that have lost your minds!"

Aang paled, his hands in his lap and his fingers twisted into knots. "And you're the one that is always saying how changes always end up for the better," he said softly.

Kazuko glared at him, her teeth bared, and Mai blinked slowly, mystified by how angry she was. It's not just what we're suggesting that upsets her, she thought. She's taking it almost...personally.

Mai broke in before more yelling happened. "Kazuko, love," she said, her voice calm. "It's not something Aang and I thought about lightly, you know. We both are aware of how much would be at stake if we went public with it. And we also know how much would change, but-"

Kazuko cut her off. "What you're saying is ridiculous! My family has sat upon the throne for generations. What you're suggesting makes it end with me."

"So to speak...yes," Mai nodded slowly.

"That's not how things are done," Kazuko snapped.

Aang apparently had had enough. "So what do you suggest then, Kazuko?" he answered her, his voice hard. "You marry a man to give you an heir? You find someone to sleep with to get you pregnant?"

Kazuko paled. "No, I -"

"Then what?" Aang pressed. Mai watched him from the corner of her eye, noticing how his hands were clenched in his lap and his eyes were bright with conviction. He hated being hard with Kazuko, but sometimes...Sometimes, Kazuko is too stubborn to see logic, Mai sighed a little.

"I..." Kazuko stammered, but Aang was the one to cut her off this time. "You have to answer them some day, Kazuko," he said. "You have to give them an answer about providing an heir. You can't keep avoiding it like this."

"I know that!" she retorted.

"Do you?" Mai wondered. Kazuko looked over at her, her eyes wide with surprise, and Mai didn't so much as twitch. "Because you're acting like you don't, Kazuko."

"Fine!" Kazuko raged, her eyes blazing. "I don't. Why should I have to explain myself to them? I'm the Firelord! If I love Mai, if I want to marry Mai, if Mai is to be my Firelady, then that is how it should be!"

Mai bit her lip. She heard the tremor in the younger girl's voice, and in it heard the unspoken words and fears. She sighed inwardly, shutting her eyes tight. It's a mistake. We shouldn't push her...we should just-

"But it's not," Aang suddenly said. Mai's head jerked up, her eyes flying to his, but he kept his gaze on Kazuko's enraged glare. To her surprise, Aang's gaze never wavered. He had gotten used to her potent rage long ago. "It's not that way and you know it, and you know why. Enough is enough, Kazuko."

"Aang," Kazuko started, her voice choked with her fury, but Aang overrode her words. "No. I'm serious." And here he smiled, as if proving himself a liar. It was a sad gesture. "Kazuko, I love you. You know I do. Therefore I can't stand to see you hurt like this. You have to do something."

Kazuko looked a little panicked, like she was suddenly trapped in a corner. "But, Aang-"

"You can either choose what we suggested or think of something else, but you have to decide. You have to tell them something, Kazuko. And it has to be on the anniversary of your coronation." Aang held up his hand, as if helpless.

Kazuko shook her head. Now Mai knew she was feeling trapped; her hands clenched together so hard they were bloodless. "I don't...I shouldn't..."

"But you do," Mai broke in. Kazuko looked at her, her face hurt - a picture of being betrayed. "You do, and must."

Kazuko vanished that very afternoon. Mai wasn't surprised. Instead of chasing her, she let her go.

Hopefully, she'll make her choice...

And if she didn't? Well...it was best not to think of that yet."Take it back."

It was a display of great control that allowed Iroh to not break the teapot in his hand from shock. "Take-?"

"Take. It. Back." Kazuko snarled again. Iroh stared at her, shocked by her sudden appearance in his teahouse, but even more shocked by how disheveled and furious she was.

Gently, Iroh set the teapot down, then took one of his niece's hands into his own. "Let us discuss this upstairs, shall we?"

Kazuko looked ready to fight, but Iroh didn't wait for it. He merely dragged her away.

"Now," Iroh said calmly, sitting in front of Kazuko before a small table and pouring her a cup of tea. "Let us start from the beginning." Kazuko opened her mouth, her eyes still bright with whatever was angering her, but Iroh managed to speak over her before she got on a roll. "Without shouting, niece."

Kazuko shut her mouth, grinding her teeth together and shutting her eyes. Iroh was immediately pleased; it showed that Kazuko was still growing up and was still able to recognise good advice when she heard it, despite how intensely she felt about something. Iroh waited patiently, sipping his own tea and watching her. Slowly, she exhaled, her fists unclenching, and again Iroh was overcome with a wave of pride - two years ago such a thing would never be seen.

When she opened her eyes, she spoke slowly. "Uncle, I've been thinking," she said softly. She looked at him right in the eyes, the gaze serious and unwavering, and Iroh felt a sense of worry at this. "And with how everything is going, and while I know you meant well, but...I don't think, under the circumstances, I should be the one to sit on the throne."

As soon as she finished the sentence, her shoulders relaxed, as if getting rid of a huge burden from them. Iroh, however, felt his pulse quicken at the very thought. "You don't think you should?"

Kazuko nodded slowly. "Yeah," she admitted. "I don't. I mean, you said it yourself! You said it to Mai, you said you had no idea how hard it was going to be for me, and-"

Iroh held up his hand, inwardly chastising himself for discussing such a thing with Mai; while usually she kept things to herself, he should have known that she would discuss that with Kazuko. "Yes, that is what I said, but do you know what I meant?"

Kazuko rubbed her forehead. "Why can't you ever just say what you mean instead of saying things that don't have the same meaning?" she snapped out irritably.

That brought a laugh from him, and she looked up, surprised. "Perhaps I should start being more direct, it's true," Iroh acceded with a smile. "But when I said what I said to Mai, it had nothing to do with the fact that I did not think ahead, nor did I think you were the right person for the job."

Kazuko looked up, her eyes wary. "You didn't?"

Iroh resisted the urge to reach forward and muss up her hair - she was an adult now and would probably take it the wrong way. "Of course not," he said. Kazuko reached forward and sipped her tea as a bluff, although the pink on her cheeks revealed that she was relieved by this. "However," he added, and she looked up again. "What I did mean was that I thought you would have figured things out by now."

Kazuko blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, dear niece, that I thought that by now you would have learned to speak up for yourself."

She stared, her mouth open slightly. "But, I..." She narrowed her eyes, slamming down the teacup. "I do speak up for myself!" she snapped out. "I always do! When people speak out about how I change the laws or change the borders, they fight me on it, but I don't back down! How is that not speaking up for myself?"

Iroh waited patiently, one eyebrow raised. When he was sure she was done, he said, very softly, "You're speaking for others when you do these things. Not once have to ever spoken up for yourself, and indeed, for yourself and Mai."

"How do you know?" Kazuko answered hotly. "You're here in Ba Sing Se, enjoying nothing but tea and gossip and boredom! How do you know what I deal with?"

Ah, some things never change, Iroh thought mildly, somewhat amused at the fact that when Kazuko got defensive, she attacked. "I know because I still talk to you, and to Mai. I can read between the lines. And the one thing you have not done, when you could have from the start, is change the law. If you had done that from the start, you could have married Mai long ago, and they wouldn't be pestering you for an heir."

"But they're right!" she answered, slamming her fists down on the table, her eyes shut. "I do need an heir. I do need one!" Her voice broke, and she lowered her head, seemingly defeated by her own words.

Iroh sighed, unable to resist now. He reached out and stroked her hair softly. "You are not listening to me," he chided gently. She groaned and buried her head into her arms, and Iroh smiled. "Whether something is right or not is up to you. You are the Firelord now - what you say is law."

"But people get angry when I change things," she mumbled, her voice muffled.

"And so what?"

"And so, I don't want to be a tyrant," she answered. "I don't want to change things to suit my fancies. I want things to be fair."

"To everyone but yourself."

Kazuko's head jerked up, her face bright red, but Iroh merely stared at her. He pulled his hand away in order to pick up his cup. "That's not what I meant."

"Not directly," Iroh agreed before taking a long sip.

"Uncle!" Kazuko cried. "I'm trying, I really am! But this is just..." She reached up and tangled her hands into her hair. "Do you know what Mai and Aang said to me today?"

Iroh blinked, somewhat confused by this seemingly non-sequitur. "No," he admitted.

"They said to abolish the monarchy."

Iroh was glad he wasn't drinking his tea. "They said to what?"

"Abolish the monarchy. Make an edict that states that with my death, the Fire Nation no longer has a monarchy, but a democracy." Kazuko said this very softly, her voice flat. "That way, it doesn't matter if I have children or not, because it won't be passed down."

"Very admirable, I suppose," Iroh admitted.

"I panicked, okay?" Kazuko answered, not looking up. "The idea of doing that seems very...scary. Even if I won't be alive to see it, it still doesn't seem right. But right now, with Azula...as she is," and here she grimaced, "there really is no one else to take the throne after me. I'm stuck."

"Well," Iroh said slowly. "What do you think about a democracy?"

Kazuko scratched at her hair, pulling a face. "Weird," she admitted. "I don't think I've ever seen it before outside of the Earth Kingdom, and even there it's rare. I honestly wonder if something like that could work here."

Iroh stayed silent, sipping his tea slowly. He wanted her to think about it. He wanted her to decide, without asking him constant questions and trying to get him to decide for her. For the most part, it seemed to be working; her eyes were unfocused in thought, and her hand still scratched at her hair.

Then, to his surprise, her eyes widened, the colour clear and definite. She smiled widely, the gesture akin to both happiness and mischief. "I have an idea," she declared, meeting Iroh's gaze.

Iroh raised a brow, but set his cup down. He listened. He would always listen to her, his niece, no matter what.