Another Horizon
[This takes place after 2 x 7, Zuko Alone]
Getting run out of town was hardly new. He had spent most of his life being sent from one place to another, being told he wasn't good enough for somewhere and to seek his fortune elsewhere. Whether it was his father or a skinny woman in a Earth Kingdom village defending her impressionable son (I don't even know where he got a knife!) from the dangers of strange people who might give him equally strange ideas about the faces of the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, it was basically the same thing: You are not wanted here. Git. Shoo. Father sent him off with fire; these people lined the streets with rocks in their hands, waiting for him to turn, to somehow reveal his 'true Fire Nation colors'.
He never did. He just rode away.
He wondered what would happen now; he was surprised that he cared enough to wonder at all. He'd just run off four Earth Kingdom soldiers (bullies), publicly defeated and humiliated their leader. He supposed it would be worse for them now. They'd be angry; they'd take it out on the villagers, their pride's pain. Maybe Lee would go to the army. Maybe they'd put the farm to the torch for housing a Fire Nation fugitive.
The knife he'd given the boy (I don't want it, I hate you!) in his belt was familiar hardness, tucked against his spine. Maybe they'd grow some fucking backbone, he thought, and they would clean their own house, rather then rely upon a stranger to do it for them. At least then, they would have pride, wouldn't they? Some sense of accomplishment... But if they hadn't already, would they do so now? The problem wasn't solved-- it was merely put off, delayed; it would return with a vengeance. That's how bullies worked. That's how Azula had been.
It didn't matter, in the end.
Zuko never looked back at the places he left -- his eyes were forward, trying to map the horizon. At least now, the point seemed a little clearer, somewhere off in the distance...
At least now, he thuoght he knew who he was.
Getting run out of town was hardly new. He had spent most of his life being sent from one place to another, being told he wasn't good enough for somewhere and to seek his fortune elsewhere. Whether it was his father or a skinny woman in a Earth Kingdom village defending her impressionable son (I don't even know where he got a knife!) from the dangers of strange people who might give him equally strange ideas about the faces of the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, it was basically the same thing: You are not wanted here. Git. Shoo. Father sent him off with fire; these people lined the streets with rocks in their hands, waiting for him to turn, to somehow reveal his 'true Fire Nation colors'.
He never did. He just rode away.
He wondered what would happen now; he was surprised that he cared enough to wonder at all. He'd just run off four Earth Kingdom soldiers (bullies), publicly defeated and humiliated their leader. He supposed it would be worse for them now. They'd be angry; they'd take it out on the villagers, their pride's pain. Maybe Lee would go to the army. Maybe they'd put the farm to the torch for housing a Fire Nation fugitive.
The knife he'd given the boy (I don't want it, I hate you!) in his belt was familiar hardness, tucked against his spine. Maybe they'd grow some fucking backbone, he thought, and they would clean their own house, rather then rely upon a stranger to do it for them. At least then, they would have pride, wouldn't they? Some sense of accomplishment... But if they hadn't already, would they do so now? The problem wasn't solved-- it was merely put off, delayed; it would return with a vengeance. That's how bullies worked. That's how Azula had been.
It didn't matter, in the end.
Zuko never looked back at the places he left -- his eyes were forward, trying to map the horizon. At least now, the point seemed a little clearer, somewhere off in the distance...
At least now, he thuoght he knew who he was.