AtLA fic: Airbender's Child: Fire 8/15
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story, in fact a lot of the dialogue will probably be cadged straight from the show itself, which means I own even less.
Author's Notes: I know I've been missing forever. I just hope that you will all forgive me and my absence with this offering of the next chapter. This ends a little abruptly, but I really didn't want to end it where the episode did, because then I'd've wound up writing this fic for another damn week.
Zuko had been bullied into making tea by the others, then had been bullied into evaporating it because it was just so bad that it was decided it had to be disposed of thoroughly, and Sokka claimed it might pollute the river and kill fish.
Before Zuko could feel even more despondent than he'd been feeling already, Haru mentioned something about a pretty girl he'd seen and Teo joined in on the conversation. Sokka followed, and soon Zuko found himself participating, in a limited way, in a kind of conversation he'd only ever heard by eavesdropping on other boys in the Fire Nation Academy. It was . . . fun.
It felt odd to think the word, since fun wasn't a concept he'd had much contact with outside of the purely theoretical. So Zuko sat, occasionally putting in a word where he could and just enjoyed the shallow pleasure of talking about girls. He joined in with Haru and Teo in chatting about how pretty Katara was, tamping down his annoyance with the other two in their objectification of his girlfriend. After all, he'd seen no indication she'd moved on - she certainly wasn't acting girlfriendly with those two, and it was fun to prod at Sokka's overprotective streak. Anyhow, he wouldn't ingratiate himself to her by trying to beat up her friends in a jealous fit.
It was after Sokka finally sputtered himself into submission and the other two wandered off curious to explore more of the temple that Sokka asked Zuko, "I was just . . . I mean . . ." He paused, took a deep breath and seemed to force the question out. "If someone was captured by the Fire Nation, where would they be taken ?"
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked. "Who was captured?"
Sokka made a sort of half-shrug, half-pleading gesture with his hands. "When the invasion plan failed, some of our troops were taken. I just want to know where they might be."
"Now that I think about it," Zuko said, "You had my uncle with you. Why would you still invade the capital when he was there to tell you we already knew about the eclipse? Not to mention that Azula knew-"
"We didn't," Sokka said sharply. "When we found out, we decided to use the eclipse to take back Omashu and Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation." He sighed. "Those damned Dai Li like the power they have so much, they were able to find out and put down the attacks on the city. When the forces hit the walls, they were let in, then found themselves in a trap, because the benders who were supposed to be helping them from inside joined up with the Fire Nation troops. They got overwhelmed."
"But what were you doing at the capital right after the eclipse?" Zuko asked. "Shuga dragged me after you, basically just a couple hours after."
"We decided to make a surgical strike," Sokka told him, plopping onto a convenient piece of rubble. "We'd bring Aang in, and while the Fire Lord was disabled from the eclipse, Aang would do him in." The Water Tribe boy sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Azula slowed us down and we all just . . ." he flung his hands out in exasperation. "We could have stopped everything then, and we just failed."
"Where was my uncle in all this?" Zuko asked. He knew he should focus, but he had to ask.
"He went in with the troops at Omashu," Sokka said. "Something about a friend of his. I didn't quite figure out what that meant." He looked up at Zuko. "You're avoiding answering. Where are they?"
"I can't tell you," Zuko said. Hoping Sokka would leave it at that.
"Why not?" Why didn't anything ever go his way?
"Trust me. Knowing would just make you feel worse," Zuko told him flatly, then turned and tried to leave.
Sokka grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around. "It's my Dad. He was captured too. I need to know what I put him through."
He knew what that felt like. He didn't know how he knew, but something in his mind just told him that he did. Still, "It's not good Sokka," he prevaricated.
"Please."
Zuko closed his eyes, braced himself for what might be an explosion from his friend, and said, "My guess is, they were taken to the Boiling Rock."
"What's that?" Sokka asked, sounding a little fearful.
Now that he had to explain it, Zuko settled himself a little into a slightly more balanced position. The better to dodge or take a hit from what was likely to be an extremely irate Water Tribe warrior. "The highest security prison in the Fire Nation. It's on an island in the middle of a boiling lake. It's inescapable."
Amazingly, Sokka didn't try to beat the messenger to a pulp. "So where is this place?"
"You're not going to try to break into a prison in a volcano in the middle of the Fire Nation?" Zuko asked aghast. "There's a reason it's inescapable. People try all the time and wind up dying in the lake."
"Who said I was going to try to break in?"
Zuko folded his arms at glared at the other boy.
"I never said I was going to try to break in."
Zuko didn't move.
"Why would you think I was going . . . Okay! Yes! I'm going to get my Dad out," Sokka snapped. "It was my plan, my decision and everyone was following my lead." He looked almost pleadingly at Zuko. "I have to regain my honour Zuko."
Zuko frowned briefly, then said. "I understand. So you get your things packed and we'll take Shuga. She's more used to sneaking around in the Fire Nation than Appa is."
After the others had gone to bed that night, Sokka left a note and Zuko climbed onto Shuga, packing up hay to feed her, burn salves because he had a sneaking suspicion they'd be needed, and glared balefully at the swords he'd liberated from the palace. They were good blades, but they weren't his blades. He missed his dao swords. "Hey," Sokka said from behind him.
"You ready to go?" Zuko asked.
Sokka nodded. "First though, I thought you might like these back," he said, and handed Zuko the twin blades.
"My swords," Zuko breathed. He was barely aware of Sokka setting Shuga on a course for the Boiling Rock as he pulled them apart, looked over every inch, gave them a few quick swipes in the air to test that the balance hadn't gone off, slotted them back together and then repeated the whole process again.
"You know," Sokka commented casually from the front of the saddle, "While it's nice to see you reunited with those blades, would you stop fondling your sword back there?"
"All I'm saying is that while I'm glad you have it back, would you please stop fondling your boomerang back there?"
Zuko hissed for a moment, as the words echoed in his head, a stab of pain lancing through his temples. Sokka was looking at him in concern, though, so Zuko pulled himself together and retorted, "Don't compare my blades to that hunk of metal you've named Boomerang." He continued, speaking on a sort of autopilot. His mouth just knew the right words. "Anyhow, at least I've got more to play with."
"You wish!" Sokka replied with the sort of amused affrontedness that could only come with friendship. They argued a while longer, and Shuga rumbled irritably at them when things got to the point that they were about to start pulling things out to compare them. So they amicably debated on the matter of the other boys, and they both agreed Haru was trying to compensate for something with that weird moustache of his.
It was familiar and nice and comfortable. When they got to the crater, Sokka said, "So how are we going to do this? I mean, Shuga's going to attract a lot of attention-"
"No she won't," Zuko said confidently. "Shuga, we need to get down there without being seen. You ready?" She rumbled at him and Zuko hunkered down. "You might want to hang on and hold your breath, Sokka," Zuko said.
"Why? Wha-" Sokka never finished his second question, because Shuga spun in the air, hurtling through it at a speed that blew the air away from the mouth. Zuko grinned at Sokka clinging for dear life as they spun and whirled through the mist and steam that wreathed the lake, Shuga's speed and agility turning her into nothing more than a phantom glimpsed from the corner of the eye of anyone looking.
They landed, silently, and Sokka staggered off and fell to the ground, clinging to it and kissing it and declaring that he would rather die on the Boiling Rock than do that again. Shuga eyed him doubtfully. "Ignore him," Zuko told her and scratched her all over, making her rumble happily. He took off her saddle and took his jury-rigged carrying sling, put it on her and then put the hay into it. "Is that comfortable?" he asked her.
She nodded. "Okay. Can you come back to pick us up the day after tomorrow?"
Shuga nuzzled him and leaped back into the air just as Sokka, looking rather chalky, staggered up to him. "What was that?" he demanded of Zuko. "An attempt to kill us both by heart attack?"
Zuko rolled his eyes. "I don't see what you're so upset about, he-who-tried-to-fall-to-his-death-from-an-airship."
"You're starting to remember more," Sokka said with a still-queasy smile. "And that was totally different from trying to pretend to be trapped in a hurricane."
"Whatever you say," Zuko told him. "Anyhow, now that we're here, what next?"
Sokka rolled his eyes. "What do you think? We steal some guard uniforms and just walk through the prison until we find my Dad."
Zuko stared. "That's it? This is the plan? The Avatar's monkey could come up with a better plan."
"First of all," Sokka said with what was an interesting attempt at great dignity, "Momo's a flying lemur, not a monkey. Second, I don't see you coming up with any great plans, hotshot."
The former prince sighed. "My plan was to not come here at all. Okay, we'll do it your way. If I die and you don't, I'm coming back from the spirit world to haunt you."
Sokka looked at him curiously. "What if we both die?"
"Then I'll spend eternity kicking your ass," Zuko told him grimly.
They circled around on the island a few times, careful not to be seen, when they got a stroke of sheer, dumb luck. Two of the guards came staggering around a corner. They were giggling.
"Whatcha think?" the first was slurring. "Thass wha all the rumours're sayin'."
The other nodded vehemently, his helmeted head bobbing wildly in agreement. "Makes sense, don't it?" he said. "I mean, that Lady Mai's all skinny-like, right?"
"Nothing like the other girl that hangs around with the princess," the first agreed. "That one looks all soft and curvy."
"Yeah," agreed the second one. "It only makes sense that he'd try'n get a girl as close to a boy 's he could."
Sokka's face was wreathed in a smile as he turned to Zuko. "Not a word," Zuko hissed at him.
"So you suppose the prince is chasin' after th'avatar 'cause he's hopin' for some cute boy tail?" the first asked.
That was too much, and Zuko leapt at the drunken pair of guards, dealing with them with remarkable swiftness. A few quick strikes with his sword-weighted fists and both were lying unconscious on the ground.
"Now what are we gonna do with them?" Sokka asked doubtfully.
Staring at the pair lying crumpled on the ground, one on top of the other, Zuko had a wicked idea. "Just help me get their uniforms off, Sokka," Zuko said. "Then leave the rest to me."
Once the two men were down to their rather filthy-looking loincloths, Zuko smirked and dragged first one, then the other about until they were in an extremely compromising position. Between the alcohol on their breath and the way Zuko had rolled them into each other, no one would listen to a word either said about being attacked.
Sokka's eyes were bulging when Zuko's artistic rendition of a same-sex pornographic still was complete. "That's . . . how did . . . I'd never . . ."
Zuko shrugged. "There's some really interesting things in the Fire Nation Palace library if you know where to look," he said carelessly.
"Why were you reading it?" Sokka asked, scandalised. "Were they right about you and girls?"
"No!" Zuko glared at the other boy, much offended. "There was a series of scrolls. Some of them had some pretty interesting pictures, and some of them were . . ." he gestured back where the guards were.
From their hiding place, they watched the next shift arrive and find the pair in their . . . amorous clinch. As Zuko had expected, no one believed to guards who were still drunk and in their underwear that they'd been attacked. They were able to sneak in, find their way about, and discovered that Hakoda was not there. They did, however, discover that Sokka's girlfriend, or something, Zuko wasn't too clear on what, had been taken captive there.
Between one thing and another, Zuko was caught and made into a prisoner, while Sokka paraded around in his uniform, fitting in far better with the guards than he had any right to. Zuko quietly muttered imprecations under his breath about his friend, especially after Sokka invented a new game, see how many grape seeds you could get stuck in a prisoner's hair. Zuko's now-unruly mop was soon laden with them, and he plotted vengeance while he scrubbed the floors with Suki.
"You know," Suki told him, "Kami's been pretty disappointed at how close you and Katara got. I mean, I know you weren't dating the last time I saw you, but you really fit with her. I couldn't do anything but let her down."
"Oh," Zuko said. He felt at a loss at that comment, because he had no idea who Kami was or when or where he'd met her. "I . . . uh . . . I don't know how to . . . um-"
Suki smiled reassuringly. "It's okay. I mean, you only spent a week with her on Kyoshi, but she was sorry when you left. She kept saying you were the most fun as a sparring partner she'd ever had." The smile turned into a grin. "She also said you were a really good kisser. I have to say," she added, "If it weren't for Sokka, I'd be tempted myself."
"I have amnesia," Zuko blurted out.
The grin disappeared. "What do you mean?" Suki asked, concerned.
Zuko glanced up and noticed the guards weren't looking. He promptly stopped, sighing as he leaned back against the wall. "It's not really amnesia exactly," he said. "It . . . you know the Dai Li?" he asked.
Suki nodded, joining him in their impromptu break. "They patrol around in Ba Sing Se. They're supposed to guard the cultural history of the city or something."
"I don't know about that," Zuko told her wryly. "But one of the ways they keep the peace is by kidnapping troublemakers and . . . well . . . making them forget things. Changing their memories."
She gasped. "They did that to you?"
"I betrayed the Avatar and Katara to . . . to the Fire Nation because of it," Zuko said. "I didn't even know, because I couldn't remember. I still can't remember a lot. At least, not that I know is real."
"Oh, Lee," Suki said, putting a hand on his arm in sympathy.
"You two! Back to work!" shouted the guard.
They got back to scrubbing as Zuko told Suki his story. By the time he was done, she was shaking her head. "I think you're misinterpreting, Lee," she told him.
"Misinterpreting what?" Zuko asked. "I mean, I betrayed them, I could have gotten Aang killed. I nearly did get Aang killed."
"Maybe they feel just as bad," suggested Suki. "I mean, you'd had your memories broken up and changed and they didn't do anything to help you."
"Sokka nearly killed me that first day when I tried goofing around with him," Zuko objected. "I've had to earn their trust all over again. I still have to." He suddenly realised something. "By the way, my name isn't Lee, it's -"
But he never got to tell her. Shouts and a familiar bellow of pain got their attention. "Shuga," Zuko gasped. The guards shouted, making sure to triple the watchers keeping an eye out for what they believed to be the Avatar's bison. Sokka was down by them in moments. "I think he only caught her paw," Sokka reassured him. "But even she's not going to be able to sneak in here to get us out."
"Now what?" Zuko asked. "I mean, before, all we had to do was sneak out after dark to meet her. Now how are we getting back out?"
Sokka's brilliant mind snapped instantly to a solution. "The cooler," he said.
"What?" Zuko asked. "Are you crazy? How does crippling me or anyone else with cold sickness help us get out of here?"
"The coolers are completely insulated to keep cold in, right?"
"Right," Zuko said, slowly.
"Well, to keep cold in, it has to keep heat out," Sokka explained. "It's the perfect boat to get out across the boiling water."
"The cooler as a boat?" Zuko asked, sceptically.
Sokka nodded. "There's a perfect place where we can roll it into the water, and if we don't make a sound, the current will take us right to the other side. Bing, bang, boom we're home free."
"How are you going to get the cooler out?" Suki asked.
They were interrupted by one of the other prisoners. "Yeah," he asked. "How are you going to get the cooler out?"
In the end, they had to agree to bring Chit Sang and his friends with them when they left. One staged fight later, and Zuko was in a miserable huddle, trying to get his shaking hands to work enough to undo the bolts holding the cooler in place. It was terrible, and Zuko could feel the cold all the way to his bones. It felt like the ice was going to eat him from the inside out.
He wasn't thinking of any other possible consequences as he lunged at the water, dipping his hand in to collect some to drink.
It was ice cold. It was so cold his fingers briefly burned, ached and then went numb. He still pulled the hand to his mouth and swallowed before he could consider the consequences. For a moment, he felt as though he'd had the most refreshing drink imaginable.
Then the cold spread from his hand and his mouth, radiating into his body. He was so cold, and he felt his limbs weakening as the cold worked its way through him. His body gave out and he fell to the sand. Suddenly Tahl's head loomed into view. "Something Hae and I forgot to mention," she told him casually. "Your inner flame is a part of your essence. It's essential to you. Without it, you'll die."
He tried to say something, but he couldn't move. Vaguely he thought that maybe this was appropriate. At least he'd never give in to his inner flame and do something horrible. But he was so cold . . .
When Sokka came to get him, Zuko felt pretty incoherent, the pain in his head telling him this was a memory, but the fact that there was a talking tiger seal just left him feeling confused about the whole thing. Meanwhile, the memory of the cold had combined with the real cold of the cooler to leave Zuko a trembling wreck.
He was pretty sure that he must have muttered something about dying, though, because a very pale Sokka had snapped that he wasn't dying and not to talk nonsense, even as he'd watched with jealous eyes as Suki had wrapped herself around him to share body heat.
Something petulant in Zuko made him grumble as he shivered, "I want Katara."
An exasperated snort came from next to his ear as Suki told him, "I'd rather Katara was doing this, myself."
"She said I was her tiger seal," Zuko muttered.
Sokka, still watching the whole production said, "I can't wait until you have all your memories back so I can find out what that means and beat you for it."
The Water tribesman's voice finally brought Zuko out of it. "Oops."
"You're right, 'Oops'," Sokka told him. "What does that mean that Katara said you're her tiger seal?"
"Uh . . . I was just hallucinating that a tiger seal tried to kill me with magic water," Zuko hedged. "Maybe you should ask Katara instead of the guy with the false memories."
Sokka shot him a narrow-eyed look, but agreed. "I'll be doing that once we get back."
Soon enough, the fact that they were in the middle of a lake of boiling water kicked in and Zuko started to feel human again. As shaky as he was, he was delegated to stay behind while Suki and Sokka went back for the cooler. Chit Sang showed up shortly thereafter with a couple people in tow.
Wanting to have a better idea of whether or not Chit Sang was in the Boiling Rock for a reason that meant they should leave him far behind once they left, Zuko asked, "So how did you wind up in here?"
The man sighed. "I got caught pickpocketing."
Zuko turned to stare incredulously. "What did you do? Stab someone to death in the process?"
The other rolled his eyes. "How was I supposed to know that the girl I tried to steal from was the prince's ex-girlfriend?"
Zuko couldn't help it. He started snickering. "What's so funny?" demanded the man. "I got thrown in here along with my girlfriend and my best friend just because they tried to talk the judge down on my sentencing."
"I'm sorry. I'm just amazed Mai didn't simply gut you," Zuko told him shaking his head. "How close did you get before she had you praying she'd make it quick?"
Chit Sang was staring at him now. "What . . . who are you?"
"The ex-boyfriend of the girl you tried to rob," Zuko told him.
The man eyed him for a moment, then said, "You used to date her? Was it before or after Prince Zuko did?"
Zuko opened his mouth to correct the other man's misunderstanding, then decided it was probably better all around if he didn't. "Before," he decided to say. "While she was in Omashu with her family."
The faint drumbeat of another headache told him he was right about Mai having been in Omashu. Chit Sang didn't notice, and asked, "What's Fire Nation nobility doing hanging around with some Water Tribesman?"
"It's a long story," Zuko told him, "And I'll be frank with you, there are parts I'm really not sure of myself."
Suki and Sokka chose that moment to reappear, clearly struggling to keep the cooler from tumbling down the bank and causing a ruckus in the process. They all hurried to help the pair ease the thing down. Once it was on the bank, ready to be pushed into the water, Zuko caught sight of Suki and Sokka arguing quietly. When he got closer, he heard Sokka say, "Maybe it's better if I cut my losses. Call it quits before I fail."
"What's going on?" Zuko asked.
"Nothing," Sokka said.
Suki talked right over him. "They said they're expecting some Water Tribe prisoners to arrive in the next bunch."
Zuko nodded. "You think it might be your Dad."
"I've gotten Suki out now," Sokka said, shaking his head. "I don't want to bite off more than I can chew."
"Sokka," Zuko said, "You're going to fail a lot before things work out."
The other boy shot him an irritated look. "That's supposed to make me feel better ?" he asked, grabbing his things and starting for their makeshift boat.
"Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again," Zuko continued, pretending he hadn't heard Sokka at all. His uncle had done that a lot, and while it annoyed the heck out of him, he had to admit it usually worked and made people listen.
"Seriously, not helping," Sokka told him, now very annoyed.
"You have to try every time. You can't quit because you're afraid you might fail."
Sokka stopped dead. It was as though a fire lit behind his eyes. When Chit Sang asked, "Hey, if you two are done cuddling, can we get a move on?"
The Water Tribesman replied, "No, I'm staying. You guys go," he said, giving Zuko and Suki a push."
"I'm not leaving without you, Sokka," said Suki.
"Neither am I," Zuko affirmed.
Chit Sang and his friends took their leave, and the three headed back into the prison to wait for what they hoped would be Chief Hakoda's arrival. From their vantage point, Zuko watched the other prisoners get off the boat. There was an interminable pause when they thought that was the last of them and that they'd lost their best chance at escaping, when the guards forced a Water Tribesman out of the gondola. He stood tall and proud, and Zuko could see where Sokka got his (very occasional) ability to appear as proud and powerful as any of the Fire Nation's nobility. This was a man who could give the Fire Lord Ozai competition in noble bearing and a stern mien.
They split up, Sokka going to meet up with his father, while Suki and Zuko both headed out to keep their heads down and out of trouble with the other work gangs. There wasn't much chance for talking then, and Zuko just tried his best to keep out of trouble. Sokka tried to get to him in his cell, something about a new escape plan, but that was broken up by the guards dragging Zuko off at the behest of some higher-up.
The higher-up was Mai.
Just seeing her made Zuko shake. Some painful instinct in his mind told him that he should cling to her, put his head in her lap and beg her to make the pain go away. Just being in the same room as her made those feelings and memories he'd been having with the Avatar fade. A glint of blue from somewhere on Mai's hair combs snapped Zuko back to himself. Katara. He had to remember Katara.
"What are you doing here, Mai?" Zuko asked. He took a step back from here, feeling his temples start to throb.
"Two reasons," she told him. "My uncle's the Warden," Zuko breathed a small sigh of relief. "And the Avatar's bison was sighted here. Did you think Azula wouldn't come, you idiot?"
"I'll admit," Zuko told her, "I had other things to worry about. Like regaining the trust of the people I betrayed, thanks to my sister. And you."
Her eyes flashed. "Save it. You're betraying your country."
"I'm trying to save my people!" Zuko snapped.
"I . . ." Zuko paused. "I don't think I'm the right person to do that," he said. "I'm really the weakest bender out of all the others from the enclave. Also . . ." he decided to admit something up front. The fewer lies he told now, the fewer to be caught out in later. "I wasn't there a lot. My mother's marriage was arranged so that she'd be high up in the Fire Nation and could use the position to protect the enclave from discovery. After she was banished, I . . . didn't do so well at doing what she did and I had to leave, too."
Mai didn't seem aware of Zuko's internal revelation. "Your people are the people of the Fire Nation, who you're choosing to betray," she told him. "You-"
"You mean the same people our own government will murder and then blame the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes for the deaths?" Zuko asked, trying not to clutch at his aching head. "You mean the same people willing to murder my mother and everyone like her-" He cut himself off. He was giving away too much. He knew that much.
"I never wanted you like this," Mai said abruptly.
That stopped Zuko cold. "Like what?"
She dropped gracefully into a chair. "Not . . . You were forced," Mai said. "When you first came in that morning and you kissed me, I thought I finally had what I'd wanted," she told him. "You were . . . it was everything I'd thought being with you would be."
In spite of his anger, Zuko felt something in him hurting along with her. "Azula was the one who chose to do this to me."
Mai shook her head. "I could have told you the truth. I could have . . . The Dai Li create anchors for people's memories," she explained. "Something that they will encounter every day which is supposed to reinforce whatever it is they're supposed to believe."
"You were my anchor," Zuko said. "I overheard you talking to Azula. You said-"
"I wanted something she'd believe!" snapped Mai. "Something that she wouldn't claim was me being weak!"
"Mai-"
"When we spar, it's amazing, Zuko," Mai said, talking right over whatever he might have said. Not that Zuko had even the faintest idea of what he should have been saying. "I want you, but not at the cost of everything that makes you who you are," she told him. "These memories, the false ones, they've changed you." Her eyes searched his face for a long moment, then Mai stepped forward, swiftly, and kissed him.
It was familiar, and it felt good. For a moment, Zuko felt the pain in his head fade, his arms slipping around Mai's waist. Just as suddenly as it began, it was over, and Mai was on the other side of the room. "When everything is over," she told him. "When you're . . . when you can remember everything, remember that too."
She took a breath and opened her mouth to shout, when a guard barged into the room. "Miss, there's a riot going on. I'm here to protect you."
Zuko was pretty sure that, if he hadn't had such a stunning headache, he would have been on the floor laughing at the thought that Mai needed protection. As it was, while Mai got into an argument with the idiot, Zuko pulled himself together and bent fire at the guard's feet, pushing him aside and giving him the chance to make a break for it.
Racing out of the building and into the main complex, Zuko ran past the brawling prisoners, half-hoping this was Sokka's plan, and half-hoping that it wasn't. This much chaos was just asking for trouble, really.
The further he got from Mai, the more the pain receded, and Zuko felt almost himself as he used a guard's own momentum against him to race the final few steps up to where Sokka and Hakoda were waiting. It also turned out that Sokka had not, in fact, thought his plan through completely. Suki took matters into her own hands, and Zuko watched, impressed.
"That's some girl," Hakoda commented.
"Tell me about it," Sokka replied.
A small part of Zuko just wanted things to go back to something he could recognise as normal. The whole conversation with Mai had unsettled him, and he found himself saying, "My ex would have looked hotter doing that." Which was kind of true.
Sokka shot him a sideways look. "You mean the one that tried to kill us?"
"Just you," Zuko told him. "I'm pretty sure I'd be fine. She seemed more interested in making out just now."
"What!" the other two chorused.
"Mai's here, and if she's here, so are my sister and Ty Lee," Zuko told them. "We'd better be prepared for anything."
Hakoda shook his head. "In my day, we tried not to go out with girls that had tried to kill us."
Sokka grinned at Zuko, and they chorused, "Must have been dull."
Something seemed to settle into place in Zuko's head, and suddenly it was like a whole section of his memory cleared. There was Sokka, covered in pentapus sucker marks, covered in mud, snuggling with his idiotic pet Boomerang, saying dumb things and being a brilliant tactician. It was all there, and Zuko sighed in relief as Suki arrived, Mai's uncle in tow.
With their hostage they made it out to the gondola, Zuko barely managed to get onto it before he was caught by the guards, and they they all stood gasping for a moment, just catching their breath. That was when Hakoda spotted Azula and Ty Lee.
Zuko found himself on the roof with an angry Suki. He was dimly aware of Suki taking on Ty Lee and quite possibly winning, but he was stuck facing his sister and he couldn't afford any more of his concentration to be spent on the other fight, save to avoid getting in Suki's way, or having her get in his way.
Azula was furious. "Why!" she demanded. "We could be great, brother! We could have the whole world bow down to us!" She seemed on the verge of tears through her anger. "Please, Zuko. Come home. I miss you, big brother." For a moment, Zuko felt torn. He'd missed her. He'd missed the four-year-old girl who looked up to her big brother and wanted him to show her firebending tricks. With one sentence, Azula destroyed all the progress she'd just made. "We'll destroy the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes together."
"Azula, that's crazy," Zuko snapped. "Why would I ever trust someone that took away my memories and played with my mind the way you did?"
They fought, raging across the top of the gondola, Zuko finding techniques and tricks that he didn't have a clue where they'd come from. All he knew was that they were giving him an edge over his sister that he couldn't remember ever having. Suddenly, Azula and Ty Lee's attention. They were gone and Zuko saw the guards sawing at the cables. Knowing it might be their only chance, he flung a hand into the air, sending up a signal flare in the shape of a flying bison. He could only hope Shuga was able to get his message.
The gondola began to lurch as the cables gave way. That was when Shuga arrived. "Let's go!" Zuko shouted leading the way onto her back. Within moments they were in the air, already flying from the scene. Zuko resolutely turned his back on all of it. He couldn't remember much of the others, but he knew Sokka was his friend and he wasn't going to forget that again.
Now he just had to get through his introduction to Hakoda. "Dad," Sokka said eagerly, "I want you to meet Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, and the guy who's gonna teach Aang how to firebend."
Hakoda shot his son a narrow-eyed look. "The last I'd heard, before this, he'd turned on you. What's to prevent it happening again?"
"I will swear on whatever you need me to that I will never betray the Avatar and his friends again," Zuko said, feeling a little desperate. He hung his head. "I know I did a terrible thing - ow!"
Sokka had hit him. "What did I tell you about stupid thoughts?"
"You said you'd kick me," Zuko told him irritably. "That's the second time you've hit me in the head, which never helps the migraines and what stupid thing was I thinking anyhow?"
Sokka sighed. "That it's your fault the Dai Li made you think you were your sister's lapdog, moron."
"When we're off of Shuga, I'm going to make you pay for that," Zuko said. "It's not my fault in that way, but I still tried to hurt Katara and I was the one who ran the takeover of Ba Sing Se."
Sokka blinked. "I thought Azula-"
"She was . . . indisposed." Zuko said.
Sokka just stared at him intently.
"Okay, she and Aiko were fighting and it got . . . stupid. So I knocked them both out," Zuko admitted.
Eyebrows raised, Sokka asked, "How did that fight get . . . stupid?"
"I don't think I'd ever imagined Azula, or Aiko, as a hair-puller," Zuko said. He shook his head. "When they started clawing at each other's clothes, I knew I had to do something."
"Their clothes were coming off?" Sokka asked, eyes wide. When Zuko nodded, he said, "Wow. That's . . . that's gonna be good dreams right there."
"Why is that?" Hakoda asked his son.
Sokka grinned. "You met Aiko, she looks exactly like Azula. Mmmm twins," he mumbled, letting his eyes close. Then he squawked as Suki hit him and started berating him about thinking about other girls like that around her.
"Ew," said Zuko. "Sokka! You don't get to say anything about me, Katara and the tiger seal thing after making me think about my sisters like that."
Hakoda's voice made his blood chill. "You, Katara and what tiger seal thing?"
Zuko turned to face the imposing warrior.
"Meep."
Prologue Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven Part Twelve Part Thirteen Part Fourteen Part Fifteen
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