Chapter 1: In which I discover the perils and advantages of Imperialistic Nations

Firebending came from the breath.

That at least had always been clear to me.

Was it innate knowledge? Something else? The niggling strange thoughts at mind that never truly left me alone.

Yet Chi itself was what fueled our firebending, so as much as breath was important, I personally felt that it was at most ancillary to what was actually important.

In my strange memories, there was a man named Piandao who had defeated an entire contingent of one hundred Fire Nation soldiers. It was not bending that had granted him his victory; it was not the singular metal blade; it was his chi.

What was chi then?

That was perhaps a greater mystery, but my own experiences had given me information on the subject. I believed with my limited evidence that part of chi must come simply from the spiritual essence of a person, the soul.

People were born with varying amounts, and as I was, I knew I had been born with very little.

Insultingly little actually.

Did this mean my soul was lesser?

The new warmth I had felt on my waking had been as a candle, flickering slightly in my body, barely anything.

When I had been in my richly appointed crib, red drapes covering the world, I had seized the moment alone, flicking my hand outward, a single orange spark had flickered off my hand.

Such a thing may have disheartened many would be benders.

Yet fire bending came from the breath.

I sucked in a deep breath filling my lungs to capacity, the organs inflating fully within my still small chest and as I did so I felt something more. Something energetic filtering into me, beyond the air, something else entered me, and I suppressed a shiver of my weak, small body feeling the current energy stretch through me. Filtering along still small unused pathways, spreading throughout my body, heat seeping through my limbs.

The candle in me grew slightly, almost infinitesimally, yet I was sure it had grown.

I settled into my crib, focusing deeply. There was something knowing at the edge of my conscience, and since I had nothing better to do than breathe, I decided to multitask and also think.

Why was I here?

Who was I?

I felt fragmented, like there was a larger part of me, but that somehow that piece had been turned to mush, leaving me in this state.

Oh well, I was sure I would figure it out eventually.

---

My first conscious meeting with my parents would reside within my memories for the better part of my life.

The stern black haired man with a goatee frowning at me, the gentle black haired woman with soft, caring eyes that did little to hide a deep-seated discomfort.

They seemed to be my parents, which I supposed should have mattered more to me; something about their appearance prodded at me, but I was unable to shake the deep-seated discomfort their presence evoked in me. The way they talked to each other, the language of their bodies, it was evident that they did not love each other.

Yet when the black haired woman appeared by herself in the room as she often did, there was something softer and kinder in her eyes; she would hold me and murmur to me words I began to understand were of love.

I had only seen the man by himself one time as he had stared down at me impassively, his very presence so close to me felt like a smoldering sun, I somehow could feel the man's strength, tightly leashed and controlled.

I couldn't help but find it unsettling, or perhaps it was the mere fact his eyes glittered with something cold in them when they examined me, something malevolent.

Time passed. I focused on my breathing, and the energy within me grew larger, and the energy swept throughout my limbs, down my nerves, through my brain.

Walking under one's own power was something I had taken for granted, but it had taken me a not inconsiderable amount of time to manage the feat once again, something very much encouraged by the woman who had entered my life, who was named Ursa, or so I thought from the words of the man.

That name tingled at me as I walked across the floor of the halls outside my room, dressed in soft red silks, attempting to control my still somewhat unsteady legs that gained more surety with each passing day.

It was rather surprising how large this place was, or I supposed perhaps it wasn't, if I was where my memories thought I was. I stumbled down the hallway in the dead of the night, the low lights of the hallways providing just enough illumination for me to make my way.

I was unsure of my destination, but I knew anywhere was better than lying awake in my bed.

The energy I breathed in had grown the candle inside me considerably, my representation of what I thought to be my chi, and as the candle grew, I found myself able to draw on it to provide energy that, otherwise, a young, growing boy like me might need to attain from sleep.

Which was just fine with me, my night wanderings had provided excellent insight into my existence.

My destination tonight was a familiar one, and slipping in through the next set of doors, I arrived in a massive library filled with an uncountable number of scrolls cloaked in darkness. I cupped my palm, and a small flame flickered into existence upon it, something I had not shown my parents yet, showcasing the library in sharp relief.

When I first came here, I had been overwhelmed, yet I had discovered a boon, for some reason, I was able to read just as I had realized no one expected my current cognition from a boy who could not even be considered a toddler. I slipped around a couple of bookcases and eventually found my destination, the section filled with histories.

Not knowing where to start, I had selected the scroll labeled as the first one in the series.

The knowledge was familiar, yet it wasn't.

A world of four elemental nations, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Air Nomads, and the Fire Nation.

Except the Fire Nation had wiped out the Air Nomads in a retaliatory attack to defeat the Air Army before they could do the same and destroy the Fire Nation.

I frowned, tracing the scroll thoughtfully. That was incorrect; somehow, I knew that, yet why would the scroll lie?

Absentmindedly, I traced the Fire Nation symbol emblazoned across the scroll's side.

"History is written by the victors," I murmured the phrase filtering through my mind, and something uncomfortable stirred in my chest. A small pang in my head that couldn't be rubbed away.

I kept reading through the scrolls, an uncomfortable weight in my chest as I considered each one.

The weight did not dissipate the more I read. A hundred-year war stalemated with the rest of the world. A glorious conquest. A great war.

"Wars do not make one great," I mumbled to myself, a phrase I had heard somewhere, yet I found it hard to remember.

I filed the history scrolls away, uncomfortable, and began searching for my actual objective, bending scrolls.

I had seen demonstrations of several guards using the flames in martial arts, and I was very curious about moving toward that topic in my own way. I was young but I knew I needed the head start. With my chi as it was, I needed any advantage I could take.

I found the fire bending scroll I had last looked at; it was an odd thing, not focused on the actual movements, but conceptually what fire bending was.

Something I was very curious about.

I sat and read, keeping the fire alight on my palm, thoughtfully reading the scroll, focusing on the information about the chi meridians. How the cycling of chi strengthened the pathways, this was something I had already discovered on my own, but the more I read, the more I refined my thoughts and my future practice.

Consistent, constant meditation was likely not any toddler's idea of fun, yet I found that I actually rather enjoyed the activity.

Perhaps it was because I had started from so little, but the more my chi grew, the better I felt, the stronger I became.

---

I lay back against the roof, humming a song a court musician had sung, twirling the straw between my teeth idly, keeping the small flame at the very end of it lit, not letting the flame consume the straw at all, but holding it in place by fueling with my chi rather than letting it consume the straw. The small point of fire would occasionally flicker from warm orange to something tinged blue, then back.

The life of a member of the royalty of the Fire Nation was truly not all it was cracked up to be, I thought to myself. Why someone would choose or desire to sit around all day in stuffy clothing as the people around you blew metaphorical smoke up your metaphorical butt was beyond me.

Especially when they could be practicing their fire bending.

Even now, every breath I took was even, even as my body hurt from the exercises I had put it through. Something no two-year-old should be doing to themselves.

Yet I had a breakthrough with chi: If I exhausted myself physically, stretching and tearing my muscles, flushing heat through them soothed them to some extent, gold tinged flame sometimes flickering over my limbs, though perhaps that was my imagination.

Yet wasn't water the only element supposed to be able to heal?

Was I even healing myself or merely soothing my exhausted body?

A conundrum to be sure.

A cry sprang out from below me, and my eyes widened as I realized that something was happening below where my mother had been ushered into a room, and I had been barred from entering which had led to my idling on the roof, unwilling to be underfoot in the hallway, but needing to be close at hand.

My little sister was arriving, it must be.

I crept to the edge of the roof confidently, hooking my feet into the edge before lowering my body over the precipice to dangle just far enough to see through the window, to see my mother holding a bundle in her arms, my father notably absent.

I had to suppress the flush of anger through my system, now was not the time to worry about Ozai.

My mother was speaking, asking a servant something, "Zuko, where is Zuko?"

I blinked, surprised that she would be requesting me, but then I supposed I shouldn't be, the woman did seem to care for me, at least when my father was not in the room.

I was a little surprised, as dysfunctional a couple as my mother and father were, they had decided to have another child.

Probably equal parts the fact that they were royalty and that being absentee parents to a two-year-old didn't necessitate actual child care.

I supposed that wasn't fair, how many two-year-olds were as active as I was, and my mother did spend time with me, I just couldn't shake the feeling that whenever she looked at me, there was the smallest infinitesimal trace of fear.

Probably wondering if I would turn out like the rest of Fire Nation royalty, which, fair, I couldn't really argue with that. Also, the fact that I was two and probably shouldn't be aware of such things yet didn't do me any favors.

Still, I needed to focus. If my mother needed me, I should make an appearance.

The servants were moving back and forth wildly and didn't notice my entrance through the open window as I landed with a relatively soft thud, given my size.

"I'm here mom," I said attempting to smile cheerfully as if all was right with the world.

The entire room froze in a way I found oddly humorous as their attention focused onto me shocked not having seen me enter which they probably found especially strange as I was no where close to the door.

Ursa did not seem bothered though and gave me a tired smile for once the small fear lacking in her gaze, "Come meet your sister Zuko," she said softly lifting up slightly the bundle in her harms.

I walked forward cautiously, looking down at the baby, a little surprised to see her gaze a pure gold just like my own. Her eyes focused on me, almost narrowing slightly, and despite myself, I found that my lips had twitched upward in amusement.

I found I felt a certain camaraderie with this tiny creature. We were both stuck with these two parents.

"What's her name, Mom?" I asked, still meeting the baby's gaze.

"Azula," Ursa murmured softly, looking down at the child with a look that I was sure was supposed to say care, yet I found myself unable to say that was the whole of it. Just like with her gaze at me, there was the smallest trace of fear, as if wondering what this child would do.

Azula looked at her mother, and I wondered if somehow she saw through Ursa because her face scrunched up, and she opened her mouth, beginning to cry.

I reached out despite myself, gently stroking Azula's soft, downy-haired head, "I'm here Azula, as your big brother, I'll always watch out for you."

Probably overly erudite for a two-year-old, yet Ursa did not seem overly put off, smiling gently at the two of us.

Intellectually, I knew there was no way Azula would understand me, much less conceptualize my guarantee, but her crying slowed as she opened her eyes, looking back at me as I gently stroked her head.

Some part of me was distantly aware of what this child could be capable of. The pain and harm she could cause, a faint memory of crazed laughter and blue fire. Yet right now, I did not see that, and even if I had, I didn't think I could do anything else; if our mother had already given up on us, I would do what was necessary.

---

I was four when my father caught me fire bending. It was not a bad run, if I'd say so myself.

My tea had gone cold, and I hadn't wanted to bother the servants, so I had touched the cup and reached beyond stimulating the water with my own energy, causing it to bubble rapidly as I reheated the cup to the correct temperature.

I had been sitting in the gardens as I often spent my time, and had been careless not searching for the presence of the man before I had acted. In my accounting, he should have been in some meeting about the ongoing war.

I was wrong.

"Zuko," the words emerged cooly from his lips as he walked across the garden toward me, and I found the situation strange as it was rare for the man to pay any attention to me.

The man's golden eyes narrowed, looking down at my cup, "You fire bent," his words were more intrigued than I had heard before.

I nodded simply, "Yes, father," I said, not wishing to antagonize the man, just from how the man's chi raged about him, I had long known the man's temper was ill-controlled.

He smiled, but it was more a sneer, as the usual when the man smiled, "As expected of a child of mine, you will begin taking lessons on the morrow.

And so I did.

---

My teachers attempted to begin my fire bending training from the beginning, but their beginning was strange. Hate and Anger seemed an odd formation for an element already as uncontrolled as fire.

Those parts of the lessons I ignored, the forms they taught, though, were useful.

Fire kicks, Fire punches, yet even as I showed my mastery in the day, it was the nights that I found were more informative.

It was the nights that were only illuminated by the moon that I did my best work.

In the dark shadows of the palace, I practiced the forms far past what I did in public.

Already, I had heard the mutters of 'prodigy' said throughout the palace, though it was only I who knew the falsity of those words.

Perhaps my mind was more developed than the average four-year-old, but my talent did not come from being born with the large stores of chi that were expected of the royal family. Rather it was years of hard work, meditation, exercise, that no child would choose to go through, yet I had subjected myself to because the alternative was to engage in a childhood that I had no interest in.

Perhaps my ability wasn't fully due to hard work, I found that at least in physical activity and motion, I had some modicum of talent. My body moved as I directed it. My muscles strengthened from constant channeling of chi from the moment I was born, made me able to move as no child should.

That was to say, I was not ungrateful for my abilities and my dedication, but perhaps because my mind was not that of a four-year-old, I found it hard to be overly proud of my accomplishments.

I stopped my practice in the darkness, and my gold eyes glinted as I channeled my fire through them, making the darkness of little consequence. I was fully aware from my lessons that my comfort in the night was not normal for fire benders. We were Agni's children, and the sun was the source of our power, yet perhaps because of my childhood so far, I did not like the idea of complete reliance upon the spirits.

I slipped through the quiet hallways of the palace, slipping deftly around guards and servants, dodging the circles of light from the candles and lanterns they carried.

Into the bedroom of my sister, I slipped, not at all surprised to find the room lit in a golden hue despite the lateness, and her impatient gaze landing upon me.

"Zuzu!" she growled, "You're late!"

My sister was a rather precocious creature; she would glare and snap, and sometimes there was a cold smile on her face as a servant tripped and injured themselves. I had already seen the worrying looks my mother had sent her way, the lack of time she would spend with her, even less than I.

It was just another point in Ursa's shameful ability to parent.

I did not truly mind, though, I smiled gently at Azula and reached out to ruffle her hair, which only caused her scowl to deepen.

"I'm sorry,' I said with a small grin, "It was shameful for me to arrive late to such an important meeting."

"You're not sorry at all," Azula glared even harder at me but I saw the small pout and the beginning of a trembling lip.

I sighed softly, settling myself on her bed, looking down at the toddler. Azula didn't always take well to my teasing. "Of course, I am, Azula, I should have been more conscious of how late it had gotten."

It was the truth, with how much time I spent awake in the night, it was difficult sometimes to keep track of when I should be in my sister's room for her night time story.

"How about this," I said softly, bending down slightly to meet Azula's eyes that had flickered away from me in anger, "I'll get a present for you to show you how sorry I am, does that sound good, Azula?"

Azula's face scrunched in consideration before she slowly nodded, "No dolls," she said firmly, though she looked slightly mollified.

I gave the girl a look of mock horror, "Of course not, only the best for my princess!"

I spotted her lips twitching even more but this time to prevent a smile she was trying to suppress, and I found myself grinning at the tiny terror who since her birth had taken a not inconsiderable amount of my time, yet had given me something I wasn't realizing I was missing, a small warmth that I carried with my through the halls of the palace, the tediousness of my training and learning, and the dark of my night walks.

---

At the age of eight, I sat opposite Prince Iroh, the heir to the Fire Nation, and my Uncle, he had spent a long time on the front lines of the war in the Earth Kingdom and this was the first time he had been back in quite awhile. I looked at the man, and I couldn't help but wonder who he was. He wasn't like my own father, that at least I was able to tell.

Lu Ten, my cousin and the likely inheritor after Iroh, also sat with us.

I wondered if they had walked the dark halls of the palace and had heard what I had. Whispers of my father Ozai's desire for the throne, said so lowly that I had to strain myself to hear.

It would never happen as it was now. Iroh, the Great General who led the forces of the Fire Nation on their conquest.

Yet I couldn't help but wonder, strange thoughts filtering through my head as I regarded the pair who had asked for my presence.

I was unnecessary. I knew I would never be Fire Lord, something I was glad for because as I read through the library, I couldn't help but find my dedication lacking.

A war headed for its hundredth anniversary, and for what?

Another thing had flickered through my mind at those thoughts, a war meeting, a father pressing his hand against the face of his son's face, open flame to leave a permanent mark.

Was it the spirits I had heard so much about who granted me these visions? If so, it would certainly explain much about my life.

"Tell me, about yourself, nephew," Iroh said in his warm, jovial voice, "I hear much said about your talents with fire and even more about your keen mind."

"Thank you, Prince Iroh, your words do me honor," I murmured the words by rote, yet I did not feel them.

Iroh chucked, seemingly amused, "Your politeness does you credit," he hummed, but his eyes were sharp, too seeing, too knowing, "Even my father has spoken of your abilities, that is no mean thing."

Of course, Fire Lord Azulon had mentioned me, I smiled my typical passive polite smile, "The Fire Lord's words honor me as well, I did not think my demonstration enough to impress him."

How unfortunate that the man had walked in on my training, though I supposed it was only a matter of time. Even against the forces of Imperial Fire benders, I had found myself bored by the simplicity of their use.

For them, Fire Bending was a form of attack, a martial art.

It was a lacking interpretation.

Fire was life; it was everything. To simply view it as a method of attack hurt me, and I wondered how others could feel so. Did they not feel the warmth of the sun, the heat of their chi in their veins?

Yet maybe I shouldn't be surprised, the older I grew, the more aware of the sickness of this nation I saw.

My sister began learning firebending after shooting sparks at the age of four, something incredible, and I was not surprised, as I felt the strength of her chi was incredible, far beyond her age, yet I found her master's teachings lacking; they pushed her too hard.

How much excellence could you expect from a six-year-old?

So I had done what I had done what I did best. I had slipped my way into Azula's training and, when necessary, faced down her teachers if I found them too harsh. Always calmly, politely, asking for clarification when they pushed too hard, narrowed eyes, cool looks, perhaps asking for them to demonstrate with a spar against me when necessary.

Only twice had I had to forge a letter or whisper a word in the correct ear, subterfuge that I hated and found antithetical, yet what else could I do when I found the small burn marks on my sister's hands, even when I had soothed the redness away with flickers of golden flame.

I had avoided my father's attention so far, though perhaps not Fire Lord Azulon's or Prince Iroh's.

Perhaps I should have avoided blasting the last teacher through a door, though I had expected their block to have enough firmness to prevent such, especially against a strike that was half powered.

Such events had spiraled well beyond my control now, to suppress so I was not surprised Iroh had heard. Still my intervention had precipitated Azula's entry into an all girls academy where she claimed to have made some friends, a girl named Mai, and another girl named Ty Lee.

So I couldn't be too disappointed.

"I find myself having been a poor Uncle indeed, so I would like to offer a gift to you Prince Zuko, is there anything you would like?"

Well wasn't that convenient because a name had surfaced in my memory and I was interested to pursue it, "If possible I would like to learn how to use a sword," I said smiling softly.

Iroh hummed and stroked his beard in thought before an idea seemed to catch alight in his golden eyes, "Then perhaps you would like to visit Piandao?"

I carefully did not smile and pasted on a curious expression, "Who?"

---

Six months had passed since I had disappeared from the Palace, and I was unable to shake the uncertainty that drifted through my thoughts from such an action.

Piandao's training had been informative, and the feeling of his chi more so.

The construction of my pair of Dao had been like making a new friend, and my ideas had spun about what they would enable in my journey through the palace shadows.

What had been less helpful was meeting my sister again, whose face had been a cold mask as she sneered at my arrival.

"Hello, Azula," I murmured, looking down at the six-year-old.

"So you've come back," she sniffed, her eyes like daggers.

"Of course," I smiled at her, "And I have a gift."

Others in the palace had remarked that Azula did not demonstrate emotion, a cold front like the blue of the fire she had begun to conjure.

I knew they were wrong from personal experience, even now her eyes were glimmering in desire, her lips had the smallest of curves as she refused to smile.

I reached into my belt and pulled free the dagger I had forged for her and handed it to her.

Her hand shot out, snatching it, and I could see the suppressed glee in her eyes as she examined it, drawing the blade free from its sheath before blinking and examining the slightly blue-tinted steel.

"Love will never leave your side?" she turned to look up at me, frowning, "What's that supposed to mean?"

I smiled, ruffling her hair despite myself, "I forged that dagger for you, it's a reminder that I'll always be here for you."

Her frown deepened her golden eyes, flickering with confusion, "I don't understand Zuzu."

My heart panged as I looked at the confused frown on her face, my thoughts were already weighing on my conscience as knowledge that I would not be here forever, that there was too much I had to do.

"You will," I said softly.

Azula's frown deepened for a moment before her eyes lit up, "Wanna play with my friends?!" she crowed proudly, and I listened patiently, unable to suppress the ache in my heart.

---

It was Mai and Ty Lee, the girls I had heard about prior, and I found upon my return to the palace, I ended up roped into their games.

They were seemingly opposites of each other, but the more I got to know them, I discovered how the trio truly was the same.

They did not know the love of their families, so based on the urgings of my memories, I had decided that these two were also my responsibility.

Running around and slipping away from the acrobatic grasping fingers of Ty Lee, dodging the knives of Mai, and the small jets of flame from Azula at least made for an interesting time.

And if their parents were all too willing to make sure that Mai and Ty Lee spent the maximum amount of time possible in the palace with Azula, it was not because their holdings in the Royal Court were strengthened by their involvement.

Despite the fact that playing and entertaining them cut into my time during the day, I merely redoubled my focus on my training during the night.

It was at the age of ten that I infiltrated the royal archives, finding the description of the technique I had been looking for based on the memories that filtered through my mind.

Lightning Bending.

It had been a month of training my chi before the lightning storm had erupted over the capital, and I had found my cover slipping out into the rain and positioned away from the palace with only the dark flashing sky for company, I had focused.

I was sure that this would be difficult, but focus was not something I lacked.

I grasped my chi and drew it apart along my arms, my mind a keen blade through water before I drew the chi apart, perfectly separating all of it, not taking in a single breath, before I let the bolt fly true through the sky, one bolt among many of the lightning storm.

I released my breath, running golden flame over my arm, feeling a small tingle of the electricity I had not managed to perfectly corral the energy through my body.

Well, nothing that practice would not make perfect.

For the rest of the storm, I stood in the rain, soaking me through entirely as I was chilled to the bone, releasing lightning back into the sky.

And if I imagined Ozai's face among the clouds, that was for my own thoughts alone.

---

Through the gold of the palace, through the darkness of night, I had heard the beginnings of the next offensive.

In my hands, I had held a scrap of paper, my lips twisted in a frown. My Uncle Iroh was to begin his siege on Ba Sing Se, and at the same time, the Southern Raiders were to begin their attacks on the Southern Water Tribe, apparently searching for the last water benders on that part of the world.

It seemed the gold I had spent and the whispers I had incited had reached their limits.

There was nothing I could do about Ba Sing Se, my Uncle was not a person that could be easily dissuaded, the day they had left and I had hugged Lu Ten goodbye, I had spent in the family crypts hidden in the shadows letting tears disappear where they could be hidden,

The Southern Water Tribe, on the other hand… the paper I held erupted in a flash of blue flame, and I brought my black hood over my face, the blue spirits mask covering the rest of my features.

Through the night, I ran, leaping over the rooftops, staying within the shadows, drawing in the light around me with deep breaths till I was but another patch of darkness. I ran through the city till I found the beginnings of the assembly of the Southern Raiders Fleet, all directed by one man's ambition.

The issue, of course, with the singular driving of ambition amongst one man who kept the secrets of his discovery to himself was that they were the sole point of failure.

Sneaking into his ship I found the man in his cabin illuminated by a single flicker of his candle, so focused on his map that he was completely unready as I pressed a single fingertip to the back of his chest a bolt of lightning leaping free from my fingertips causing the electricity that beat in his heart to go haywire.

An instant heartattack.

The man choked and collapsed over his desk; cautiously, I thumbed through his documents before finding the ones that had the details of the information he had learned about the water benders of the Southern Tribe.

I breathed, and a blue flame rippled out of my mouth, causing the entire stack to disappear, not even leaving the faintest traces of ash.

I nodded to myself, slipping out of the ship completely undiscovered, making my way some distance before I stopped by the water to release the contents of my stomach, the man's contorted face stuck in my mind.

The next day, there had been talk in the court about the unfortunate death, but the idea of attacking the Southern Water Tribes had died with the man. I could take no real joy in that news, for I knew Ba Sing Se would still suffer.

My instructor that day had his body broken through a column of our training room, as my diligence had failed me.

---

A year went by, and the siege dragged on. My Uncle sent back a dagger and a doll.

I could already see the frustration building on my sister's face as she gazed down at the pathetic cloth.

I hummed and looked at the girl before I held out my dagger, "Want to trade?" I grinned at my sister, who looked up, shocked.

Her eyes flickered greedily to my dagger, and I suppressed the amusement on my face, knowing the girl would not take it well. She looked between the two of them for a moment before, somewhat shyly, she nodded.

Holding the Earth Kingdom doll in front of me, I mused to myself, the best place to put the thing.

---

The wall was breached, and the only cost was my uncle's son, alongside, of course, the other countless lives expended by the Fire Nation and sacrificed by the Earth Kingdom.

I hated myself and found myself hating the Fire Lord even more, though those quiet treasonous thoughts remained in my head.

My father did not miss the opportunity to go before the Fire Lord, Azula had demonstrated her bending, and I felt the warm flicker of pride as she easily completed the form I had coached her in, to the pinnacle of perfection.

That warmth faded as we were all dismissed from the room, except for Ozai, and after directing Azula to run along, I had slipped back through a secret entrance I had found to listen.

Ozai had spoken his voice similar to the coiling serpent he was, of course, it made sense that he should now be in line for the throne, Iroh's line was broken.

Something like fear had coursed through me as Azulon had spoken his pronouncement, "You will know the pain of losing a firstborn son."

So Grandfather had ordered me dead, well, wasn't that something? As I slipped out of the room and slipped through the shadows of the hallway, I spotted my mother walking away, her face contorted for a moment before her eyes landed on me. "Zuko," she murmured gently, bending down before me. My eyes met hers.

I realized now that perhaps I had not spoken to her enough, that even with the times we had spent with Azula in the gardens, there was still so much left unsaid.

"I'm sorry, Mom," I murmured, encircling my arms around the woman, holding her gently.

"Oh Zuko," she murmured into my hair, and I felt hot tears soaking through it.

She pulled back, and now there was a firmness in her face. She looked at me softly, "You have to promise to take care of your sister," she murmured.

I frowned, looking at the woman before I parsed the double meaning, "You can't," I whispered.

Ursa gave me a soft smile, brushing a hand over my face, "Of course I can, you're my son, I'd do anything for you."

She stood up and walked away, and with each step she made, my heart ached more.

I walked through the palace to my room to find my sister waiting on my bed, looking nervous.

"What's going on, Zuzu?" she asked softly, her tone nervous, her eyes shimmering slightly.

A small surge of pride swept through me unexpectedly; this girl was not the girl in my dreams; there was no cruelty, no anger, just a sweet girl whom I had the honor of taking care of.

Even if her smiles were sometimes too wicked for their own good.

"It's nothing Zula, how about I read you a story?"

"Love amongst the dragons!" Azula replied excitedly, and I smiled. I had my own fondness for the story; after all, the ending where the Blue Spirit returned the young firebender to the land of the living to be with those he loved just added such a special part to the story.

If only all stories could have such happy endings.

---

Firelord Azulon died that night.

Firelord Ozai emerged.

Ursa vanished into the wind, and I had made sure there was no trace to follow her. Someday, if I made it through the coming years, perhaps I would track her down, but now it was best that not even I would be able to trace her existence.

Just as I had erased the reports that had come about rumors of the existence of remaining airbenders, some knowledge was best left gone.

Azula remained with her friends, and I still engaged them in their games.

They played like rambunctious children, albeit children who could very easily cause grave injury, dragging me into their games.

We laughed and played, and even when I had to check some Azula's outrageous ideas of placing an apple on Mai's head to put a firebending blast through to core the apple, no one seemed to truly linger and become upset.

And if Mai's eyes focused on me for longer periods of time afterwards, I did not draw attention to it.

Introducing Ty Lee to the rooftops of the palace had been an interesting idea, but I had not expected her to take such joy in running across them. Even though it did mean she spent less time in her own home.

Ty Lee sought me out more often to observe her acrobatics, then it was worthwhile to pay attention to her as she showcased her amazing technique and talent, if only for the smile that was on her face. After all, it wasn't every day you could see the legendary chi blockers of the Fire Nation in action.

And if Ty Lee came to me out more often than was strictly appropriate for the noble daughter of a Fire Nation family, especially one tried in her art, then it wasn't a problem, as it never reached anyone else's ears.

During the days we played, learned, and practiced together, and my gentle instruction of Azula continued.

Such instruction would end with us eating together, and then invariably I would find myself washing up from the day with scrubbing her hair gently in her large bath, followed by reading one of the many plays I had memorized to her while performing the voices and firebending shows alongside them.

Azula drifted off to sleep with a small, pleased smile on her face, her dreams undisturbed by any troubles.

And if Ozai's meeting carried on far longer during the days he would have attempted to train Azula, thus leaving her without his instruction, then that was merely the burden of being Fire Lord, something he had sought wholeheartedly.

The days passed, and the webs I had spun in the dark of the night continued to spread. The Fire Nation had reached a stalemate with the rest of the world. Troops moved about, yet actual gains were limited, yet each movement was supported by the War Council and by extension the Fire Lord.

This was not so surprising, strategists said, the war had been going on for almost a hundred years, could it really be expected that more recent gains would be made, especially after the loss at Ba Sing Se. At least the casualties were down on their side.

I couldn't help but find myself distracted as I followed the reports of my Uncle, wondering when he would come home.

It was another year before I heard from him again.

---

"Guess who?!" chirped the weight on my shoulders even as my eyes were entirely covered by the palms of a familiar energetic girl.

I laughed, though I didn't pause the stroke of my brush across the parchment in front of me as I continued to write.

"It must be Mai, of course," I said, faux confidently, and I felt reverberations of the girl above me groan.

"No silly!" she sighed.

"Hmmm, then Azula?" I asked.

I slipped around the chi blocking finger, aimed for my back as I turned, laughing, looking at miffed Ty Lee.

"Hey, watch those fingers," I scolded gently, "They hurt when you poke me too much." Ty Lee giggled and backflipped away, and I watched as she joined her friends once again, settling by the pond the group had unofficially claimed.

I felt the heat of a familiar chi walking through the garden and spotted a familiar man, hair now with far more grey, but with eyes now carrying a softness they did not have before. A small note of uncertainty was visible on his face as he looked at my little group of miscreants.

I stood up and walked up to the man and embraced him softly, "Uncle," I murmured, a faint touch of a golden flame flickering over my fingers behind his back as I gently checked his health. His chi had been touched by something far greater than himself. How strange.

"Nephew," Iroh said jovially, and if he clutched me more tightly than he would have before, it wasn't my place to say.

And if when we played Pai Sho, and he now always opened with the White Lotus tile, then that was to be expected.

The War Meetings were boring, and the only reason I had convinced Iroh to bring me to them was to pass the appropriate information along my channels.

---

It was when one of the generals suggested sacrificing the 41st, a unit made up almost entirely of new recruits, to gain nothing but an insignificant advantage that I knew my moment was at hand.

Even as I objected, I imagined the pleased smirk on Ozai's face behind the wall of flame as I gave him the opportunity he had been looking for the last thirteen years.

On a personal note, I found it somewhat difficult, even as the pronouncement of Agni Kai rang out, to keep my own pleased expression from emerging.

Who wouldn't feel the joy of such a long-term plan coming together?

---

I kneeled shirtless, only a bright white cloth draped over my back signifying my devotion to Agni.

I already knew by feeling that the man behind me was Ozai, having spent more years than I cared for in his presence.

My lips quirked slightly upward as the final phase of my plan took shape.

I spun, and the cloth fluttered through the air, meeting Ozai's gaze head-on. His golden eyes a shade darker than my own.

I could see him searching my face for the fear he expected, his face an impassive mask which I knew was to hide the utter hatred he had for me.

Today, Prince Zuko would die.

I swept my fist down, generating a massive wave of fire, ripping forth from me, carefully titrated from its usual blue.

Ozai huffed and blasted forward to burst through the wave, but I could tell by the narrowing of his brow that it took more effort than he had expected.

Flame raged across the platform in the dead silence as I egged the man on in my head, meeting him flame for flame, encouraging the man on to do what I wanted him to do.

I pressed forward, splitting his flame wave and then curling the flame in my palms to jut out towards him, sinking even more chi into the flame to send a blast hurtling forward, which Ozai blocked but just barely.

The man hadn't been taking me seriously, years of hiding my own talents coming into play, and as his eyes narrowed, I knew now was the moment.

His hands windmilled, and the air crackled, and I smirked, letting him make the movement, the smirk hiding my own slight fear; what I was doing was stupid.

But also necessary.

Crackling blue lightning erupted forth, and I caught the tendrils with the tips of my fingers in the briefest of instants. I windmilled my other arm down toward the ground the flash of the lightning blinding the audience, and as the lightning ripped forth in a massive explosion, clouding the entire arena in smoke, even as it blew Ozai off his feet, and I let a small flame jut outward, slamming into the lower part of his torso, searing my last message home I smiled because the first part of my plan came to fruition.

It was, after all, technically, my win, though the world would not know for some years.

I gritted my teeth in pain even as I used my heat sense to navigate my way free of the cloud, invisible from the sight of the assembled people.

I slipped on the black cloak I had prepared just outside the arena and started running, slipping through the path I had planned out previously through the capitol with the ease of long practice, not taking a deep breath until I was on a small ship roaring out of the harbor, fueling the motor with my fire bending.

Even as I moved further out to sea, concern dwelled in my heart; the directions and funds I had left should protect Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai. Physically, they should be entirely safe unless the Fire Lord personally tried to kill them.

They should be protected by my perceived death. I thought it would be unfeasible after killing his own son with lightning that Ozai would make any bold moves for a while. Even the Fire Lord would lose some political power for that.

Agni Kai's were rarely supposed to be to the death. Using a pinnacle fire bending technique on their own son, I admitted myself curious how my father would deal with the fallout. Would he be able to tell that he had not actually managed to kill his son? Or would his confidence in his lightning bending remove such a possibility?

I rubbed my chest, coughing slightly, even as I pressed healing golden flames to it; I hadn't quite managed the redirection perfectly, focused as I was on my escape. A part of me wondered if I should have pushed myself harder, but even with as much as I had trained, I was uncertain about challenging Ozai like that.

I shook my head even as I planned out my next direction. The Northern Water Tribe was but the next step in my plan for the disposal of the Fire Lord. I wasn't particularly pressed for time as I had three years, but after so long of constantly focusing on the next objective, I found myself unable to wait to start making a difference outside of my home country.

I wondered how hard it would be to hide my fire bending.

---

I heard the reports some weeks later at the port I arrived at. At the age of thirteen, Prince Zuko died, overcome by his own Father's lightning, leaving the Fire Nation in shock. Already, the rumor I had planted had started flying alongside the information that the Prince's body had not been found, that perhaps the spirits themselves might have interfered.

I doubted that such a rumor would worry Ozai, I knew my father's disdain for the spirits, but also I knew that such a rumor would burn underneath the surface of my nation, especially given my careful stoking of the rumor, hopefully, perhaps making even ardent believers question.

As I headed north, the air became colder, not that it bothered me. Fire breath kept me warm even as I contemplated how exactly a Prince of the Fire Nation was to infiltrate the Northern Water Tribes' stronghold.

I had stopped at a final Earth Kingdom port after journaling through the rivers that intercut the Earth Kingdom. The port was awfully close to a Fire Nation colony, at least overland, so I had taken the chance to find just a bit more information about the situation I had left on the Islands.

Thankfully for me, I doubted Ozai would have thought to look for the accounts that I had taken and isolated from the royal treasury. With the use of the spy network, after setting up a dead drop with a note passed to a bartender, I surveyed the last package of information I would be able to look at until I returned from the North Pole.

With their insular nature, I had limited ability to place agents within the Northern Water Tribe. Except for one rather interesting man, though he had been contacted when he had been in the Earth Kingdom temporarily.

Given their trade with the northern portion of the Earth Kingdom, I still had some information about the place, something that my one contact hadn't been particularly keen on sharing.

I had taken the opportunity to dress in the dark blues of the tribe, purchased with some of the currency I had brought with me. Which still left me a problem, namely, my pure gold eyes.

I stared contemplatively at the mirror I held before me. Then I took a deep breath and raised a flickering golden fire on my hand and pressed it over my eyelids.

I focused deeply, letting the flame travel over the pupil and iris of each one, changing them, at least for the next three days, before the color would reassert itself.

I opened my eyes again and nearly flinched as I was met with a soulful ocean blue, though to my sharp vision I spotted a couple of remnant specks of gold in the irises. Nothing I hoped that would be very visible, but now, beside my rather pale skin, I figured I could pass as someone from a Water Tribe.

At the very least, I figured that no one would identify me as a firebender.

My dark hair was let down from its top knot and fell about my face freely, and thoughtfully, I pushed it behind my ears.

I checked over the rest of my outfit, the dark blue accentuated with white of the water tribe along my sheathed dao swords on my back.

My ship had been left to be watched at a permanent berth at the port, so with all that resolved, I made my way outside the Inn I had taken temporary residence in, heading for a clearly water tribe ship I had purchased a berth in.

No one gave me a second glance as I stepped onto the wood and made my way to the front of the ship, thoughtfully looking out into the ocean.

Soon enough, we were underway, going further North than I had ever been, and I was sure that without my breath of fire, the cold would have been intolerable, even with my warm clothing.

For several days, our journey continued, and I blended in relatively well with the crowd. I was quiet and kept mostly to myself, but I saw no hackles raised as my blue eyes and clothing set my surrounding travelers at ease.

I had even been asked to help haul in the nets on occasion, which I couldn't help but find amusing as the other sailors cussed and swore in admiration as I demonstrated superior strength pulling in nets with sheer muscle that even four of them could not handle.

"You're something else, boy, what's your name?" one of them asked.

I grinned lightly, forsaking the heirs of a noble with ease, it was after all not the first time I had hid my identity, "Hakoda." I shook his hand, matching the man's pressure with a fierce grin.

"Where are you from Hakoda?" the man asked.

I shrugged, giving the man an awkward smile, "I'm not sure, to be honest, I grew up in the Earth Kingdom before my mother left, she told me my father was of the Water Tribes, it's only now that I figured I should see some of my homeland."

The man nodded an easy smile on his face, "Well, good to have one return to the fold, you've at least got a good strong water tribe name," he clapped me over the shoulder, and I grinned in reply, the picture of the naïve boy I was pretending to be.

My first sight of the North Pole took my breath away, the high arching white walls, the ebb and flow of the ships from the locks powered by waterbending if I didn't miss my mark.

We merged with the flow, entering with little trouble before docking. I filtered off with the rest of the man returning home before I made my way with some directions to an Inn, where I paid with some Earth Kingdom currency. They were more than happy to take me in for a place to stay for the next month.

I spent the rest of the day wandering the city while managing my breath in the strange place I found myself, surrounded by my opposite element, a chill seeping throughout the pole that I maintained my defenses against.

I got the occasional look due to my skin, but my eyes seemed to assure the vast majority of people, along with how I had dressed myself, that I was in fact one of theirs.

Still, as night fell, I found my way to the top of one of the buildings made of ice, sitting at the edge of the rooftop to gaze off into the stars, the darkness surrounding me, providing enough of an appreciable cloak that I did not feel overly exposed. I surveyed the city, lost in thought.

Had I made the right decision?

My heart hurt in a way my healing could not touch. Would Azula be all right in my absence? Would she become the girl I had seen in my visions? What about Mai and Ty Lee?

Had my planning been too long-term? Had I taken enough into account?

I had been able to inhibit the war efforts of the Fire Nation, but now that I was no longer at the center of the spider web and had to rely on the efforts I had already put into place, I was scared.

Scared, what a strange emotion, the feeling of sadness and tension in my gut.

"Boy," a rough voice came from me as the warm presence finally seemed willing to speak. I did not turn, nor did I grab my swords.

"Master Pakku," I murmured respectfully.

I felt the man twitch in my heat signature sensing and I suppressed the faint smile at having caught the man off guard.

"You have me at a disadvantage, boy," the man growled, though he did not seem overly concerned just yet. And why should he? He was a master water bender surrounded by his element at night, with the moon in the sky.

"You can call me Hakoda," I replied, still staring out at the blue water, which reflected the waxing moon.

"What is your purpose here?" Master Pakku asked in a low growl.

I hummed thoughtfully as if I were considering his question, though in truth it was already a planned reply.

"I have information from the Blue Spirit," I said, still not looking at the man.

Master Pakku stiffened in my perception, and I felt his temperature increase slightly, likely as chi flow increased in his body. "Prove it," the man said.

I slowly reached inside my shirt and pulled free a scroll before I tossed it gently to him.

He caught it with ease and unrolled the parchment, his eyes surveying the script, legible in the light of the moon.

It was the patrol information for the Fire Nation navy within the scope of North Pole, all of it was accurate, and it was mostly only relevant to assure the man that, for now, there would be no raids.

"So you're one of their agents?" Master Pakku remarked stiffly, and my lips twitched up in amusement at the suspicion still in his voice, "I told the previous agent that-"

"You had no interest in working for them, I know," I finished for him, "This isn't about that, the Blue Spirit has a vested interest in keeping the North Pole safe, consider that his contribution."

"I should report you," Master Pakku said, though I could hear the resignation in his voice.

I laughed despite myself, "If you'd like to, but I'd at least like to tell you why I'm here."

I felt Pakku hesitate, and I was sure I had him then.

I fished into my pocket, taking a singular Pai Sho tile out before I tossed it to the man.

I felt him tense, the heat of his body shifting. I wasn't surprised after all; I had tossed him a White Lotus tile.

"Care for a game, Master?" I said airily.

---

Not since his son had died had Iroh felt this despair.

He wondered if this was the punishment the spirits thought just for the evil he had committed.

For his hopes for the future to be whittled to nothing until he was left with a niece who he worried was dangerously close to having her fire broken, or alternatively, attempting to assassinate the Fire Lord.

He had managed to talk her into sitting with him in the gardens; her friends had joined her, though they seemed little better.

What had once been a cheerful smile on Azula's face had fallen to a passive, cold sneer as she looked out at the world in front of her.

Instinctively, Iroh reached for his White Lotus tile that was always tucked in his belt, only to blink, as his fingers instead found a tightly packed wad of paper.

He withdrew it, confused, idly opening the paper.

Uncle,

I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, but I found myself in need of your pai sho tile. I, of course promise to return it, but it may be some time. In the meantime, if you find yourself desiring a game, I would recommend checking with your numerous other partners whose company I have enjoyed and plan to enjoy in the future.

Love,

Zuko

P.S.

Your original firebending technique has served me quite well.

P.S.S

Tell Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee this exactly: "Zuko has always enjoyed the ending of Love Amongst the Dragons."

"Uncle?"

Iroh looked up at Azula's voice, who was looking at him with concern on her face. The coldness lowered for the moment, replaced by concern.

"Yes, my darling niece?" Iroh whispered, his throat thick and choked.

"Are you crying?"

He was, but unlike the tears he had shed so often recently, there was not the same reasoning behind these ones.

Iroh gave Azula a true smile, "I suppose I am," he murmured, "I just received the most wonderful news."

Azula cocked a brow at him her eyes narrowing, "What? Has a new tea shop opened?" she snipped.

Iroh grinned, "Better. did you know Zuko has always enjoyed the ending of Love Amongst the Dragons?"

Azula blinked, then blinked again, before her eyes widened.

Ty Lee froze in the middle of a handstand, looking at Iroh with her eyes wide.

Mai blinked before a small, uncharacteristic smile spread across her face.

---

Author's Note: And so marks my first entry on Questionable Questing. I've slowly been cross posting my stories between sites (especially because not only does ff.net not necessarily appreciate what I like posting, as far as I can tell, the site is moving more and more to being simply broken). There is some inspiration from Wandering Prince, but there's no point buy system here, there's little regard to ascending through spirutalism. I'm focusing on this story being half action/half political drama/half well I'm out of halves but there is an intent for things to take on a lewder nature, as inexperienced as I still am...

Chapter 2: In which the moon goes about distributing gifts I don't want

The chill throughout the North Pole was pervasive. I understood now why it was exactly that Fire benders, even before the war, did not travel here often. More than the cold, the chi of the place was aligned directly toward the water element, the spiritual presence of the place was antithetical to fire bending.

It was strange because in my reading, I had not read of similar problems for water benders in the Fire Nation. Earth Benders at the Air Temples. Or Air Benders who had traveled the earthen kingdoms.

If I were to reach beyond the physical, I contemplated the thought that perhaps the Spirits themselves, aligned with water as they were, did not like my presence, that being of the Fire Nation, especially the current incarnation, had disturbed them.

All of this, I supposed, was relatively unimportant in the present.

I sat across from Master Pakku, the board of Pai Sho laid out before us, arrayed in the form of the White Lotus, and I was amused to see the look of consternation on the older man's face, though I hid my amusement with a small degree of effort.

"So you really are an agent of the Grand Lotus," Pakku murmured.

I didn't so much as twitch at the question. I knew Iroh had achieved that honor sometime after the failure of the siege of Ba Sing Se and his subsequent absence so it was what I had claimed, the Pai Sho code had been relatively simple to determine from observation, at least if you knew to look for it, along with of course the tile I had 'borrowed' being the key ingredient, "Of a sort," I cocked my head to the side thoughtfully picking a narrow path of truth through my next words, "I'm more appropriately aligned with their goals and the overall goals of the White Lotus."

Pakku's cold blue eyes narrowed at me, but they did not seem overly suspicious yet. I had already showcased enough information to be a threat; the fact that I was here spoke to a greater intent, "What do you need?" Pakku asked.

"Access to your last hundred years of your histories for one," I shrugged carelessly before attempting to slip in my true objective, "I'd also like to see your healing charts."

Pakku cocked a brow at me his scowl deepening the lines of his face, "Those are strange requests."

I shrugged and then coughed again, politely into the back of my hand, ignoring the splatter of red blood across it, "Nothing that could cause damage to the Northern Water Tribe, though, hmm?" I sent him an amused smile.

It hadn't originally been my intent to need the healing charts, but as time went on, I could tell there was some damage to my chest I wasn't quite able to fix yet. Visible from the faint red scars that traced through the veins of my chest, and the minor inconvenience that sometimes I coughed up blood.

Not immediately fatal and with the ability to heal myself, unlikely to kill me, but it was an annoyance I needed to rectify.

Pakku looked at me, then down at the board, his brow furrowing. "Fine," he grunted, "I'll trust you to stay out of trouble, but I should inform you outsiders within the Northern Water Tribe are looked on with suspicion. You'll need to be cautious."

I nodded seriously, "Of course, I'll be the model of caution."

---

It did not take long for Pakku to finagle permission for me to look through the archives located in a massive building of ice near the palace. The scrolls within were made of animal skin, which was only to be expected, but it did not slow down my research. The shelves themselves were made of ice and I admired the different regality of this library comparing it to the palace library I was familiar with.

I found an out-of-the-way alcove to look through the scrolls on healing, greedily consuming the charts that mapped out the chi pathways and other internals of the human body.

Within several days, I had managed to massage most of the damage out of my chest with careful application of my golden fire easing the pain in my chest and limiting the blood I coughed up to only the occasional, which was a relief as I didn't want to cough up any blood on the scrolls by accident.

I maintained my studies, looking through the Northern Water Tribes' history thoughtfully, comparing and contrasting it to the Fire Nation's history I had read previously. It was odd, all things considered, that the Northern Water Tribe was firmly isolationist, which was a stark contrast to my home.

They could have helped the Southern Water Tribe, but they seemed far more focused on their own internal affairs.

Their isolationism also inhibited their knowledge of the world outside their walls and waters. There was only minor knowledge of the northern parts of the Earth Kingdom, and it honestly seemed that they hadn't encountered the Fire Nation at all during these last hundred years.

I knew that the Southern Water Tribe had warriors out on the ocean, but it seemed that such a thing had never been considered for the Northern Water Tribe.

It was on the third day that I felt Pakku's familiar heat presence walking through the library to my ice corner, where I sat in a lotus position, my feet upturned, examining the scrolls around me.

He did not issue a greeting as was typical of him, "Hakoda, I have need of you," he said shortly.

I looked up, bemused, at the older man gently closing my scroll as I did so, "Of course, what can I do for you?"

There was a minute shift in Pakku's stance as he looked at me, fortelling a certain begrudgingness in his next words, "A tribal council is occurring, and it would behoove me to include your presence considering our relationship."

What was left unsaid was that so far, the fire nation patrol routes had proven accurate, so as a show of trust and our current alliance, he felt the need to include me. Likely boosted by the fact, aside from my pale skin, I blended in easily enough in the Water Tribe with my eyes being their shifted color, that having me there would be unlikely to disturb anything major.

I nodded, " Of course, Master Pakku." I rolled up my scrolls and stowed them on the shelves before exiting the building with him.

Through the streets we walked, and I was amused to see the looks shot toward Master Pakku, confirming the respect for him among the tribe. I was pleased that I had chosen my mark well.

We walked up to the largest ice building, all spires and arches of carefully constructed ice, bent by the water benders of the tribe, and entered to see an assortment of men in the hall, kneeling on the floor.

Pakku led me to the side to sit where two spots were free, and I kneeled politely, giving off the impression of one inexperienced in such matters but dedicated to showing the appropriate respect.

Eventually, after several more men filed in, the man at the head of the formation spoke, Chief Arnook, if I did not miss my mark, his dark hair beaded in braids around his head.

"The Council comes to order, let those who must speak, have their say," he said simply and then sat.

One by one, the man around the council spoke, airing their grievances and issues in the tribe.

Fishing, Snow Sculpting of Houses, Trade with the Earth Kingdom, and Pirates. No mention of the war, which was of no surprise given my reading and seeing as they were relatively removed by choice and location from the goings-on of the world.

I noted the shift and shuffle among the men as Pirates were mentioned, a point of contention perhaps?

Just the thing to seize on.

There was further discussion on the Pirate problem. For now, they preyed on Earth Kingdom merchant vessels, causing notable issues in the trade that occurred between the Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe.

The Earth Kingdom, as it was, had long since had an issue with water and lacked really any Navy to speak of to deal with the issue, disregarding the fact that the Earth Kingdom was so factionalized that it would be difficult for them to put together the flotilla that would likely be needed.

Even though the estimates of the Pirate presence were relatively nominal compared to how many warriors the Northern Water Tribe had, it seemed the Northern Water Tribe council was reluctant to spend lives to solve the issue.

Well, at least a number of them were.

A young man now spoke, to the issues concerning Pirates, "We are safe within our walls, Pirates have little capability to assault the tribe, what do we care for the Earth Kingdom ships they attack?"

An isolationist then.

There was a murmuring of agreement among the younger members of the tribe who were present, but I saw many of the older tribe members' eyes narrow. Perhaps they realized how quickly those problems could become theirs. It was strange to see the younger members having that attitude compared to their elder compatriots, but I was not overly surprised. A hundred years of isolation, I imagined that the isolationist attitudes within the Northern Water Tribe only became more prevalent.

Pakku murmured under his breath, "That's Hahn, one of the up-and-coming warriors of the tribe; supposedly, he's favored to marry the Princess and become the next Tribal Leader."

I examined the young man thoughtfully; his words concerned me. Would peace be an option if he were the next leader of the Northern Water Tribe? The isolationism worried me. It was still possible, but my plans called for the Northern Water Tribe to commit to larger actions to help end the war.

Furthermore, letting lives be destroyed by pirates was offensive to my sensibilities. If this was the Fire Nation, a fleet would be assembled to deal with the situation post haste.

Under normal, proper Fire Nation circumstances, the time was ripe for an Agni Kai, and then, before Agni, we would decide the appropriate course of action.

Except this was the Northern Water Tribe.

In the tribes, I was aware through my research that direct confrontation was disfavored, instead they favored a battle of words, discussion at the front of a resolution, then perhaps rumor and gossip to destabilize the position of the other, if necessary.

I set my face, pressing my disguise around me, and nodded my head politely as if to acknowledge the point, and then spoke.

"Unblooded warriors always shy from confrontation," I remarked simply, purposely keeping my words brief, something that could be referred to as a mere remark.

The eyes of the room rooted on me, and I saw Hahn's lips twist, beginning in a sneer, "Speaking as if others must listen in a room of your betters has little effect."

Not a particularly good riposte, but decent enough for an amateur that the teen was. I was indeed not of the tribe which the others in the room no doubt knew, and I had no position to speak of. Furthermore, I imagined that Hahn had already undertaken ice dodging and would be considered a full member of the tribe, while I would be seen as an outsider.

"Wisdom comes from many places, even one seemingly inconsequential, to dismiss a statement only on standing is a poor response," I replied evenly, keeping the flow choppy, focused on the pithiness of the statement as was the style of the tribes.

Hahn frowned, and I could almost see his brain turning as he tried to determine his response, "Easy talk when you're not at the front," he sneered, positioning his statement because he could recognize I was not one of the tribes warriors.

I found myself disappointed by yet another appeal to his seeming authority.

Game and set.

"I would be honored to fight in defense of the people," I said, restraining my smile from his face.

Arnook spoke now, looking at me, and I saw a glimmer of interest in his eyes, "You would deal with the pirates yourself?" he asked something considering in his eyes, trailing over me and taking note of how I held myself, the only indication in this room that someone was a warrior given that weapons were forbidden.

With the interruption of the chief, the duel of words was over.

"Yes," I remarked, simply nodding my head to show appropriate deference to the leader.

Offering definitive action to offset the bickering and talk was a hard thing to challenge.

Yet I could feel the gazes still on me, unsure due to my youth, a bigger promise than likely most thought I could fulfill. Who could blame them? I was saying I would deal with a group of Pirates entirely by myself.

Another member of the council spoke, an older member, "You are but a child, such a promise is beyond your years."

Left unsaid was the doubt about ability. A reasonable doubt, even though these pirates likely numbered around a hundred, from the discussion I had heard.

I inclined my head in respect, and my words were similarly toned in deference, "Elder, I may be a youth before your eyes, but I am sure it is within my capabilities to deal with this. If I fail, there is no great loss; I am but one boy, not initiated into your Tribe. If I succeed, all I can offer is the fruits of my victory, belonging to the Tribe."

The older members of the tribe shifted slightly, and a low murmuring arose as they seemed to realize my intent.

I was no member of the tribe. Yet I was offering my aid without asking for any boons.

Master Pakku spoke, gaining the immediate attention of the room, "I see no reason to gainsay the boy, if he has a plan…"' he trailed off, and his gaze was oddly challenging. Luckily for me, I had already decided on one.

"I will go to the Earth Kingdom and take a berth on one of the trading vessels going through their waters. When an attack occurs, as it no doubt will, I will follow them back to their source and end their threat."

Not the truth, but the truth was more unbelievable, and the result was ultimately the same.

"You would do this entirely by yourself?" Arnook questioned, half musing, half questioning as he stroked his beard, before he turned to Pakku, "You would allow this course of action?" he asked, his eyes searching.

After all, what I was suggesting from his perspective was lunacy. Who would let a thirteen-year-old take on an entire group of pirates.

Master Pakku shrugged, seemingly uncaring, "He will accomplish such and do a great service to the tribe, or he will be yet another body returned to La. The boy seems to have faith in his ability. If our own warriors feel the task is beyond their own purview, then I see no reason to prevent him from proving himself."

I noted the snipe against the warriors and the stiffening of Hahn's form as he glared at Pakku, who seemed unbothered by the boy's anger.

Arnook and Pakku's eyes locked for a moment, and something was exchanged there before Arnook spoke, pronouncing his judgement, gazing at me solemnly, "You will deal with the Pirates interfering with the Earth Kingdom ships, may Tui and La be with you."

He spoke it as if pronouncing my death, which in fairness, he likely thought he was.

I bowed my head in acknowledgement.

---

It was funny that, essentially, no sooner had I arrived at the North Pole than I found myself leaving at least temporarily.

Pakku and I had shared one more conversation where he had questioned if I was sure, which I found myself touched by. I imagined that much of his faith in me was my association with the White Lotus; otherwise, he would have had likely been far more concerned with letting a thirteen-year-old go chase pirates.

Once I arrived back at the port from whence I came some days later, I took a day to familiarize myself with the information I had available and with that chose my next target well.

This was a free port, and even Pirates had to stop for supplies sometimes. Something not acknowledged or even known by many, yet where else could they get necessary and specific supplies, raiding could only do so much.

A ship arrived offering a variety of goods with no explanation of their origin; the way the men walked indicated their familiarity with combat, even if to my eyes they lacked discipline.

Stowing aboard their hold in the dead of the night was child's play the light of the torches and lanterns unable to touch me as I sucked in the light they gave off with deep breaths.

They launched in short order, having had their fun at port, and began their voyage back to their home base.

I spent the voyage in contemplation, meditating and only occasionally strumming my inner fire as I flexed my chi through my limbs. I only made a small excursion to look through the captain's documents to make sure I had the right picture of the place I was infiltrating. Luckily, these pirates were fairly organized, likely to avoid the Fire Nation patrols they might otherwise run into. They even had notes on the routes of the other Pirate ships to avoid clashing over their 'prey.'

I was able to determine that there was only one port the Pirates had set for themselves, and they felt little need to keep spread apart, as the only true threat on the seas was the Fire Nation navy, which, for the most part, kept far away from these waters.

This was good news for me because I had little desire to go hunting for stragglers.

I was already slightly sick of what I was about to do.

We arrived at our destination some two days later, and when I emerged into the dark of the night, I was surprised at the size of the cove the pirates had found for themselves. It was a rather large inward scoop of water with many wooden buildings set about, illuminated by the light of a multitude of lanterns and fires. The Pirates talked and laughed among themselves, seeming already incredibly drunk this late in the night. The lights glimmered in the night air, and I saw the Pirates that had been aboard my ship already among their number, enjoying their time ashore.

Some twelve ships sat about the cover with a little less than a hundred pirates, judging by the heat presences I could sense. Likely, some earth and water benders were also among their number, though the documents the captain had kept hadn't been clear on that front.

Still, I would make no assumptions; this strike would end the Pirate threat in the North, and there would be no stragglers to report back.

I found the sentries first, posted about the decks of the ships to make sure no one made off with either ship or not yet dispersed haul.

Their bodies disappeared into the depths of the ocean in short order.

Then I disabled the rudder and sails of every ship but one, cutting through their ropes except the ship I had come on.

The pirates were ill-prepared to stop any of this. If there were to be an attack, they expected a large number of people. What kind of madman would take on their might without a comparable force?

The madman crept to the center of the building and took a deep breath. I breathed deeply for a couple of moments, my still injured lungs forced into use, creating a candle within me to which I fed all my feelings until I was nothing but an object surrounded by my objectives, my chi filtering out of me to connect with every fire within the cove.

I took another deep breath and then blew out, and with that exhalation, every light surrounding me blinked out, encompassing the world in darkness to be looked on by the pitiless night sky.

There were screams and cries, desperate fumbling to reignite their lights, but within this cove, no sparks found purchase.

Fire was life, and it was not going to be the last life to be extinguished tonight.

I swept into the bar first, slipping through the doorway as barely a whisper, my eyes glowed golden from the fire channeled through them, overcoming the blue color I had made them and showing the room as it was lit in the light of brightest day.

The first pirates that fell went unnoticed in the confusion and panic.

Yet when one pirate stepped in something sticky, warm, and bent down, he finally seemed to notice the true gravity of their situation, "Li's dead!" he cried out, which was all the time he had before his cry was cut off, choked as I stabbed him clean through the chest.

The pirates within the bar cried out, attempting to stumble toward the exit, but none of them made it far, tripping and running into each other, even as my swords sang their song, silencing the flickering lightning within their hearts that kept them moving.

What I was doing wasn't combat, it was cutting the chaff.

I didn't need my firebending now, in the dark, without their eyesight, there was nothing these men could do to stop me.

I sliced and cut, ending life after life, moving throughout the cove, locating each pirate unerringly by the flickering of the lightning within their hearts.

They panicked and screamed into the night, some of them begged for mercy, but the guilt I felt was merely fed into the flame in my mind.

The fear among the pirates reached peak fervor, and they started slashing around them with their weapons to ward off their death. Attempted to crush their doom with earthbending. Desperately they tried to cut through their shadowed enemy with waterbending. All they succeeded in doing was cutting down their own comrades, easing my work for me.

I flew through the settlement stronger and faster than anything these men had ever encountered.

Man after man went down before me, the earth shook, and water lashed out through the crowd with no real direction to it.

The soil became more and more soaked in red, and now some of the remaining pirates pleaded for their lives, some begged for the spirits to save them, but I did not stop until I felt no more flickering of lightning.

I swung my swords, flicking the blood off them, before I sheathed the blades.

I opened my palm, generating a small golden fire to survey my surroundings.

Piles of red, soaked bodies lay spread across the ground, and my stomach turned, but I did not look away.

I had ended these lives; it was my responsibility to acknowledge what had occurred.

My night's work was not yet over, I sighed and began to move towards the buildings to begin my search for the pirate's coin and treasure.

I worked through the night, first locating all of their treasure and allocating it to the ship I had come in on.

Then I had set the remaining ships alight after pouring out barrels of lantern oil on them, before I began to pile the pirates' bodies together within the buildings after I had searched the remaining buildings for any stored treasure, loading the remaining ship fully.

The bodies and buildings, too, were promptly set ablaze.

I stood before the burning buildings and kneeled, taking two incense sticks and setting them alight with the touch of my fingers before sticking them in the ground.

I sat for a long time praying to the spirits, not focusing my prayers on any one specific party, but all of them more or less equally.

To Tui and La, to carry the spirits of the victims of the pirates to their next lives.

To Oma and Shu for the blood and bodies I had spread across their soil.

To Agni for his forgiveness for the violence I had wrought, fueled in part by his gifts.

It was hard not to be spiritual in a world where you knew the spirits coexisted with humans. Knowing the sins of my own bloodline, the failure of Avatar Roku, the atrocities committed by Fire Lord Sozin, the war perpetuated through Azulon, and the worsening of it by Ozai, respectively.

For a strange moment, I felt my surroundings flicker in the pale moonlight shining down, and something cool draped over me soothingly, the water lapped up the beach just the slightest bit more.

Then the moment was gone.

I blinked, confused, but then refocused on my prayers, yet unable to shake the feeling of confusion, something had just happened.

Not till the sun's rays flickered weakly onto my surroundings did I open my eyes again, taking a deep breath.

The port was a smoking ruin, the buildings nothing but burnt blackened carcasses, filled with the equally burnt and blackened remains of the pirates who had lived within.

Smoke trailed lazily through the sky, and I took a deep breath.

Perhaps there was something wrong with me; the first time I had taken a life had been gut-wrenching, now all I felt was a fading guilt and a larger relief that no one else would be harmed by these pirates.

Or perhaps that was the adaptive mechanism that all humans had to have to live kicking in.

I stood up and began making my way back to the single remaining ship.

---

These ships were not meant to be crewed by one person, yet I managed with sufficient application of chi, though I found little time to sleep and subsisted mostly on meditation on the deck of the ship.

My voyage back to the North Pole was interrupted near its end by a Northern Water Tribe patrol boat that had approached my ship with haste from across the waves.

They sent lines of ice through the waves, stopping my boat, and warriors leaped aboard, only to freeze as they saw my lone figure on the deck. My water tribe's clothes had marked dark stains on them, which could be nothing but blood that I had been unable to purge from the cloth.

I waved, giving them a friendly smile, "Hello! Hakoda here!"

---

Master Pakku had seen much in his long life, and that experience generally gave him confidence in the decisions he made, and more and more, he found himself unwilling to be swayed by others' arguments.

Still, even he was a little unsure about sending Hakoda to deal with the pirates by himself. He gave no outward indication of said feelings but he had already heard the rumors.

That he had recklessly thrown the life of a water tribe boy away to make a point.

Yet 'Hakoda', if that really was the boy's name, had seemed entirely confident that he could handle them, and so against his better judgment, he had taken a risk.

This hadn't stopped him from having training with his students along the edge of Agna Qel'a, so that regardless of the news, he would be among the first to hear.

That was why he was one of the first to spot, or more appropriately, feel the ships approaching across the water, a number of Water Tribe patrol ships, and something else.

He turned from his students, looking over the ice and blue waves to see movement along the ice and water, the typical water tribe patrol ships moving alongside what was most definitely a wooden pirate ship, its broad sails pushing it across the waves.

The ships approached closer and closer until he was finally able to make out the people on the deck, two waterbenders encouraging the ship onward with strokes of their arms, and steering the ship with a lazy hand on a wheel was Hakoda, his water tribe blues no longer visible the cloth stained almost entirely dark.

Unwilling, Master Pakku's lips twitched upward, a smirk spreading across his face, "Tui and La boy," the words half relief, half astonishment.

Master Pakku made his way sedately down to the locks that let in ships, his face impassive as he stood by one of the docks as what to his eyes looked like a pirate ship was led into dock by waterbenders.

A plank was extended downward, and the waterbenders on board walked off, followed by Hakoda holding a massive chest in his arms, he came to a stop in front of Master Pakku his head bowing slightly showing the respect reserved for the master of an art, and then calmly looked up, waiting for Master Pakku to speak first, as was polite.

"What have you brought back, Hakoda?" Pakku asked, suppressing a smirk on his face.

Hakoda lowered his head politely but not in an obsequious or subservient manner, "The contents of value from the pirate's horde," then he shrugged, "And I suppose their last ship."

"And the pirates?"

Hakoda's lips twitched, and the boy frowned, looking awfully young to Master Pakku's eyes, "They're finished," he said shortly.

Master Pakku frowned down at the boy, "How many escaped?" he asked a moment of concern passing through him.

Hakoda raised a brow at him, his blue eyes piercing him, at this range, there seemed to be something odd to them that Master Pakku could not place, "I knew what was at stake. None left the cove they were in, all of their ships except the one I came on were sunk."

Master Pakku examined the boy, his lips twisting in a small frown, that was… unexpected.

He took another look at the boy's clothing, taking in the stains on his clothing, stains so widespread that the clothing itself may as well have shifted to another color, the faintest remnants of a red tinge to the deep black stains.

He didn't know what seized him at that moment, he had never felt anything resembling a paternal instinct but looking down at the boy right now, something tugged at his heart.

He reached out a hand and pressed it gently to the boy's shoulder, "You did what you had to do," he said firmly, "Let me take you to Arnook."

---

I stood next to Master Pakku in the grand hall, where the first meeting he had attended took place in, now minus most of the members of the tribe so there were some assembled looking on in interest.

Chief Arnook walked in, his face set in a grave mask, disturbed by a quirked brow as he saw the pair of us.

I took note that his eyes lingered on my obviously blood-soaked clothing and the massive chest in my arms.

I bowed my head slightly and kneeled to the ground, placing the chest on the ice before I opened it, revealing the pile of gold within the chest.

"What is this?" Chief Arnook asked with his face unchanged.

I looked back firmly at the Chief, "A small portion of the contents of the pirates horde, the rest is still on the ship I brought back. I present them all to the tribe as I said I would."

"And the pirates?" Chief Arnook's eyes lingered upon my clothing.

"Dealt with, they'll no longer trouble anyone," I said, simply feeling my gut turn, but keeping the feeling from my face.

Chief Arnook's eyes gleamed as he looked at me, something interested in his eyes, "I admit myself impressed. You must be quite the warrior."

I humbly bowed my head as expected of my social station, "Your words do me too much credit."

Chief Arnook's lips quirked downward in a frown and shook his head, his dark hair shaking with the motion, "No, I actually believe my words do you too little. Few warriors of our tribe would be able to take on so many enemies. To return unharmed and with all spoils offered to the tribe…"

His eyes met Master Pakku's, and something was exchanged between them.

"You deserve a reward," Chief Arnook said, nodding to himself. "What request would you have of the tribe?"

There was a ripple through the other assembled water tribesmen, but the whispers were small and limited as they looked onto the proceedings with interest.

I frowned, meeting the Chief's eyes directly, "I only did as I said I would. It would be unbecoming to ask for a reward after you put my faith in me."

The setup. I couldn't immediately accept a reward, or it would make me look self-interested.

Chief Arnook shook his head, though I saw a small glimmer of interest as if he had not expected me to play the game correctly, "I must insist. You have done the tribe a great service. Our trade routes will no longer be plagued with danger. Our coffers will be all the fuller from your free offering. I must give you something."

A second firm offer, but also one I knew I should not accept.

"I only wished to serve the people," I said softly, keeping my form upright and my eyes straight ahead as I spoke, "A gift for an expected duty would be wrong."

A subtle hint to inform the Chief of what he should present me. I imagined it would be a home within the citadel or some position within the tribe.

I could hear the soft murmurs of approval within the surrounding tribesmen, my highly trained hearing easily picking their soft words apart.

"Very well," Chief Arnook sighed, looking reluctant as was expected of him, "The very least I can offer you is-" he stopped, an expression of absolute shock passing onto his face as he looked at me.

For a moment, I didn't understand why before I realized that the very air around me had taken on a bright white gleam as if I was standing in a beam of moonlight, yet there was no source for the light.

Pakku also looked shocked, murmuring one word, "Tui," he said simply.

Shock filled me, and I gently raised a palm upward, watching the beam of moonlight play off my skin.

For several long minutes, the beam shone down on me before it slowly began to fade, though the new silence remained within the hall.

I felt off kilter, glancing to the side at Master Pakku, this hadn't been in my plan at all.

For now, I didn't say anything, waiting for the others around me to act first.

Chief Arnook was the one who broke the silence of the room, "Tui has spoken," he said softly, gazing at me with a far stranger look than he had before, "The moon spirit has blessed you."

Rapidly, I tried to calculate what had just happened in my brain. This didn't make sense. This wasn't in my calculations whatsoever. I was a child of Agni, getting blessed by the moon spirit… and for what reason?

I believed in the spirits, and right now I believed that several were laughing.

Master Pakku was the next one who spoke, "Perhaps it would be best to deal with these goings on a new day," he said simply.

Chief Arnook nodded slowly, "Yes, that sounds appropriate," he said, sounding thunderstruck.

Well, that was a good enough plan for me.

I set the chest I was carrying down and made a short bow, "I will take my leave then," I said softly before I turned to exit the palace, followed shortly after by Master Pakku.

We walked through the city till we had made our way to the edge of the walls, and I noted that the nearest presence of heat was quite some distance away. I glanced at Master Pakku, who looked off over the water, something complicated in his expression.

Hating the unsurety in my own tone, I spoke quietly, "How bad is it?"

Master Pakku glanced at me and something wry twisted his lips before he gestured smoothly, drawing ice from the ground, creating an instant mirrored surface in front of me, showing me my own face.

I glanced confused at the mirror, seeing my currently changed eyes in their strange blue color, set in my usual face, with a mess of black hair atop my head.

Except all of it wasn't black anymore.

Now, a chunk of my hair had changed to a brilliant white, and looking at it, I could easily see the shimmer of spiritual energies surrounding it.

"Oh fuck."

---

Where before I had been underneath the notice of Agna Qel'a, now it was difficult to walk the streets without the gazes of the citizens landing upon me, the streak of white hair, indicating exactly who I was with unerring accuracy.

I couldn't help but think I perhaps should not have prayed to the spirits as much as I had.

"This wouldn't have happened to Iroh," I muttered, petulantly kicking some ice in the training ground I had greeted the sun in.

Even as I muttered the words, I knew them to be false. I remembered checking Iroh's chi and feeling the touch of something greater within it when he had returned.

It was hard to tell with my own chi, but I was sure I now likely had a similar mark upon me, if not greater. I didn't think Iroh had encountered a great spirit as I had.

I settled myself on the ground, the blues of my newly purchased outfit gently contrasting against the ice and snow I sat on.

I felt the heat signatures of the boys walking into the training grounds before I saw them.

Some minutes later, Hahn walked into the training ground, his spear held lazily across his back, surrounded by several other youths.

I felt his eyes land on me and noticed the stiffening of his body even as I sat meditatively with a scroll before me.

"It's the outsider," I heard one of them murmur to Hahn.

"Should we approach him?" another asked, and I could hear the nervousness in his tone.

"You're joking," another one scoffed, "They say he slew a hundred pirates by himself. He met personally with the Chief, who offered him a boon."

Hahn snorted derisively, "I seriously doubt it, he's just a boy with no place in the tribe. They're probably keeping him around out of some misplaced form of pity. No one could slay so many pirates by themselves."

He took a couple of steps forward, "You there! Hakoda right? What say you to a spar?"

Faced as I was away from them, I was able to roll my eyes at the obviousness of the boy, his fragile masculinity had been damaged, therefore he was challenging the source.

"I'm not interested," I said. I couldn't practice my firebending amongst those here in the North Pole, but the least I could do was meditate on my inner flame, stoking it through my limbs.

I heard the whistle through the air and sighed, my head tilting to the side, and my hand shooting up, catching the thrown spear as it cleaved through the space my head would've been.

Perhaps a more damaged and fragile masculinity than I had expected.

I smoothly rose to my feet, turning to face the assembled boys, taking note of the unsure expressions and shock on the other boys' faces and the leer on Hahn's face.

"You throw these things around so recklessly, you might poke someone's eyes out with them," I tapped the shaft of the spear meaningfully.

"Scared?" Hahn asked with a fierce grin on his face.

I looked at the assembled warriors and then snorted dryly, "Of you? I don't think so."

"How about a spar, then?" Hahn asked, grinning fiercely.

I eyed a particular icy building, feeling the familiar hidden heat within it with amusement.

"Who am I to gainsay an educational moment?" I sighed, not looking forward to the coming moments in the least.

Hahn sprinted forward, demonstrating his chi was at least slightly trained as he covered the distance in mere moments.

His bone machete swept outward, aiming a blunt force blow at my side; I slapped his own hand to the side, sending his bone machete skittering away, before I spun my newly obtained spear like a staff, clubbing him across the face.

The shaft of the spear snapped instantly from the sheer force I had generated, and Hahn dropped like a rock, knocked completely unconscious.

I blinked, looking down at the boy. I wasn't sure what I had expected, but I at least had assumed he would put up more of a fight than that.

I looked up at the other boys who were staring at me in astonishment, and I felt a little bad. "Uh, to be clear, I kind of expected him to put up more of a fight than that, you guys want to fight too, or…" I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

The boys glanced at each other before one of them, seemingly elected by silent agreement, spoke, "Uh, we're good, we'll just take him from here, alright?"

I nodded and watched as two of them walked up and picked up Hahn's limp body before carrying him away.

When the water tribe boys were out of sight, I turned to the wall and sighed, "You could have helped," I said petulantly, the course of the last two days had worn on my nerves considerably.

The ice next to me slid apart, and Master Pakku stepped out, his face stern as ever, though I could have sworn his eyes were twinkling in amusement.

"You seemed to have things under control," he shrugged noncommittally.

I sighed, shaking my head, though I had to restrain my lips from twitching upward in amusement, "I assume since you're here, you have something to say?"

Master Pakku glanced at me, interest filtering through his gaze, "You're remarkably less polite than usual," he said, his tone mild though not reproving.

I grimaced, shaking my head, "I'm sorry, just a lot on my mind."

"I imagine," Pakku murmured, "Chief Arnook has asked for your presence and he would be honored if you could attend."

"Those were his words?" I grimaced.

Master Pakku's lips twitched, seemingly forcing himself not to smile, "I do believe they were actually slightly more effusive."

I sighed but nodded regardless, "Let's go then."

---

This time we met in a far smaller private room in the palace, only Chief Arnook, and an older woman were also there.

We stepped into the room, and I bowed my head to Chief Arnook and then, for good measure, the older woman.

To my astonishment, both of them returned the bow, and the unsettled feeling in my gut increased in pitch

I sat down lotus style across from them, and Master Pakku took a seat to my side.

"Well, Yagoda?" Master Pakku began the discussion with his typical bluntness.

The older, grey-haired woman gazed at me with a soft look in her blue eyes, "You are correct, Master Pakku, the spirits have touched this man."

Chief Arnook seemed to minutely shift in his seat uncomfortably, and I was surprised the man allowed himself that much motion. "So what does it mean?" he asked, looking at the two water benders, but there was something knowing in his gaze as if a discussion had already been had.

"What did it mean when Tui saved your daughter?" the woman remarked in a reproving tone in her voice, the words sounding like they had been said before, "You know better, Chief Arnook, it means the spirits have a plan for this young man, that he is here with us for a reason."

"But what reason?" Chief Arnook asked, and I noted the tone as one that was almost resigned.

The woman sighed and shook her head before she looked at me with a soft smile, "My name is Yagoda, and I am a waterbending healer in the tribe. Would you let me examine you?"

I blinked at the non-sequitur and I hid a wince at the question; there was still damage in my chest that I had no doubt she would become aware of if I was examined. On the other hand, I wasn't sure I could refuse.

"Forgive my impudence, but why?" I asked politely as I could.

"Master Pakku told us that you grew up in the Earth Kingdom and that your mother left when you were young, only telling you that your father was of the water tribes," Yagoda said, reiterating the story I had crafted.

I nodded slowly, wondering where this story could be going.

"I believe it is not a coincidence that you have arrived here, more than that, your blessing by the moon spirit is apparent to anyone with eyes. Given these circumstances, we must decide how to move forward. All I will do is confirm with my waterbending what I can already see."

Well, unless I blasted through one of the walls, it seemed that I wasn't getting out of this.

"Alright," I sighed.

Yagoda drew water from a bowl beside her and reached out, pressing the water to my head gently, and the water glowed gently.

She hummed in thought and then drew back her blue eyes, examining me again, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Tui's touch is not overly deep as compared to your daughter, but it is significant," she finally said, "I agree with Pakku."

Chief Arnook looked between the two waterbenders before sighing, nodding, and turning to look at me, "In discussion with Master Pakku and Yagoda, I have decided what I shall offer you, in recognition of your feats as a warrior, seeing your favor in the eyes of the spirits, I offer you my daughter in matrimony."

I should have blasted through one of the walls, I thought ruefully to myself.

Worse, I recognized that this was the ultimate final gift to be offered to me, which meant, under the rules of social proceedings in the Northern Water Tribes, I was expected to accept.

Northern Water Tribe marriages were not so different than Fire Nation Royalty marriages, at least in that our partners were often chosen for us with only nominal input.

Several considerations were usually taken into account in the Fire Nation, but the main focus was usually on the power of the bending bloodlines involved. Intermarriage between royalty was not so uncommon then, especially when there were two comparable potential heirs. Uniting them together simplified the politics and enhanced the potential power of the children.

To my admitted surprise, in the records, there seemed to be no indication of genetic problems from such occurrences.

But I realized I had let my thoughts wander too much, and I was really not a fan of the idea of an arranged marriage, for numerous reasons.

"I-" I hesitated, blunt denial did not seem like a good strategy, Chief Arnook was my social better, perhaps the time was to downplay my own worth, "I'm a parentless child, who is here to seek my fortune adrift from all others, I do not believe I am worthy of such an honor."

"That is not relevant to our decision," Chief Arnook shook his head, "The Northern Water Tribe honors the spirits of Tui and La above all others. Your blessing by Tui seals the fact that no other would be better suited for my daughter. There is no debate surrounding the fact. You are spirit touched just as she is."

Spirit touched, just as my Uncle Iroh had been, though I thought with a faintest hint of dry amusement, I don't think it had been Tui who interacted with my Uncle.

Either way, I was once again flummoxed as my plans disappeared in flames, or maybe more appropriately, were crushed and sunk by an iceberg.

I suppose I could just reveal my true heritage right now and cause this plan to explode. After all, it would be crazy to marry the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe to a Prince of the Fire Nation.

Yet that would destroy my plans even more than they had been.

So I guess it was plan B.

I allowed my expression to shift to one of discomfort and worry, "Would it be possible to at least meet and get to know your daughter first?"

Chief Arnook stroked his beard, his eyes piercing into me, and I hid a wince as I realized that he may have seen more of my reasoning than I intended. A normal boy should likely have agreed to marry a Princess if only to increase his social standing.

"I suppose," Chief Arnook hedged, "I admit that is not the response I expected."

"Forgive my impudence, Chief Arnook," I bowed my head slightly, "But why?"

Chief Arnook shrugged his face still relatively impassive, "Not to overstate the matter, but I believe any boy of our tribe not already engaged, perhaps even some of those who are engaged at that, would seize my offer instantly."

That was… kind of screwed up actually. This wasn't ostrich horse trading. I mean, this poor girl was, wasn't even in the room!

I immediately checked my thoughts; that was dangerously arrogant letting my own preconceptions override a current cultural understanding.

Marriage was a different thing for nobles and royalty; sometimes I forgot that, despite the fact that my own mother had been a marriage based simply on bloodline.

I realized I was getting too lost in my own thoughts, I slipped an apologetic smile onto my face, "Then if it is not too much trouble, I would like to meet her. I will give you my decision in two weeks."

Chief Arnook looked at me for a long moment, his natural deep blue eyes piercing my own fake ones, before he nodded once, "So it is said, so it is done."

He reached a hand across to me and I took it, shaking it firmly as was Water Tribe tradition when deals were sealed.

We rose together and exited the room. Chief Arnook turned to one of the guards nearby, "Fetch the Princess, please." The guard nodded his curious gaze trailing over us before he turned to walk away.

Standing behind them, I prepared my game face, I just had to actively make this girl dislike me as much as possible while not being rude about it. Then I would tell Chief Arnook we were incompatible.

Problem solved, total success for plan B.

Already planning my self-anointed accolades, I turned around as I noted two new heat signatures approaching.

The guard had reappeared, followed by someone who I couldn't see quite clearly behind him a bit shorter than me, draped in blue water tribe robes.

They arrived, and the guard moved to the side, giving me my first look at the Water Tribe Princess.

The first thing I noticed as cliché was it sounded was gorgeous white hair draped about her in long braids, she had darked tanned skin set against dark blue eyes that looked like the depths of the ocean, her features were objectively pretty, yet her face was passive, no smile, nothing on it to indicate her feelings.

Facial expressions weren't my only way to determine others emotions though. I noted the small flushes of heat within her indicating a slightly more rapid heart rate than usual.

Her blue eyes flicked to Chief Arnook, "Father," she said softly, "I was informed I was needed?" A small questioning note ended the statement.

Chief Arnook stepped to the side and gestured to me with his arm, "I would like you to meet Hakoda, a warrior from outside the North Pole, I'd like for you too to get to know each other."

"Of course, Father," she bowed her head before turning to look at me, "It's my pleasure to meet you, Hakoda. My name is Yue."

I was too trained in courtly mannerisms to grimace, but it was a near thing as I bowed lower than her as was appropriate, "It's an honor to make your acquaintance, Princess Yue."

Chief Arnook looked somewhat pleased at our introductions, though it was only a faint tell at the corner of his eyes that informed me as such. "I hope you will both take the time necessary to get acquainted with each other," he turned to Master Pakku and Yagoda, "Let us adjourn for now, then," he turned to walk away.

Master Pakku looked stiffly between the two of us before he pressed a firm hand to my shoulder, "I will see you later Hakoda," he said simply.

Yagoda nodded with a small, kind smile on her face at the two of us, "You will be dismissed from your lessons today Princess Yue," she said softly, before she gave me a look and I noted the faint edges of concern in her eyes, she leaned in and murmured softly, "If you find that wound on your chest overly troublesome I will take a look at it."

I hid a wince realizing that she had indeed noticed the damage, but nodded regardless, "Thank you," I murmured softly.

The chances of my doing so, I privately thought, were about as good as Uncle Iroh swearing off tea altogether.

She left, leaving me relatively alone with Yue, except for the guard that was behind her.

How did engagement meetings work in the Water Tribe? I had never bothered to research as such.

Yue seemed to be waiting for me to do something, which is not surprising given the comparatively passive role Northern Water Tribe women were supposed to take in their society. However, I definitely found this discomforting.

"Uh," I coughed slightly on the back of my palm, wincing as I felt the hot, wet trickle of blood on it.

My lungs were acting up again.

"Is there something you like to do for fun?" I asked awkwardly before realizing that if I was trying to make the girl dislike me that wasn't the right move, damn my lessons in propriety.

Yue blinked, looking at me as if I were a particularly strange animal combination she had never heard of or seen before me, "I spend my time studying healing under Master Yagoda and practicing my poetry."

Neither of those things sounded like what one did for fun, but who was I to judge? Either way, none of those were exactly a group activity.

"Perhaps you could show me around the city?" I suggested weakly.

Yue nodded obsequiously, which really was odd considering she was the Princess.

---

I had made a resolution to make this girl actively dislike me, but as they say, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

It was difficult to tell what Yue liked or disliked, spirits. If I couldn't sense the heat within her, I would sometimes wonder if she was even there.

We walked side by side through the city. I was acutely aware of the sounds and motions of other people, but Yue kept her head down as she walked beside me.

Despite what I had suggested that she show me the city, the girl had barely said more than two words since we had left the palace.

I couldn't take this.

"Is this really how people in the Northern Water Tribe get to know each other?" I said dryly as we stood on a bridge positioned away from anyone nearby.

I wasn't looking at her, but I felt the flinch that occurred as I said this. For a long moment, she was silent before finally she spoke.

"My Father has said you are a great warrior, it is not my place," the words were soft, her voice effervescent on the air, but there was little life to them.

It seemed that the façade I put on could be pierced because those words caused me to physically huff, taking a great deep sigh of the air before I coughed again, covering my mouth, feeling another splat of warm liquid.

"It's not something to take pride in," I sighed, for once deciding to be fully honest, at least for now, maybe she would get the hint that I wasn't anything she was looking for, at least if warriors like Hahn were here, speed. "Wars do not make one great."

She blinked, and for the first time, a small considering expression emerged on her face as she looked at me.

"You defeated the pirates plaguing our trade single-handedly. How does that not translate to your greatness?"

It was such an honest question, something perhaps Azula would have asked, that my response came before I really thought about it.

"The capacity for violence could be an admirable trait to some people," I hedged, "Yet it can only do so much; this world has been at war for nigh one hundred years, yet I don't think there are many who would say we are better for it."

"Would the Fire Nation say as such?" Yue asked, but the question was challenging, unlike the girl so far, I turned to meet her eyes curiously.

Her pure blue eyes examined me just as they had before, but there was a spark now, something beyond the placidity that had been there before, something approaching interest.

"I doubt the Fire Lord would," I inclined slightly, acknowledging the point, "Yet the common people… How many sons and daughters need be spent for ambition's sake?"

"And daughters?" Yue asked, "Woman fight in the Fire Nation military?"

I blinked, surprised at the change of topic, "They do," I said simply.

There was now definite life in those eyes, interest.

I was unable to stop my next question: "You're interested in being able to fight, aren't you?"

Yue's eyes quickly averred from mine, looking away, but I had seen my question strike home, "It would be improper," she said softly, but the words were weak, a barely there deflection.

I was aware of the customs in the Northern Water Tribe, female waterbenders were only taught healing, disallowed from being taught the ability to use their element in combat.

Yet I personally thought the crime was greater.

The stances and forms one uses while manipulating their element allow you to chase the nature and feeling of your chi, your self. Dictating how one could use their element was proscribing a vital form of self-expression.

A thought occurred, I had been focused on making Yue despise me, but wasn't it her father who was set on our matchmaking?

I had studied the forms waterbenders used…

Breaking a big rule of the Northern Water Tribe seemed like an excellent way to eliminate this engagement. Any fallout I could deal with later.

"Stand up straight," I said dropping into the way I usually taught Azula.

Yue blinked her eyes, widening even as she straightened seemingly reflexively, "What?" she asked.

"Feet apart, relax your stance, you flow with your element," I said, shifting my own body to demonstrate the correct position.

Yue hesitated but then slowly shifted as indicated, though I noted it wasn't quite right.

Falling into old patterns I had with Azula, I stepped forward, lightly nudging her feet further apart with my own foot while steadying her with another hand, shifting her spine into the correct alignment.

I noted an uptake in heat pumping through her body at the motion, as for some reason she seemed to be flushing, but I dismissed it for now, too focused on teaching a potential student.

"There," I said simply, "That feels right, doesn't it?"

Yue hesitated for a moment, but then her words came back stronger: "It does, actually. I feel like I'm centered yet could move if I needed to."

"That's how it should feel," I smiled, "Now reach out for the water below and draw it back, it's a reeling movement, your pulling but at the same time letting your own motion's feedback push you."

Yue hesitated, but I could see a glimmer of excitement in her eyes, and she firmed up her stance and then shifted as I demonstrated, and the water below the bridge shifted, pulling up into a moderate-sized orb in the air.

I noted she was about to drop out of her stance and frowned, "No, keep moving, water follows your movements, complete the motion with a circle, like this," I shifted with her, demonstrating the movement slowly.

The orb shifted, traveling through space like a moon rotating around a planet, before Yue finished the movement, launching the glob of water back into the stream with a small splash.

"I did it!" she exclaimed, and the first real smile I had seen on her face appeared. She grinned broadly and happily bouncing up and down, which even with the clothing she wore was a bit much for my hormones, so I quickly averted my eyes.

She turned to me, "How did you know how to do that? Are you a waterbender as well?"

Ah shit.

"No, I'm not a waterbender," I gave her a grin that felt overly sheepish, "I've studied all different types of bending though. Chi flow actually applies to martial abilities as well, even without bending."

Not the whole truth by a long shot, but it was enough for now.

Yue nodded, her grin still wide on her face, making her look exceptionally pretty, "Can you teach me more?" she asked, her words seemed shy again now, but in a different way, this was more natural, less of the previous cool, withdrawn exterior.

I guessed now was the perfect time to go back to the original plan of making her hate me, but my heart ached at the thought. Yue looked so happy right now just like Azula, Ty Lee, or even to an extent Mai would be like when I spent time with them back home.

"If that's what you want," I gave the girl a soft smile.

The expression on her face somehow eased the pain that I still felt in my chest.