☄12. Encounters by the pond. [Open RL in the Fire Nation.]

[honorregained]

So what if it was his birthday? Turning eighteen meant you were an adult in some places, but Zuko had been an adult for years, in function if not in reality. It didn't mean anything to him. He was sure his mother and his uncle remembered the occasion, and that warm glow of assurance - that he knew they would without having to ask, or check - was

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[willbiteback]

Ursa, for her part, knew exactly what day it was-- even during her years in exile, she had recognized and celebrated her children's birthdays. Even though she couldn't be with them in person, it had always helped her to feel closer to them.

This year, however, would be different. For the first time in nearly ten years, she was going to be with her son on his birthday-- and she didn't plan on wasting a moment of it. She'd leave him alone to spend time with his uncle and friends, of course, but as for the rest of the time? She planned to be by his side as often as she could. It was a compulsion she couldn't quite shake.

Quietly coming up beside her son, Ursa stood quietly, bread in her own hand. She wouldn't speak unless he did.

[honorregained]

He felt someone behind him, turned to look - and smiled. Zuko couldn't help himself. Every time he saw his mother, still, he went over to her as if drawn, pleased just to be nearby.

"Mom," he said, saying the word to savor it. "We haven't done this in a while."

[willbiteback]

Ursa laid a hand on his shoulder, tossing the remains of her bread to the turtleducks.

"It has been a while, hasn't it," she said softly. "I'm glad we've been given a chance to catch up on things. Thank you."

[honorregained]

His smile dissolved, replaced by a slight flush. "Don't thank me. I've just done what should've been a long time ago.

"But we don't need to talk about that today," Zuko went on, unexpectedly and intentionally shifting the topic away from more serious things. "I've been talking about it nonstop for days. Let's just enjoy ourselves."

*A week later, via Mello express!*

[cyberelric]

Edward was now standing in the courtyard in the Fire Nation, looking around wide-eyed. A real palace, how cool was that? Edward looked alright, although he had an ever present bandage above one of his eyes.

/o/

[honorregained]

Zuko saw him out of the corner of his eye, then started to approach, smiling. He paused for a moment to wave off the cloud of people following him. They looked stoically tolerant: most of them dispersed and went inside, with only a couple remaining behind, some distance off.

Eventually, he did make his way over. "Ed, I'm glad you could make it," he said, the formal atmosphere somewhat abated by his relaxed attitude.

\o\ They needed to meet.

[cyberelric]

Edward grinned brightly and offered his hand to Zuko, not realize how rude it probably is to greet a King that way.

"Hey, yeah, sorry we had a bit of trouble to handle at home so I couldn't come until now. Happy birthday by the way."

yes :3

[honorregained]

He'd been staring at his hand oddly, not realizing he was meant to shake it, but then abruptly jerked his head up and blushed. "It was a week ago," Zuko protested. "And what am I supposed to do with your hand?"

[peoplesprincess]

The first thing Azula noticed was how calm things were. There were no riots, no mobs, no protests-- at least not within the palace walls. All the people who lived and worked here who had supported her... had they all been thrown in prison? Or had they simply taken the coward's way out and bowed down to a traitor's rule?

Both options made her blood boil. How dare they try to make it look as if nothing had happened? How dare they act like everything was peaceful and happy now?! Zuko was ruining her country, her legacy, and her life, and he had no right to act like everything was fine now.

Fire at the ready, Azula swooped into the courtyard, her eyes wild and angry. "You think you can just fly in here and take my throne from me?" she called loudly, her words aimed at Zuko (though others around might hear her, too). "Well, guess what? I can do the same thing!"

[honorregained]

"No, you can't," he said simply, deceptively calm. "What took you so long? I was expecting you a lot sooner."

He was poised for things to break out into a fight: Zuko wouldn't demand his guards to deal with someone they used to serve, or at least he wouldn't while he was capable of handling things. And he really had been expecting this. Azula hadn't ever been the kind of person to take failure well, and he was prepared to do everything he had to to personally defend the new peace in his kingdom.

[peoplesprincess]

"This isn't yours, and you'd better get ready to accept that!" she snapped violently, already coming at him with her arms outstretched. "Nobody wants you here! NOBODY!"

[honorregained]

"Plenty of people want me here," said Zuko, voice tense. "Including the Avatar. Accept that you've lost, Azula! The time for fighting is over!"

He was veering to the right as he spoke, quickly unfastening the top robe of his formal attire and throwing it off. It wouldn't distract her, but Zuko would need every ounce of agility to keep pace with his sister, and he knew it.

[saneasme]

[They don't have turtleducks where she lives. Just turtles. Just ducks. And sometimes they live in lakes together. But never together like this. And they are fluffy. And they are floating. And Luna decides that maybe other worlds all have little things like this. Things that could be anywhere but aren't. And she knows, very much so, that she wants to see them all. Count them. Even if they can't be counted at all.]

Hello there.

[She'd wave, but she doesn't. Instead she tears off little crusts of white bread, brought with her for lunch from wherever she was before, and feeds them to the turtleducks. It is nice here, and all is well, and she doesn't mind staying a little while. In nice places. Where things go soft around the edges.]

[honorregained]

Hey, Luna, [he said, perking up slightly and coming to greet her.

He peers curiously at her feeding them for a brief moment.] It figures you'd like the turtleducks.

[saneasme]

They're very nice.

[She waves at him. She thinks she may need to do more things to greet a fire lord, but Zuko's Zuko, so she waves all the same.]

And they like the bread.

[honorregained]

I used to feed them with my mom when I was young, [he admits, shifting to stand beside her.] I'm glad they're still here.

[honorregained]

[Zuko had reluctantly agreed to take his father's old suite, which was rightfully his. He soothed his conscience on it by reminding himself that it had been the Fire Lord's room for centuries before the war had ever started. That being true, it wasn't especially hard to find, for nothing if not the stone-faced guards, dressed in traditional red-trimmed black armor, stationed around it.

Still, it wasn't as well protected as it might have been: the windows in particular were free of direct surveillance. Any Fire Lord that couldn't protect himself against an intruder for at least a few minutes was a Fire Lord they were better off having dead, was the common way of thinking.

Not to mention that Zuko himself was well aware that people from the community would come to visit periodically, and he didn't want to find out how well the "being friends with the Avatar" excuse for people appearing suddenly would hold up.

All in all, it wasn't difficult to place.]

[honorregained]

[He'd never met him in person, after all, so it was a reasonable thought.

At that moment, another guard ran up and spoke hurriedly to the one that had seen Larsa. Immediately they shared alarmed looks and, with only one glance backward, took off quickly.

The Fire Lord was fighting his sister.]