AtLA fic: Airbender's Child: Fire 11/15

[scwlc_fic]

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story, in fact a lot of the dialogue will probably be cadged straight from the show itself, which means I own even less.

Author's Notes: I think the consecutive nature of those final four episodes of the third season are throwing off my ability to chapter this properly. I stopped it when I did because otherwise the chapter would have just kept on going, and I had to put a halt to things.



In spite of all Zuko's good intentions, talking to Katara was soon pushed to the side. There was helping Sokka and Suki spar, because two-on-one fights were very different from one-on-one sparring, and his two swords created a very different kind of opponent for either of them to fight. There was helping Katara with the day-to-day running of the camp, which didn't help his resolve to step away from her until he was sure she felt the same way he did. He didn't get to talk to her, because every time they were alone, save at night snuggled into his or her bedroll too exhausted to even think about anything but sleeping, someone waltzed in. It was also, unfortunately clear that this wasn't plotting, so much as the general ineptitude of their group with keeping themselves clean, organised and fed.

Then there was his most important job, grooming Aang to kill his father. Zuko did everything he could. He tried to cultivate anger and hate in his friend, which didn't work because he knew better than anyone else the lessons in tolerance and understanding he'd given Aang while they were on the road. All that talk about how the Fire Nation wasn't a faceless single evil entity and that everyone has reasons for doing the things they do, good or bad, meant Aang couldn't see past the (theoretical) good that had to be somewhere in Ozai's heart (such as it was).

He tried to get Aang to a point of resignation on it. That this was a single culling for the sake of the many. All that got him was a philosophical argument about how Aang could name himself judge, jury and executioner and where was the line to be drawn as regards justice?

Zuko lost that argument, but he'd always hated those things because they never factored in immediacy and need. Arguments which also didn't seem to hold any appeal for Aang. He tried to point out that Aang had killed before at the North Pole, which was promptly countered with, "That was the Ocean Spirit in command of my body. Are you going to blame me for what I did when someone else was controlling me?"

"I'll happily take the blame for everything I did while my memories were gone if it'll get you to kill my - the Fire Lord," Zuko offered.

Aang had shot him a narrow-eyed look. "You can't even stop thinking of him as your father. He's your family-"

"No more than I am to my mother," Zuko replied. "Just because I'm a sad and pathetic person who can't let go of my childhood doesn't mean you should let that affect what you need to do."

Nothing.

At the top of Zuko's personal list, however, was Shuga. The stunt flying she'd done to get them to the Boiling Rock and back was the last she'd be doing for a while. His beloved first and best friend was too heavily gravid to be carrying passengers, and while it would be many months before she actually gave birth, he had to get her back to an enclave where there would be trained bison healers and a herd for her.

It had been another exhausting lesson, and while Aang's grasp of firebending was never going to get better save by either experience or the tutelage of a greater bender than Zuko, it had been another failure to get Aang to feel up to killing. Zuko had even deliberately tried to get Aang to kill bugs with his firebending, to see if he could steel the kid's spine. Aang had just frozen up instead.

He was sprawled out, he and Aang having apologised to each other for their failures, and Zuko an extra time for being so horrible to Aang. That was when Katara interrupted, Suki did away with any pretenses at urgency and Sokka was just plain obnoxious, setting up a beach party. Zuko was furious as it took ten minutes flat for the others to turn into a bunch of irresponsible teenagers. Didn't they understand how important this was?

He saw red, and it wasn't until Aang blasted him off the roof and into a tree that his anger eased up enough for him to try speaking. Katara demanded, "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with all of you! How can you sit around having beach parties when Sozin's Comet is only three days away!" The others all stared at him as though he'd told them the moon was made of green cheese. An image of a sculpture of Yue, made entirely of green cheese flashed through Zuko's mind then, and he had to hastily shove the thought away, aware that now wasn't the time to think like Sokka on a bad day. "Why are you all looking at me like that?" he demanded irritably.

Aang stepped forward looking sheepish. "Well . . . about Sozin's Comet. You see, I was actually going to wait to fight the Fire Lord until after it came."

Zuko's jaw dropped open. "I . . . but . . . you're going to let him destroy the entire Earth Kingdom in a rain of fire because you're not ready?" he asked, incredulous.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Sokka sharply.

"I told you about it," Zuko said. "I . . ." He trailed off. The others were looking at him in various attitudes of disbelief. "I didn't?"

"No." Katara told him, her arms folded over his chest. "You didn't. I'm assuming you forgot?"

Now he felt really dumb. Especially since he might have been sitting on the thing that would convince Aang to kill Ozai. "It was the morning of the day I found out that Azula had taken my memories. There was a council of war and I was there, watching, when fa - the Fire Lord took Azula's suggestion to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground. That's what their plan is." He took another deep breath and clarified. "They're going to use the power of the comet to amplify their power and create a firestorm on the ground. It'll make what happened outside Hei Bai's village look like child's play."

Katara had softened as he spoke, and said, "So that's why you've been so . . . crazy. Okay. So we have to find a way to get Aang to the point where he can kill the Fire Lord. This has to be stopped."

Zuko ran his hands through his hair, trying to let some air in and cool himself down a little. "We also have to get Shuga to an enclave soon. She's getting too gravid to stick around, and I'd rather she was around an experienced bison midwife."

The conversation was interrupted by a dragon hawk winging its way to Sokka. "Hawky!" cried Sokka ecstatically, reaching for the bird. "You're heaaawwwwwk!" The creature was clamping its talons into the other boy's hair. Sokka ran around screaming and flailing his arms until Suki and Aang managed to tackle him and pry it loose.

"Hawky?" Zuko asked him.

Sokka glared. "What's wrong with that?"

"You named a hawk, Hawky?"

"When he was six," Katara added helpfully, "He named his stuffed tiger seal 'Sealy'."

"You're not going to make fun of Mr. Wiggles Sealy the second," Sokka warned his sister.

Toph had joined Zuko in watching this, while Aang and Suki were detaching the message from the hawk. "The second?" Toph asked, "What happened to the first?"

"There was no first," Katara told them from underneath her brother as he tried to stuff sand down her back and she tried to stick seaweed into his pants. "Sokka just wanted it to sound sophisticated."

"This from the girl who named her dolly Asha Princess Warrior Avatar Champion Embroiderer," Sokka sneered. Then he yelped because his distraction cost him in terms of icky beach things in his shorts.

Zuko turned a little to Toph. "So how are you enjoying our entertainments this fine evening, Lady Bei Fong?"

"I do believe that this comedy, while somewhat gauche, has much value, despite its somewhat plebeian dialogue," Toph replied, creating to chairs with a gesture. They sat down together watching Sokka run around in circles, wailing because a crab had pinched him in the rear before it got out, and Aang run around similarly to avoid Hawky. Suki was chasing the bird, while Katara was scrabbling at her back, shrieking about snakes and if Sokka had gotten one into her shirt, she was going to drown him.

Eventually Momo and Appa intervened with Hawky and Katara and Sokka staggered back, covered in bits of beach, having apparently worked through their differences somehow.

The Water siblings glared at the pair comfortably seated and making idle chatter about the quality of the 'entertainment'. They humphed in unison and plopped down on the sand together, sibling solidarity in the face of Zuko and Toph's meanness. Suki opened the message and said, "It's from your dad, Sokka. He says that everyone's gathered at Ba Sing Se to make another try at opening up the city."

Sokka snatched up the letter and scanned it rapidly. "It also says Iroh's there," he added.

"Then why don't we go?" Katara asked. "I know the comet is soon, but Iroh may have some ideas about how to get Aang to . . . well . . ."

When she trailed off, Aang said, somewhat bitterly, "How to turn me into a killer?"

Zuko sighed, choosing not to touch that. He didn't seem likely to succeed at it soon, and, "Not to mention that we know where the enclave near there is, so taking Shuga there'll be convenient."

So it was decided, and they loaded Appa up, all of them climbing aboard, so as not to burden Shuga. The flight was fairly straightforward, as was the process of leaving Shuga at the Ba Sing Se enclave. Then they flew out to find a large encampment close to the city. When they landed, they found themselves greeted by some familiar faces.

"Well, look who's here," King Bumi said. Zuko didn't even bother paying attention to him. The crazy old man wouldn't be insulted, and he was far happier to have a chance to see, "Master Jeong Jeong," Zuko found himself grinning at the man who had completed his education in bending.

Toph and Suki looked perplexed. "You know these people?" Suki asked at the same time Toph stated, "What's going on? We're surrounded by old people."

As Katara made the introductions, Zuko hurried to Jeong Jeong's side. "I have so much to tell you," he said. "I learned some firebending along the way since I last saw you, you will not believe."

His mentor raised an eyebrow. "Really? What is this that you've learned?"

"Dragons, Master," Zuko told him. "I got to learn bending from the dragons themselves. It was . . ." he trailed off, shaking his head. He could still remember his teacher's fears and self-hatred about his bending. To be able to gift the man with the chance to understand the creative nature of firebending, the lifegiving force that it could be if you let it, was something Zuko wanted to do so very badly. For all that he might have to talk his way around the Sun Warriors and their demand of an oath of silence, Jeong Jeong deserved to know.

Then something caught his attention. "Sokka, seriously? Gran-Pakku? Why don't you just wear a sign that says, 'I want to embarrass everyone,'?"

Sokka waved a hand at him. "Shpff. I'm not embarrassing anybody," he said.

"Just yourself, Snoozles," Toph told him.

"How do you all know each other?" Sokka asked, ignoring Toph.

Bumi grinned that annoyingly smug-yet-crazy grin of his, and said, "All old people know each other. Don't you know that?"

Zuko rolled his eyes, but stayed silent on the matter. He turned to Jeong Jeong. "That was how you knew Uncle had been looking for me."

The man smiled. "It was. I must admit, I was somewhat concerned when I was forced to write your uncle and tell him of your confrontation with Zhao, and then I was unable to keep you with me. He made quite a stir when he caught up with me, demanding to know where you were."

Pakku decided to throw in his opinion then. "So what reason did you have for abandoning the Avatar and your uncle a second time?" the waterbender demanded.

Zuko found himself being kicked in the shin and punched on the arm at the same time almost before Pakku had finished speaking, "Ow! I get it, okay? Not my fault. Seriously, that hurts!"

"Just making sure," Sokka told him cheerfully. "I mean, it's not like reason was getting through to you."

He sighed and turned to Pakku who looked as though he didn't know whether to be amused, confused or still angry with Zuko. "Azula had the Dai Li brainwash me," he explained, deciding to stick to the facts. "I honestly couldn't remember what had actually happened for . . . practically my whole life." He sighed. "It was only a couple days ago that all my memories came back."

Sokka threw a companionable arm over Zuko's shoulders, "So this idiot decided that it was his fault his sister's crazy and evil."

"It is my -" he didn't get to finish, because Sokka spoke right over him, turning to Piandao. "Master Piandao, meet the guy who made sure I wasn't completely useless when I finally got to meet you."

Zuko felt himself flush. "Sokka, all my teachers said I was a prodigy. That doesn't usually mean someone's a good teacher."

"But you are," chorused Aang and Sokka.

Piandao, the greatest living master of the sword in the Fire Islands, smiled slightly and said, "I'd be very interested in sparring with you sometime, your Highness. Sokka credits your teaching for the bulk of his skills. I would enjoy the opportunity to judge that for myself."

Suki butted in. "I have to admit, I'd like a crack at sparring with the best the Fire Nation has to offer myself."

"This is Suki, the leader of the warriors of Kyoshi," Zuko said, trying to make up for the complete lack of anything resembling polite behaviour going on. In the background he could hear Katara chatting a mile a minute at Pakku, and Toph had latched onto King Bumi. Somehow he managed to wriggle away from the centre of discussion between Piandao, Sokka and Suki. He shot a quick glance at Jeong Jeong, but there was one thing he had to do before he gave in to his eagerness to discuss bending with his master.

"Toph, your Majesty," Zuko said as he fell into step with them. He knew he was butting in where he wasn't wanted, but he just had to be sure. "How are things going? Have you managed to insult the king of Omashu yet?"

Toph grinned at him. "He's pretty awesome for an old guy. I mean, he can't metalbend like me, but I wanna learn how to bend by making faces at Snoozles."

"Okay, but if you ever need someone to set that stupid hair of his on fire," Zuko said, aiming a not-too-subtle warning at the crazy old man, "You just let me know."

For a brief moment, the mask of madness fell away, and Bumi shot Zuko a speculative but sympathetic look. "I always thought there was more to you." Then the moment was gone. "Next time you're in Omashu, I'll have to make sure to get you locked up in my rock candy again. That burned sugar was tasty!"

He made a face and left Toph to making ever-more-disgusting jokes with the man. Finally he caught up to Jeong Jeong again. "I have so much to tell you," he said eagerly. "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone where I learned it or from who, but . . . just let me tell you about the Dancing Dragon form."

"Dancing Dragon?" Jeong Jeong asked. "I have never heard of this."

"The form celebrates the lifegiving power of fire," Zuko said.

His face falling into a look of confusion, Jeong Jeong said, "I do not understand. Fire is destruction and fury. It takes life, it does not give it."

"A being of the Spirit World once told me, 'fire is the energy that drives the world. Without fire, there would be no life, because all life requires that spark of energy and warmth to live.' Of the four elements, fire is the element that creates drive and ambition. Without that, we would all lie down and wait to die." He smiled a little at the dumbfounded look on his mentor's face. "It's not entirely a bad thing."

Jeong Jeong's face was a study in concentration. "We take our power from the sun," he murmured.

"It is the sun that calls the flowers to bloom, that warms the earth and changes winter to spring," Zuko replied. "Fire is inborn in us because it is the spark that feeds and creates life, not the wildfires that destroy everything in their path."

He was suddenly pulled into a fervent embrace. "Thank you," Jeong Jeong told him.

"Hey! Are you comin' Weepy?" Toph demanded. "Some of us wanna see Iroh again."

"My uncle is here?" Zuko asked Jeong Jeong.

An arm went around his shoulders. "Come, Zuko," Jeong Jeong told him. "I will take you to him."

The others had all clattered on ahead, and Zuko came up to them, seeing his uncle surrounded by his clamouring friends, all of whom were eagerly informing the old general that his nephew had not meant to betray them.

"Remember when we got you out? They'd done something to Jet, it made him forget there was even a war," Katara was eagerly telling the man. She seemed particularly determined that Iroh know his nephew wasn't at fault for his behaviour.

Toph added her piece. "So now, whenever he says something stupid, like it's all his fault Azula took over Ba Sing Se, we hit him. Like this!" She suited action to words, and Zuko wasn't able to get out of the way of the flying rock.

"Ow!"

"Miss Toph," Iroh said disapprovingly. Then he turned to Zuko. "I am most relieved, Nephew."

This was it then, Zuko thought. It had been one dishonourable action too many and his uncle was simply glad to know Zuko wasn't a traitor. His face didn't reveal anything, and Zuko controlled himself. He'd earned this rejection. "I'm relieved you are not angry, Uncle," he said. "I just wish I hadn't disappointed you - ow!" That was Suki's fans as wielded by Sokka. "Stop hitting me!" What had been intended as a formal bow of apology turned first into an upright, indignant glare, and then he was dragged by strong arms against an ample belly. "Whu-"

"I am so proud of you, Nephew," Iroh murmured into his ear.

"Uncle?" Zuko was horrified to hear his voice crack and tremble. "You're not . . . I thought-"

"You're dumb!" Toph sang out from his other side.

"Shush, it's sweet," Katara told her reprovingly.

Toph just snorted. "He's being dumb," she repeated. "It's pretty obvious Iroh'd be happy to see him."

Zuko turned his head just enough to aim, and breathed fire at her. "Zuko!" exclaimed his uncle, letting him go. "That is no way to treat a young lady."

"And I'd never treat Katara that way," Zuko said. "Toph, on the other hand . . ."

Katara collared them both before the fight could start. "I don't know what's wrong with both of you that you think fighting helps with reunions, but you're not going to do it right now."

Later, they mouthed at each other behind her back. At the sight of an eagerly gesticulating Aang, however, Zuko was reminded of something important. "Uncle, can I talk to you for a minute, alone?"

"Of course, Prince Zuko," his uncle said, allowing him to manoeuvre them away from the others. "What is it you wish to speak to me of?"

He sighed, then shook his head a little to focus his thoughts. "It's about Aang. He's . . ." Zuko shook his head again, his hands opening in a gesture of helplessness. "I hate asking him to do this, especially since he hates killing so much that he won't even eat meat, but he's pretty much refused to kill the Fire Lord."

His uncle frowned gravely and seemed to give this serious thought. "You have reminded him of the things that my brother will do if allowed the freedom to do whatever he wishes?"

"Yes," Zuko told him. "I've also told him what will happen if we simply imprison the Fire Lord, how all the common people will respond to having their sovereign removed and merely imprisoned by the so-called Water Savages and Earth Barbarians."

"Not to mention that he is too crafty to be left merely locked away," his uncle added. "You have mentioned all these things and he still cannot bring himself to kill my brother?"

"No," Zuko said. "I was hoping you might talk to him. You might . . . know the right words. He respects you, in a way he doesn't Pakku or Master Jeong Jeong." Suddenly Zuko realised something. "How do you know Pakku, anyhow? Or Bumi?"

"This is something best told to you at the same time as your friends," Iroh said. "So shall we rejoin-"

He was cut off by Aang's angry voice. "No! I won't do it! All life is sacred and I won't just kill someone because you think it would be too inconvenient to keep him from escaping from prison! There has to be another way!" he shouted. He seemed to vanish, but the sudden dust cloud he kicked up made it clear he'd run off. Momo chittered and took to the air after his master, leaving an annoyed Sokka and Toph, a resigned-looking Katara, and Suki just looking baffled.

"What happened?" Zuko asked as he and his uncle hurried over. Pakku was looking supremely disgruntled.

"Did you know the Avatar has been refusing to do his duty?" the waterbending master demanded.

Before he could say anything, Katara glared at the man. "I told you to wait until Iroh talked to him. What part of, 'You're not helping,' did you not understand?" she snapped.

"You sound like your grandmother," Pakku evaded with a fond smile.

Katara shot him a narrow-eyed look and started muttering about how she now knew why her gran had run away from the Northern Tribe.

Iroh sighed, and said, "I suppose all we can do now is wait until he comes back."

"And make plans to stop Ozai from torching everything that isn't the Fire Nation," Sokka added.

"That is grave news which you have brought," Piandao said as he joined their group, followed by Bumi and a few other elderly people. "We must arrange a strategy in order to stop the Fire Lord's plan."

"And to retake Ba Sing Se," Iroh added with a heavy sigh.

"But hadn't the Dai Li taken the city for themselves?" Sokka asked. "I mean, we have to get those jerks out of power there, but can't that wait?"

Iroh sadly shook his head. "They have deceived the members of the Fire Nation troops stationed there, convincing them that the city remains under Fire Nation control. Those coming in and out of the city certainly believe it so."

"Great," Zuko chorused darkly with Sokka. Sokka continued. "So the city has to be retaken, especially just in case Aang can't beat the Fire Lord. Fantastic."

Quickly talk degenerated in strategy. Mostly, the others let Sokka and Suki speak on behalf of the group of teenagers that had been the Avatar's companions. Sokka was soon trading strange ideas with Iroh, Suki contributing as her training to lead the Warriors of Kyoshi included battle tactics and strategy. Katara, Pakku, Toph and Bumi all contributing in their own ways to the plans by letting the planners better understand the capabilities of the bending troops they would have to send out.

Zuko sat back. Although he could follow what was being said, his uncle was by far a better choice for strategy, and Sokka and Suki were far better for speaking on behalf of their group. He let his attention wander, and found himself being flagged by a familiar face. He let himself be edged back and out of the group, slipping away.

"Lee," he was greeted snidely.

Zuko suppressed an aggravated sigh. After so long of being treated like an intelligent person and a good bender, the attitude rankled. But how could Kyung know better. "It's been a while, Kyung."

"Yes, since you failed to save our enclave," the other sneered. "I suppose you're just as ignorant now of the importance of the place you lost in the palace as you were when you convinced that idiot Prince Zuko to get you both banished to protect firebenders."

Zuko stared levelly at the man, saying, "If you're talking about his plans to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground with the power of the comet, we already know." He wasn't going to dignify either of the slights to his character with a response. Not from the same jerk who had coined that awful rhyme implying that 'Lee' was so close to Shuga because he was in love with his bison.

It seemed to unnerve the other a little. "He's named that shrewish daughter of his Fire Lord, having declared himself the Pheonix King of the whole world." Kyung smirked. "Must cut deep to have a sister like that."

"What?" Zuko asked in utter disbelief. "He's just . . . No, I can believe that. It would be just like him to declare himself king of the world before he's even bothered to finish conquering it," he finished with a sigh.

Childishly, Kyung didn't let it go. "Of course not. Your whole family, save your lady mother and Aiko are flame-bearing monsters."

"I'm not," Zuko snapped back, reflexively.

Sensing he was making some progress, the airbender continued. "If your blood wasn't so thinned with firebending, maybe you wouldn't be so pathetically weak at it."

"Maybe if your blood wasn't so thickened with inbreeding, you wouldn't be so pathetically stupid," Zuko replied.

A quick gesture, and a small whirlwind cut through the air. It was something that he never would have been able to block without resorting to firebending before. Kyung was relying on Lee's weakness as he tried to get in the strike. His hands thrust forward, and Zuko blasted hot air into the path of the bending attack, meeting it force for force and dissipating it. Eyes wide, Kyung stammered a moment before regaining his smug attitude. "Just like a firebender. Stand in the way of danger instead of letting it go by."

Tired of the song and dance, tired of having to always play pathetic follower with the members of the now-destroyed Cheng Dhu enclave, Zuko demanded, "Has Azula been crowned yet, or is she still just the princess?"

The airbender looked annoyed that Zuko wasn't kowtowing to him anymore, but answered nonetheless. "The coronation is scheduled to go ahead during the comet, while the Fire Lord will take a fleet of his airships to decimate the mudbenders here."

Hissing in utter aggravation, Zuko said, "You know, you're as bad as he is. Earthbenders and the people of the Earth Kingdom are just as good and decent as airbenders."

Kyung shot him another sneer. "If you say so, Lee. All I care is that the monsters in power be destroyed so that maybe we can have a chance to prosper again. Hopefully we can destroy the line of Sozin forever. All it'll take is one little extra assassination attempt on the Fire Lord's brother and maybe we'll be rid of them for all time, especially since no one's heard from the prince since he was declared a traitor. He's probably managed to get himself killed all on his own."

He shot a nasty grin at Zuko, and sped towards where the planning was going on. "Kyung! You idiot! No!" He didn't even know where he found the skill, but desperation sent him bending fire through his hands and feet, propelling him into the air. It got Zuko the added burst of speed he needed to catch up and he tackled the speeding airbender just before the man reached his uncle.

The group who had been planning the invasion burst into shouts of alarm and shock. Zuko snarled as he got Kyung pinned. "There won't be any assassinations of the royal family today, Kyung," he told the man.

"Prince Zuko, what is this?" Iroh asked, clearly bewildered. A strangled and horrified noise escaped Kyung's lips.

Zuko just looked grimly at his friends and said, "I know Kyung from Cheng Dhu. He decided to pass along some information and then kill Uncle Iroh."

"You're the prince?" the man gasped, horrified. "Your lying, cheating, vile excuse for a mother lied to us!"

Sokka looked at the man dispassionately. "Do you suppose there's anyone who likes your mother once they find out how horrible she is?" he asked Zuko idly.

"Probably not," Zuko said shrugging. "She and father were well-matched, I think."

Toph had the man imprisoned in solid rock a moment later, and Sokka added a gag to silence him. He was unceremoniously dropped outside, and a few earthbenders were signalled over to cart him off somewhere.

Then Zuko went back to the more important information at hand. "They're going to be putting out a whole fleet of the airships."

"We had surmised as much," Piandao said. "It is a pity we do not have airbenders anymore to oppose them in the air and keep them from reaching land."

Sokka, Katara, Toph and Zuko all looked at each other, then Katara turned to Pakku. "Pakku, have you brought warriors from the tribe with you here?"

The man frowned at Katara, saying, "Yes, of course. I would not expect to hold the city with the few here from the Order."

"The Order?" chorused the teens.

Iroh stepped in. "The Order of the White Lotus is an ancient society, crossing the boundaries of the four nations, dedicated to philosophy, beauty and truth." He looked regretful. "For the past century we have had no members of air, and I fear we never will again."

Katara, Sokka and Toph all turned and just looked at Zuko. "I'm going, okay? Stop looking at me like that." They just kept looking. "I can't wait until I'm not the go-between anymore," he grumbled as he left them all behind again, searching through the Water encampment for a familiar face from that enclave.

He didn't have to go far, in fact, because Yanto, the leader of the Northern Tribe's enclave was with the army waiting beside the walls of the city. "Yanto," Zuko greeted the man with a nervous smile. "I need to talk to you. It's . . . important."

"What is it?" the man asked. "Unless . . ." something about the way he was looking at Zuko made the firebender feel he was being examined in some way beyond what eyesight could tell. "Allow me a short while to gather our people, and I will join you to speak on behalf of the people of air."

Zuko smiled a little. "You won't need to worry about bisons or gliders," he told the man with a grin. "We'll talk to the Ba Sing Se enclave, and the one near the Si Wong Desert. They're close enough on bison-back."

"Very well," Yanto told him. "I shall join you shortly. I have one question, though."

"Yes?"

"What has happened to Shuga?"

Zuko found himself pouting again despite his best efforts. "Appa got her in calf," he groused. "I told her and I told her not to let him do anything, and did she listen? No."

"Ah," was all the man would say. Then he walked off, snickering.

He went back to where the Order members were all looking a little annoyed with Zuko's friends for putting a stop to the planning. "Well?" Sokka asked.

"Yanto's here, and he said he'd bring the others along to join in the planning." He looked at Katara, "But we're going to need to take Appa out to the one at Si Wong as well as the one at Ba Sing Se. It's not like Yanto was expecting to need-"

"Indeed," Yanto had apparently gathered his people very quickly and he interrupted Zuko. "Perhaps it is time that we airbenders worked together again to take back our place in the world and truly return the balance."

At the jaws dropped all around, Zuko snickered. Then he drew himself up and said, "Uncle, Master Jeong Jeong, Master Pakku, Master Piandao, King Bumi, this is the leader of the Northern Water Tribe's airbender enclave, Yanto."

"Airbender?" chorused Pakku and Jeong Jeong. His uncle looked dumbfounded only a moment, before smiling proudly at his nephew. Zuko could keep himself from blushing at the implicit praise. Bumi, however, cackled.

"You're a clever one, boy!" He grinned conspiratorially at Zuko. "I knew they couldn't all have gotten themselves done away with."

Zuko ignored the crazy man. Bumi just made him nervous. "Yanto, I need to apologise for lying to you before. I'm not an airbender. My mother, Fire Lady Ursa, is an airbender, and was one of the most highly ranked in the Cheng Dhu enclave, but I'm told I take after my father more. My name is Zuko."

"The banished prince," Yanto said, musingly. "But how did you manage to airbend if you are neither airbender nor Avatar?"

"Hot air rises," Sokka said.

"I beg your pardon, young man?" Yanto said, confused.

Sokka repeated himself. "Hot air. It rises and expands. It's how the airships work. It's why smoke floats upward. Zuko heated the air, which made it move. He was also moving the heat that's in the air."

"Like my metalbending or Katara's bloodbending!" Toph said. "Taking the bits of something you can bend, and using it to bend the rest."

Katara looked a little sick, and Zuko wrapped an arm around her shoulders, whispering into her ear, "It's okay." He couldn't stop himself from smiling as she leaned into him, though.

Jeong Jeong shook his head in wonder. "This is where you learnt to bend air as you taught me," he said. "By pretending to be one of the airbenders." He smiled proudly. "You invented this on your own and convinced airbenders that you were one of them. I am even more glad to have had the teaching of you, Prince Zuko."

He was fairly certain that if he received any more praise, his face would turn permanently red. He grabbed Katara's arm and said, "We have to go talk to Ling at Si Wong. Katara and I will take Appa if you'll talk to the Ba Sing Se enclave Sokka? I'm sure Yanto can get you in."

He towed Katara away with him, because all this praise was so utterly unexpected. How was he supposed to say anything without sounding either ungrateful or preening?

"You know, you could stay with your uncle for a while," Katara said.

"We don't have time," Zuko said. "Anyhow, I probably should tell mother-"

"Nothing," Katara said flatly. "Your sister did a great thing in distracting your . . . other sister from us getting away, but your mother's done nothing that needs you to deliver that personally. I'll tell her while you talk to Ling."

Knowing where they were going, Zuko was able to steer Appa straight to the enclave, hoping Ling would be as agreeable to exposing the secret of the airbenders as Yanto had been.

I'll bring Hakoda up at some point, I promise. I kinda forgot he'd written the letter by the time I'd written this to the end, so I'll patch that up next time.

Prologue Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Twelve Part Thirteen Part Fourteen Part Fifteen

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