The Kyoshi Warriors poorly hid their nervousness as they assembled in what was once one of the palace’s more extravagant guest halls. Now the room was completely bare, with all furniture and even the torches and braziers removed. The shafts of natural sunlight piercing through the many windows and highlighting the beautiful mosaic floor gave the empty hall an eerie air.
Or it would have, if not for the crowd of kneeling and gagged prisoners taking up most of the floor space, arranged in rows.
It probably didn’t help the mood to have the grim faces of Xing, Azula and some of their soldiers standing beside Suki and her warrior sisters and staring down at the captured Dai Li. While Xing’s expression was unreadable, the princess and some of the soldiers were clearly repulsed by the kneeling men and were keen on burning them all away.
Xing’s words told Suki why the prisoners were here at all. “These men were the…staff we captured under Lake Laogai.”
That immediately grabbed the Kyoshi Warriors’ attention. Suki stared at the prince, and then the prisoners, feeling something bubbling in her.
“Do you think you can identify your torturers?”
The Kyoshi Warriors snarled as one, and Suki answered for them. “Easily.”
They fanned out among the whimpering men, and Suki found herself spitefully enjoying their broken states. The digit-less stumps of their hands and feet were twisted at unnatural angles, and the emblem of the old Ba Sing Se was branded on their chests and backs. She stalked across one row and then stopped to kneel down in front of a particular man who was doing a bad job at turning his head away from her gaze.
“This one,” Suki declared vindictively. “He was the one who tried to…” She paused, and drew in a slow breath to steady her will. “He was the one who tried to rape me in front of the others.”
The former torturer mewled pathetically as a soldier from the 11th came to Suki’s side and roughly dragged the Dai Li out.
She could hear the dark glee in Miyu’s voice suddenly calling out. “Here’s one. He was the one who tore out our nails and broke our fingers.”
“This one too,” Okuni added a few rows down.
The Kyoshi Warriors carefully went through the rows of Dai Li prisoners, and the Scorpion’s people helpfully yanked out the whimpering men each time. Xing was gracious enough to let them do a second pass before they finally confirmed that they had identified all their torturers.
“Thank you for taking the time and not just declaring all of them as guilty,” he said with a thin smile that made the lingering black veins on his left cheek ripple. Beside him, Azula grinned proudly for some reason, and behind them, a couple of soldiers were begrudgingly passing pouches to their fellows.
Xing gave a nod that sent his men and women out to unkindly usher out the unselected prisoners. It did well for Suki’s spirits to see the once dark and powerful Dai Li broken into little more than a groaning, weeping men as they were herded out of the hall. She exchanged smirks of grim satisfaction with the others, and found herself eagerly looking forward to what was going to happen next with the two dozen or so tormentors the Kyoshi Warriors had singled out.
This time, it was Azula who turned to address the Kyoshi Warriors, with all the authority of her royal rank. Surprisingly, the princess bowed formally, with all traces of her usual smirk of superiority hidden.
“The Earth Kingdom might be the Fire Nation’s enemies, but even we did not expect them to stoop so low. As crown princess of the Fire Nation, allow me to offer my sincere sympathies for what your supposed allies had done to you. Know that I do not expect this to immediately change your perception of us, or that we might now be seen as your friends. We do this because we too see the dire need for justice for such a foul crime.”
Suki did not flinch when the remaining soldiers around her drew their weapons.
Contrasting starkly to Azula’s formality, Xing kept a casual tone and posture as he gestured to his troops. “Would you rather choose and watch the execution of these Dai Li, or would you prefer dealing with it yourselves?”
It was a pointless question, but one that Suki nonetheless appreciated. The Fire Nation overlords of Ba Sing Se left the hall after the Kyoshi Warriors were equipped with swords, leaving only a quartet of guards to stand outside the hall’s entrance.
“Call on them once you’re done,” Xing said laconically, ignoring the increased whimpering and squirming from the Dai Li. “I hope this is a significant step towards attaining closure for all of you.”
“I’ll have a bath prepared for you,” Azula added off-handedly. “And new clothes. So don’t worry about being too messy.”
Suki led the other Kyoshi Warriors in bowing out of sincere gratitude and respect to their hosts. “Thank you, for saving us and allowing us…this.”
“Don’t overdo it,” the princess simply replied. “I’d hate to see you all sprain a muscle or something.”
They waited until the young royals had left the hall with their guards and soldiers, and then turned to the crippled prisoners with dark intent. The Kyoshi Warriors stalked towards their former abusers with snarls and grins, and as they brought their loaned blades to bear with practiced ease, Suki basked in the terror of these broken men before her.
The Dai Li’s pitiful screams and the carnage that was enacted on them were a salve that the Kyoshi Warriors greatly needed, and Suki found herself appreciating Azula’s gesture. A bath and new clothes greatly helped after bloodily facing down her nightmares.
*****“People of Ba Sing Se!” Kai announced loudly in one of the larger squares in the Lower Ring to draw in the apprehensive populace around him. Despite being thick in the midst of the conquered people with only a squad and a couple of transport tanks, Kai didn’t feel too concerned for his safety. “As was interrupted so rudely days before by terrorists, Prince Xing wishes to announce the condition of the Dai Li victims!”
That confirmed the attention of more than a significant chunk of the crowd, and Kai could sense trepidation giving in to curiosity and hope. He gave it a few seconds for some people to desperately push their way to the front of the crowd for a better listen.
“It is the prince’s pleasure to declare that a solution has been found to reverse the damage to the victims of Lake Laogai! Thanks to the aid of waterbender healers, your loved ones will be returned to you shortly!”
Kai had to consciously make an effort not to grin as he saw the ripple of relief sweep across the city square. He glanced at a trooper and gave a silent order with a nod of his head before returning to the speech.
“The healing process is slow, thanks to the insidious methods of the Dai Li, but as proof of Prince Xing and the Fire Nation’s progress, we come today with those women successfully liberated from the Dai Li’s cruel mind slaving.”
The crowd rose to a deafening murmur as the squad protectively led out a quartet of skittish young women. It took Kilin and her people a lot of time figuring out how to deal with the long lasting scars of the Dai Li’s conditioning, and these women would still need some time and care to be reintegrated into society. Which was why Xing had made sure that the women being freed all had families to return to; for those that they couldn’t find any trace of a relative or loved one, they were kept in the palace for the time being.
Kai watched as the women huddled together beside him, and kept an eye out to the crowd as he kindly addressed them. “Please, announce yourselves to that your family can be sure that it’s you.”
“M-Mi…Miao Ching, of Lusha Village,” the first woman said, and Kai had to make her repeat her name louder before a trembling couple forced their way to the front. She immediately noticed them and the soldiers did not stop her as she began walking towards them. “M-Mom? Dad?” A heartwarming scene ensued, of a lost daughter being united with her worried parents. Kai found it hard to push down a smile, but he had work to do.
“You next, ma’am,” he said to the next woman, who looked at the sobbing and hugging trio, and drew strength from it as she announced her name.
“Hiyori of Lotus Pond District!” she called out desperately. How convenient that said district was where they were right now. At least the Dai Li had the decency to record the addresses of their victims.
This time, a man stormed to the front, hands and butcher’s apron glistening with fresh blood. The woman Hiyori didn’t seem to mind, running straight for the butcher who caught her in his arms. “I thought you ran off! I thought you hated me!” he cried out as they both broke quickly down.
Kai and his men had the pleasure of witnessing more touching scenes of reunited spouses and families. By the end of it, with no more women to return, the crowd fixed their now hopeful gaze at the captain.
“These ladies will be the first of many. Be assured that the Fire Nation will return your partners, sisters and daughters back to you as soon as they are healed. Prince Xing is eager to do what he can to undo the damage wrought by your previous rulers, and is committed to freeing all of the Dai Li’s victims from their shackled minds.”
Damnit, his audience was taking in the words too well. Heads were bobbing and optimistic smiles could be seen.
Looks like he’ll have to requisition for a house in the eastern district… Fucking Ren and her sunrises…
Pushing aside his annoyance, Kai gave another nod to his men, and then braced himself for the next part of the performance. The men roughly herded out of the other transport tank a group of whimpering and crippled men, each naked save for a simple green loincloth and a gag, each sporting the the emblem of Ba Sing Se branded onto their backs and chests.
He had the crowd hanging onto his every word by now, even the reunited families were looking at him intently as he drew out another scroll.
“As further proof of his commitment to justice, Prince Xing has also seen fit to allow the wronged citizens of Ba Sing Se to dispense justice as they see fit to the Dai Li.”
Knowing their parts, the squad of soldiers kicked some of the Dai Li towards the crowd.
“As such, all Dai Li in captivity are, as of right now, being handed over to the people of Ba Sing Se. Only Long Feng, the leader of the Dai Li, will be retained by Prince Xing, to personally enact his own brand of punishment on behalf of the Avatar and Ba Sing Se.”
Kai and his squad took several steps back towards the tanks, and they watched as the crowd shifted their attention to the branded men before them. The silence was thick and anxious, until the girl from Lusha Village, Miao Ching, broke from her parents’ embrace and rose to her feet. She stomped over to the Dai Li still pleading through their gags and launched a savage (if poorly executed) kick across one’s face. “Bastards! You made me…made me…” She shrieked as she launched another kick on her victim, and then settled for stomping him into the ground. Her parents joined her soon enough, screaming curses as they pummeled the poor sod into a pulp.
That was the spark that the crowd needed, and cries of outrage filled the air as the mob descended on the Dai Li.
“Always good to see a happy ending,” Kai said dryly before ordering his men back to the tanks. Similar scenes were being repeated elsewhere in Ba Sing Se. The 11th were stretched thin because of it, but at least it was only for a day.
There were just enough liberated brainwash victims and Dai Li to apportion to all the squares throughout the massive city state, just as Xing wanted. Kai found it interesting that he wanted to deal with General Fong and the other insurgents separately, instead of lumping them together with the Dai Li.
Knowing Xing, it was probably to give himself enough prisoners to make a scene with.
“Right. We’ll go back and rest up, and then it’s over to the Middle Ring for round two,” Kai told his team, before enjoying the rather peaceful drive back to the palace. With the Lower Ring allowed their vengeful bloodlust, traffic should be light for the next…say, hour or so?
*****Zuko found his time with Mai’s family to be a mixed bag. On the one hand, Mai’s mother, Michi, was very welcoming, and it was a little bittersweet to see how she doted on Mai. Michi was a good, caring mother who managed to balance her (annoying, in Mai’s eyes) love for both her children.
Quite unlike how Zuko and Azula were given affection, he quietly noted.
It always took some effort in quashing the pang of missing his own mother, and the disgraced prince often winded up staring blankly at Mai’s and Michi’s interactions as he wondered where his mother had fled to, and why.
Still, the idle melancholy wasn’t that bad a price. While Mai complained about being bored, Zuko often had the…pleasure of watching her slowly stretch on her bed while she whined before him in the privacy of her room. She most definitely knew he was looking, judging from how she smirked as she displayed herself.
On the other hand, Mai’s father was rather…persistent in treating Zuko like the prince he was not. The former governor would find or make the time to praise Zuko for serving so humbly in the military, or go on about how grateful Mai should be for having a prince watch over her. It came to a point where Michi had to drag Ukano away right after dinner to give Zuko some space, which had the rather nice side effect of leaving him and Mai with more alone time.
“You know, if you weren’t just standing there, we could be far less bored,” Mai had outright said one day. “My parents are out, Tom-Tom’s with them, so…”
For some reason, Zuko’s mind won over his dick. “It…wouldn’t be right, Lady Mai.”
Mai huffed as she got up from her bed to walk towards him. “We’re alone, Zuko. You can call me Mai. Try it.”
Zuko gulped but managed to shake his head. “I-I rather not insult you like that, ma’am.”
He flinched when Mai gave an ineffective punch into his armored stomach before whipping around to return to her bed. “You’re still too stuck up, Zuko.”
“Yes, Lady Mai.”
“Ugh…”
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to take her up on her invitation, but a certain fear effectively held him back. A fear that manifested in Zuko’s mind in the form of his sister’s glare. The constant reminder that Mai was Azula’s friend, and the little warning Azula gave about making her an aunt had stuck deeply inside the prince, popping up everytime he felt too tempted.
Still, Mai didn’t take it any further than Zuko was willing to either, so both of them settled for just…viewing each other. It was an awkward compromise, but both parties were content enough to settle for it.
Better than being caught by Ukano, that’s for sure.
Things took a surprising turn though when Ukano asked for the whole family to move to the docks one evening. While curious, neither Zuko nor Mai questioned it and followed along, and found themselves boarding a Fire Nation warship.
Michi seemed as confused as the teens, but she maintained her noble bearing and kept silent as well as she carried Tom-Tom.
Alarm bells rang in Zuko’s head when he recognized High Generals Bujing and Shinu greeting Ukano, and there was no mistaking that two of them glanced briefly at him as they whispered with the former governor. The unease spread further as Ukano asked his wife to remain on the top deck, while asking for Mai - and by extension Zuko - to follow him to the bridge.
Zuko was worried that Ukano was about to trade off his daughter as a hostage against Azula for some security of his station. Or that they’d be suddenly announcing Mai’s engagement to some noble family to spite him and Azula. Or Zuko himself would get ambushed to settle some grievances he was not aware about.
He had not expected to meet his father on the bridge.
Training was the only thing that made Zuko kneel and bow his head faster than Mai, as his mind reeled from the surprise. “Fire Lord.”
“Zuko.” His father’s voice was still as heavy with judgment, but carried far less disdain than Zuko remembered. “It is…good to see you again, my son.”
The conscripted prince remained silent simply because he couldn’t get his mind to string sentences at the moment.
“Look at me.”
Zuko raised his head to stare straight into his father’s harsh gaze, and found the same disappointment in them…though it wasn’t directed at him?
“How is your service as a footsoldier?”
It took several seconds of gaping like a fish out of water before Zuko managed to reply. “G-Good… It’s, uh, good, your highness.”
The glare became heavier, and Zuko swore he could feel the weight of it starting to drive him down onto the metal floor.
“We’re told that you’ve been a…competent warrior. Dutiful.”
“It’s…I’m flattered by your praise, your highness.”
“Enough. You may address me as your father, as is right.” The disdain and annoyance in the words were sharp.
Zuko gulped before nodding. “As you say, father.”
“Good. Now, Zuko. It has occurred to me that I have been…lax in my attention to you. Negligent. Harsh.”
Before Zuko could come up with false assurances otherwise, the Fire Lord raised a hand to stall him, his glare still heavy and oppressive. It suddenly lifted, and a thin smirk appeared on the Fire Lord’s face. “With that realization in mind, I have come to make amends, though it would require work on your part.”
Zuko stared mutely as his father extended a hand towards him, while the other gestured out the bridge’s windows. “I’ve come to personally offer you a chance to undo your exile and all that comes with it…and return to my side as crown prince. Would you be interested in such an offer…my son?”
The Kyoshi Warriors poorly hid their nervousness as they assembled in what was once one of the palace’s more extravagant guest halls. Now the room was completely bare, with all furniture and even the torches and braziers removed. The shafts of natural sunlight piercing through the many windows and highlighting the beautiful mosaic floor gave the empty hall an eerie air.
Or it would have, if not for the crowd of kneeling and gagged prisoners taking up most of the floor space, arranged in rows.
It probably didn’t help the mood to have the grim faces of Xing, Azula and some of their soldiers standing beside Suki and her warrior sisters and staring down at the captured Dai Li. While Xing’s expression was unreadable, the princess and some of the soldiers were clearly repulsed by the kneeling men and were keen on burning them all away.
Xing’s words told Suki why the prisoners were here at all. “These men were the…staff we captured under Lake Laogai.”
That immediately grabbed the Kyoshi Warriors’ attention. Suki stared at the prince, and then the prisoners, feeling something bubbling in her.
“Do you think you can identify your torturers?”
The Kyoshi Warriors snarled as one, and Suki answered for them. “Easily.”
They fanned out among the whimpering men, and Suki found herself spitefully enjoying their broken states. The digit-less stumps of their hands and feet were twisted at unnatural angles, and the emblem of the old Ba Sing Se was branded on their chests and backs. She stalked across one row and then stopped to kneel down in front of a particular man who was doing a bad job at turning his head away from her gaze.
“This one,” Suki declared vindictively. “He was the one who tried to…” She paused, and drew in a slow breath to steady her will. “He was the one who tried to rape me in front of the others.”
The former torturer mewled pathetically as a soldier from the 11th came to Suki’s side and roughly dragged the Dai Li out.
She could hear the dark glee in Miyu’s voice suddenly calling out. “Here’s one. He was the one who tore out our nails and broke our fingers.”
“This one too,” Okuni added a few rows down.
The Kyoshi Warriors carefully went through the rows of Dai Li prisoners, and the Scorpion’s people helpfully yanked out the whimpering men each time. Xing was gracious enough to let them do a second pass before they finally confirmed that they had identified all their torturers.
“Thank you for taking the time and not just declaring all of them as guilty,” he said with a thin smile that made the lingering black veins on his left cheek ripple. Beside him, Azula grinned proudly for some reason, and behind them, a couple of soldiers were begrudgingly passing pouches to their fellows.
Xing gave a nod that sent his men and women out to unkindly usher out the unselected prisoners. It did well for Suki’s spirits to see the once dark and powerful Dai Li broken into little more than a groaning, weeping men as they were herded out of the hall. She exchanged smirks of grim satisfaction with the others, and found herself eagerly looking forward to what was going to happen next with the two dozen or so tormentors the Kyoshi Warriors had singled out.
This time, it was Azula who turned to address the Kyoshi Warriors, with all the authority of her royal rank. Surprisingly, the princess bowed formally, with all traces of her usual smirk of superiority hidden.
“The Earth Kingdom might be the Fire Nation’s enemies, but even we did not expect them to stoop so low. As crown princess of the Fire Nation, allow me to offer my sincere sympathies for what your supposed allies had done to you. Know that I do not expect this to immediately change your perception of us, or that we might now be seen as your friends. We do this because we too see the dire need for justice for such a foul crime.”
Suki did not flinch when the remaining soldiers around her drew their weapons.
Contrasting starkly to Azula’s formality, Xing kept a casual tone and posture as he gestured to his troops. “Would you rather choose and watch the execution of these Dai Li, or would you prefer dealing with it yourselves?”
It was a pointless question, but one that Suki nonetheless appreciated. The Fire Nation overlords of Ba Sing Se left the hall after the Kyoshi Warriors were equipped with swords, leaving only a quartet of guards to stand outside the hall’s entrance.
“Call on them once you’re done,” Xing said laconically, ignoring the increased whimpering and squirming from the Dai Li. “I hope this is a significant step towards attaining closure for all of you.”
“I’ll have a bath prepared for you,” Azula added off-handedly. “And new clothes. So don’t worry about being too messy.”
Suki led the other Kyoshi Warriors in bowing out of sincere gratitude and respect to their hosts. “Thank you, for saving us and allowing us…this.”
“Don’t overdo it,” the princess simply replied. “I’d hate to see you all sprain a muscle or something.”
They waited until the young royals had left the hall with their guards and soldiers, and then turned to the crippled prisoners with dark intent. The Kyoshi Warriors stalked towards their former abusers with snarls and grins, and as they brought their loaned blades to bear with practiced ease, Suki basked in the terror of these broken men before her.
The Dai Li’s pitiful screams and the carnage that was enacted on them were a salve that the Kyoshi Warriors greatly needed, and Suki found herself appreciating Azula’s gesture. A bath and new clothes greatly helped after bloodily facing down her nightmares.
*****“People of Ba Sing Se!” Kai announced loudly in one of the larger squares in the Lower Ring to draw in the apprehensive populace around him. Despite being thick in the midst of the conquered people with only a squad and a couple of transport tanks, Kai didn’t feel too concerned for his safety. “As was interrupted so rudely days before by terrorists, Prince Xing wishes to announce the condition of the Dai Li victims!”
That confirmed the attention of more than a significant chunk of the crowd, and Kai could sense trepidation giving in to curiosity and hope. He gave it a few seconds for some people to desperately push their way to the front of the crowd for a better listen.
“It is the prince’s pleasure to declare that a solution has been found to reverse the damage to the victims of Lake Laogai! Thanks to the aid of waterbender healers, your loved ones will be returned to you shortly!”
Kai had to consciously make an effort not to grin as he saw the ripple of relief sweep across the city square. He glanced at a trooper and gave a silent order with a nod of his head before returning to the speech.
“The healing process is slow, thanks to the insidious methods of the Dai Li, but as proof of Prince Xing and the Fire Nation’s progress, we come today with those women successfully liberated from the Dai Li’s cruel mind slaving.”
The crowd rose to a deafening murmur as the squad protectively led out a quartet of skittish young women. It took Kilin and her people a lot of time figuring out how to deal with the long lasting scars of the Dai Li’s conditioning, and these women would still need some time and care to be reintegrated into society. Which was why Xing had made sure that the women being freed all had families to return to; for those that they couldn’t find any trace of a relative or loved one, they were kept in the palace for the time being.
Kai watched as the women huddled together beside him, and kept an eye out to the crowd as he kindly addressed them. “Please, announce yourselves to that your family can be sure that it’s you.”
“M-Mi…Miao Ching, of Lusha Village,” the first woman said, and Kai had to make her repeat her name louder before a trembling couple forced their way to the front. She immediately noticed them and the soldiers did not stop her as she began walking towards them. “M-Mom? Dad?” A heartwarming scene ensued, of a lost daughter being united with her worried parents. Kai found it hard to push down a smile, but he had work to do.
“You next, ma’am,” he said to the next woman, who looked at the sobbing and hugging trio, and drew strength from it as she announced her name.
“Hiyori of Lotus Pond District!” she called out desperately. How convenient that said district was where they were right now. At least the Dai Li had the decency to record the addresses of their victims.
This time, a man stormed to the front, hands and butcher’s apron glistening with fresh blood. The woman Hiyori didn’t seem to mind, running straight for the butcher who caught her in his arms. “I thought you ran off! I thought you hated me!” he cried out as they both broke quickly down.
Kai and his men had the pleasure of witnessing more touching scenes of reunited spouses and families. By the end of it, with no more women to return, the crowd fixed their now hopeful gaze at the captain.
“These ladies will be the first of many. Be assured that the Fire Nation will return your partners, sisters and daughters back to you as soon as they are healed. Prince Xing is eager to do what he can to undo the damage wrought by your previous rulers, and is committed to freeing all of the Dai Li’s victims from their shackled minds.”
Damnit, his audience was taking in the words too well. Heads were bobbing and optimistic smiles could be seen.
Looks like he’ll have to requisition for a house in the eastern district… Fucking Ren and her sunrises…
Pushing aside his annoyance, Kai gave another nod to his men, and then braced himself for the next part of the performance. The men roughly herded out of the other transport tank a group of whimpering and crippled men, each naked save for a simple green loincloth and a gag, each sporting the the emblem of Ba Sing Se branded onto their backs and chests.
He had the crowd hanging onto his every word by now, even the reunited families were looking at him intently as he drew out another scroll.
“As further proof of his commitment to justice, Prince Xing has also seen fit to allow the wronged citizens of Ba Sing Se to dispense justice as they see fit to the Dai Li.”
Knowing their parts, the squad of soldiers kicked some of the Dai Li towards the crowd.
“As such, all Dai Li in captivity are, as of right now, being handed over to the people of Ba Sing Se. Only Long Feng, the leader of the Dai Li, will be retained by Prince Xing, to personally enact his own brand of punishment on behalf of the Avatar and Ba Sing Se.”
Kai and his squad took several steps back towards the tanks, and they watched as the crowd shifted their attention to the branded men before them. The silence was thick and anxious, until the girl from Lusha Village, Miao Ching, broke from her parents’ embrace and rose to her feet. She stomped over to the Dai Li still pleading through their gags and launched a savage (if poorly executed) kick across one’s face. “Bastards! You made me…made me…” She shrieked as she launched another kick on her victim, and then settled for stomping him into the ground. Her parents joined her soon enough, screaming curses as they pummeled the poor sod into a pulp.
That was the spark that the crowd needed, and cries of outrage filled the air as the mob descended on the Dai Li.
“Always good to see a happy ending,” Kai said dryly before ordering his men back to the tanks. Similar scenes were being repeated elsewhere in Ba Sing Se. The 11th were stretched thin because of it, but at least it was only for a day.
There were just enough liberated brainwash victims and Dai Li to apportion to all the squares throughout the massive city state, just as Xing wanted. Kai found it interesting that he wanted to deal with General Fong and the other insurgents separately, instead of lumping them together with the Dai Li.
Knowing Xing, it was probably to give himself enough prisoners to make a scene with.
“Right. We’ll go back and rest up, and then it’s over to the Middle Ring for round two,” Kai told his team, before enjoying the rather peaceful drive back to the palace. With the Lower Ring allowed their vengeful bloodlust, traffic should be light for the next…say, hour or so?
*****Zuko found his time with Mai’s family to be a mixed bag. On the one hand, Mai’s mother, Michi, was very welcoming, and it was a little bittersweet to see how she doted on Mai. Michi was a good, caring mother who managed to balance her (annoying, in Mai’s eyes) love for both her children.
Quite unlike how Zuko and Azula were given affection, he quietly noted.
It always took some effort in quashing the pang of missing his own mother, and the disgraced prince often winded up staring blankly at Mai’s and Michi’s interactions as he wondered where his mother had fled to, and why.
Still, the idle melancholy wasn’t that bad a price. While Mai complained about being bored, Zuko often had the…pleasure of watching her slowly stretch on her bed while she whined before him in the privacy of her room. She most definitely knew he was looking, judging from how she smirked as she displayed herself.
On the other hand, Mai’s father was rather…persistent in treating Zuko like the prince he was not. The former governor would find or make the time to praise Zuko for serving so humbly in the military, or go on about how grateful Mai should be for having a prince watch over her. It came to a point where Michi had to drag Ukano away right after dinner to give Zuko some space, which had the rather nice side effect of leaving him and Mai with more alone time.
“You know, if you weren’t just standing there, we could be far less bored,” Mai had outright said one day. “My parents are out, Tom-Tom’s with them, so…”
For some reason, Zuko’s mind won over his dick. “It…wouldn’t be right, Lady Mai.”
Mai huffed as she got up from her bed to walk towards him. “We’re alone, Zuko. You can call me Mai. Try it.”
Zuko gulped but managed to shake his head. “I-I rather not insult you like that, ma’am.”
He flinched when Mai gave an ineffective punch into his armored stomach before whipping around to return to her bed. “You’re still too stuck up, Zuko.”
“Yes, Lady Mai.”
“Ugh…”
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to take her up on her invitation, but a certain fear effectively held him back. A fear that manifested in Zuko’s mind in the form of his sister’s glare. The constant reminder that Mai was Azula’s friend, and the little warning Azula gave about making her an aunt had stuck deeply inside the prince, popping up everytime he felt too tempted.
Still, Mai didn’t take it any further than Zuko was willing to either, so both of them settled for just…viewing each other. It was an awkward compromise, but both parties were content enough to settle for it.
Better than being caught by Ukano, that’s for sure.
Things took a surprising turn though when Ukano asked for the whole family to move to the docks one evening. While curious, neither Zuko nor Mai questioned it and followed along, and found themselves boarding a Fire Nation warship.
Michi seemed as confused as the teens, but she maintained her noble bearing and kept silent as well as she carried Tom-Tom.
Alarm bells rang in Zuko’s head when he recognized High Generals Bujing and Shinu greeting Ukano, and there was no mistaking that two of them glanced briefly at him as they whispered with the former governor. The unease spread further as Ukano asked his wife to remain on the top deck, while asking for Mai - and by extension Zuko - to follow him to the bridge.
Zuko was worried that Ukano was about to trade off his daughter as a hostage against Azula for some security of his station. Or that they’d be suddenly announcing Mai’s engagement to some noble family to spite him and Azula. Or Zuko himself would get ambushed to settle some grievances he was not aware about.
He had not expected to meet his father on the bridge.
Training was the only thing that made Zuko kneel and bow his head faster than Mai, as his mind reeled from the surprise. “Fire Lord.”
“Zuko.” His father’s voice was still as heavy with judgment, but carried far less disdain than Zuko remembered. “It is…good to see you again, my son.”
The conscripted prince remained silent simply because he couldn’t get his mind to string sentences at the moment.
“Look at me.”
Zuko raised his head to stare straight into his father’s harsh gaze, and found the same disappointment in them…though it wasn’t directed at him?
“How is your service as a footsoldier?”
It took several seconds of gaping like a fish out of water before Zuko managed to reply. “G-Good… It’s, uh, good, your highness.”
The glare became heavier, and Zuko swore he could feel the weight of it starting to drive him down onto the metal floor.
“We’re told that you’ve been a…competent warrior. Dutiful.”
“It’s…I’m flattered by your praise, your highness.”
“Enough. You may address me as your father, as is right.” The disdain and annoyance in the words were sharp.
Zuko gulped before nodding. “As you say, father.”
“Good. Now, Zuko. It has occurred to me that I have been…lax in my attention to you. Negligent. Harsh.”
Before Zuko could come up with false assurances otherwise, the Fire Lord raised a hand to stall him, his glare still heavy and oppressive. It suddenly lifted, and a thin smirk appeared on the Fire Lord’s face. “With that realization in mind, I have come to make amends, though it would require work on your part.”
Zuko stared mutely as his father extended a hand towards him, while the other gestured out the bridge’s windows. “I’ve come to personally offer you a chance to undo your exile and all that comes with it…and return to my side as crown prince. Would you be interested in such an offer…my son?”
