Fic: Exile: Chapter 4: The Heirloom

Chapter 4: The Heirloom

 “She’s over this way,” Lu Ten said, motioning toward the hidden shelter. “I want to warn you, though, Zu – she’s ill, and we don’t know why. Mikka hasn’t been able to find the source.”

 Hearing that, Mikka grimaced. “I have to check on her!” He dashed for the shelter and dove inside.

 “She’ll be fine,” said Zuko, the tone of his voice indicating that if she wasn’t, the universe had better have a very good explanation for it. “We’ve got some of the best physicians in the world at the Fire Palace, and we have Katara, another healing waterbender. They’ll be able to help. She’ll be just fine.” 

 “That’s good to hear.” Lu Ten held the branches at the opening back for Zuko to enter. He hesitated for just a moment, then took a deep breath and ducked inside. Aang followed him closely.

 Ursa lay on a pile of blankets, dappled by sunlight filtering through the shelter’s brush roof. Mikka knelt next to her, his glowing hands held over her heart.  She was much too pale. A flash of terror crossed Zuko’s face, until he saw her chest slowly rise and fall with a shallow breath.

 Ursa had aged a little from the stately, glowing woman he remembered from his childhood. There was a strand or two of gray in her raven hair, a few worry lines around her mouth. Her skin was roughened from daily exposure to sun, rain, and wind.

 She was still the most beautiful woman Zuko had ever seen.

 He knelt down by her head and brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face. She shifted slightly and murmured something too low to hear, but, to his disappointment, she did not awaken.

 “How long … “ Zuko’s voice cracked, and he had to stop to swallow hard. “How long has she been like this? What happened?”

 “About two weeks, and we don’t really know,” Lu Ten answered. He was crouched at the door of the shelter, as there was barely enough room in it for Ursa, Zuko, Mikka and Aang. “She had been behaving strangely all day at the time of the comet’s arrival. She was preoccupied, and sometimes seemed to be watching or listening to someone we couldn’t see. About mid-day she fell into some kind of trance and started muttering to herself, something about a coronation and being confused. Then she said, ‘No. I love you,’ quite clearly, and fainted.  A few hours later she awoke partially, but was still delirious.  Then she screamed and clutched at her heart like it was failing her, and fell truly unconscious.” Lu Ten shook his head sadly. “And she’s been like this since then. Mikka’s been able to get water and some food into her – broth, mostly – but can’t find anything wrong. It’s definitely not her heart, he says. There’s no damage for him to fix. We don’t know if it was something brought on by the comet, or just a coincidence.”

 Zuko’s hand went to his chest, where Aang knew he now carried a star-shaped scar directly over his heart. “I don’t think it was a coincidence,” he whispered.

 Mikka looked at him. “You know what did this? Tell me!”

 “I don’t know for sure…but it sounds like she had her attack right around the time I almost died. My sister threw lightning at a friend of mine. I got in the way, but couldn’t get into the right stance to redirect it properly.” Zuko winced at the memory. “It almost stopped my heart. Would have, if Katara hadn’t been there to help.”

 Lu Ten stared at him. “Wait – Azula threw lightning? At a friend of yours? Why? And what do you mean you tried to ‘redirect’ it?”

 Zuko sighed. “Azula isn’t the cute kid you remember, Lu, any more than I am. She’s…well, you had better see for yourself. Anyway, she’s tried to kill me a couple of times now. Uncle taught me to redirect lightning, and it’s saved my life twice so far. Once from Ozai, once from Azula.”

 Lu Ten was still staring at him in something like horror. “I knew Uncle Ozai was insane but…he tried to kill you? And little Azula did too? Great spirits, what did he do to her?”

 The question startled Zuko. “Uh…did to her? Aside from being a terrible role model? I…never really thought about it…”

 “He must have done something.  I can’t see little Azula trying to fry her big brother. She used to follow you around everywhere like a feisty little puppykit. Drove you up the wall, as I recall. Literally, in a few cases – isn’t that why you first started climbing all over everything? To get to places she couldn’t reach?”

 Aang found this image so bizarre and yet so in-character for Zuko that he had to smother a totally inappropriate burst of laughter. Privately, he vowed to pin Lu Ten down later and pump him for stories of  ‘Runt’ and ‘Runt Two’.  It promised to be very entertaining – although also more than a little sad, given what had happened between the siblings since that time.

 Zuko sounded very weary. “Yeah, well, things have changed a lot, Lu. Like I said, you’ll have to see for yourself. For now, let’s just worry about getting Mother back home and taking care of her.”

 “Good idea. Let me in there and I’ll carry her out. Er – did you bring some other transport with you, or is the flying furball our ride out?”

 “His name’s Appa, and yes, he’ll be taking us home,” Zuko said. “But I’ll carry her, Lu.” With exquisite care, he got his arms under Ursa and lifted her, still wrapped in blankets, and brought her out into the sunlight.  Aang and Mikka trailed behind.

 Lu Ten looked up at Appa, still floating serenely above the cabin. “Er. Are you sure it – he – can carry all of us? And how do we get up to him?”

 “Sure, Appa’s plenty strong,” Aang assured him. “He gets tired if he has to carry eight or so people for too long, but he can take the five of us no problem. Do you guys have any stuff you want to bring along? Oh, and don’t worry about getting up, I’ll take care of that.”

 Lu Ten nodded. “Yes, we have a few things to bring along, but not much. I’ll go pack it up. Mikka, you stay with Aunt Ursa.”

 Mikka nodded. “She seems a little stronger to me, Lu Ten. Maybe it’s the sunlight. You know how she loves being in the sunshine.”

 “That’s good to hear.  Get her settled, okay? I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the cabin.

 Aang struck a solid broad stance, and pulled on the earth.  A column of rock shot up from the ground toward Appa, who eyed it suspiciously. Aang swept a hand down and around, and the column sprouted spiral steps from the base to the top. Mikka looked very impressed, and scrambled rapidly up the column. Aang followed, and Zuko brought up the rear, carrying his mother with great care into Appa’s saddle and setting her gently down in the center. He then busied himself making sure her blankets were completely free of wrinkles.

 Mikka stopped at the edge of the column, hesitating before stepping into the saddle. He turned to Aang, looking a little worried. “What about Shanyang and our chickens?”

 “Who’s Shanyang?”

 “Our nannycow. We can’t just leave them here, they’ll starve!”

 Aang smiled, finding he liked this unusual boy. “Well, they probably wouldn’t like riding on Appa, but we’ll be back in the capital in a few hours and Zuko can send a boat for them. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

 “He’d do that?”

 “Sure. He likes animals. Right, Zuko?”

 “Huh?” Zuko looked up, not having followed any of the conversation.

“I said you’d be glad to make sure Mikka’s animals got off the island safely.”

 “Oh. Sure, of course. You can even bring them to the palace if you want to have them with you there.”

 Mikka’s eyes widened. “I get to go to the Fire Palace? To live?”

 “If you want to. You’ve definitely earned it, taking care of my mother the way you have. Do you think you’d like to live there? Lu Ten and my mother will be.” He smiled reassuringly at the overawed boy. “Or if you have family I’ll see you get back to them. You should at least meet Katara, though – she’s another waterbender, she can help you work on that, if you want. She’s a good teacher – she taught Aang.”

 “I…don’t have any family. I think. I never knew who my father was. And my mother…” His eyes dropped. “I think she’s dead. She tried to fight the soldiers when they came to take me. I saw blood. They wouldn’t let me go to her, to help her.”

 Zuko gritted his teeth against the sudden surge of anger. He had heard so many stories like this, or worse, from the days of Ozai’s reign. His father had so very much to answer for. “Who was your mother, Mikka? Where did she live?”

 “Her name was Ossa. We lived on Yougan Island. She did washing for the rich ladies in town. She could do a few things with water that made it easier.” He paused, looking sad. “She couldn’t heal though. So I think she probably died. It was a long time ago. I don’t remember much.” His expression said he remembered more than he really wanted to.

 “We’ll find out what happened to her, I promise. Was she from the Water Tribes, do you know?”

 “No. But her father was. I don’t know his name. He died long before I was born.”

 “South or North?”

 Mikka frowned, trying to recall dim details. “I think South. Mother said something about him being captured in a raid. He was sold into slavery in the Fire Nation.”

 Zuko grimaced. Yet one more thing to set right. “You should definitely meet Katara and Sokka then. They’re from the Southern Water Tribe. They may know some distant relatives of yours who’d like to meet you, if you want to know more about that part of your heritage.”

 Mikka looked intrigued. “Yeah…maybe.” His face fell. “But I remember Mom saying they wouldn’t want either of us because we’re part Fire Nation. And I’m mostly Fire Nation. I mean…I hate the way they brought me here, but it was better for me here with Lu Ten and Aunt Ursa than it ever was on Yougan Island.”

 “You won’t have to worry about that any more. Like I said, you can stay at the Fire Palace as long as you want, and no one will bother you. And Chief Hakoda of the Southern Tribe is a good man – he’ll help you if you want to go to the Southern Water tribe.” Zuko smiled. “But it’s pretty cold there, I should warn you. It’s a lot warmer at the Fire Palace. Food’s better too. Unless you like seal blubber.” Zuko clearly wanted the boy to stay in Crater City, thought Aang – no doubt because of the undeniable bonds he had formed with Lu Ten and Ursa.

 Mikka made a face at the mention of seal blubber. Aang thought perhaps the Fire Lord shouldn’t be allowed to stack the tiles against the Southern Water Tribe in advance. “Things are a lot better there now that they’ve reconnected with the Northern Water Tribe,” he put in. “And they have a lot of really good fish dishes to eat, if you like fish. You don’t have to eat seal blubber if you don’t want to.”

 Zuko gave him a mildly dirty look for spoiling his pitch. “How would you know? You only eat plants.”

 “Not a lot of plants at the poles, except seaweed – which is pretty good, don’t get me wrong, but you can’t live on nothing but seaweed.  So I ate fish. And shellfish, too. Not seals or walrus, though, or sea birds. Air Nomad food rules are just moral guidelines, not laws, you know  – they’re not meant to make us starve ourselves!”

 “Hmph,” Zuko snorted. “I still say you’d better eat more good meat protein. You’re already scrawny – once you start shooting up you’re going to be a walking skeleton.”

 Aang stuck his tongue out. “I’ll manage, Nanny Fire Lord.”

 “Hey, I’m your teacher – I’m supposed to make sure you stay healthy. Firebending takes more out of you than any other element. I don’t want you passing out during lessons.”

 “I know, I know, I know. This is about the fiftieth time you’ve lectured me on my eating habits.”

 “I don’t plan to stop, either, so you can forget about keeping count.”

 Aang sighed and rolled his eyes.

 Mikka was staring at the two of them.  Aang noticed, and asked, “Is something wrong, Mikka?”

 “Uh. Noooo….I just…um.”

 “Um what?” Aang pressed.

 “Um. Aunt Ursa taught me some history, and you two – are you really the Avatar and the Fire Lord? Or was that a joke? No, wait, you could bend more than one element…I don’t get it. You sound like a kid just like me. Well, maybe not just like me, but like, just a kid. Most of the time.”

 “I am just a kid most of the time. And Zuko’s just a teenager. The titles don’t matter, except for what we do with them. They don’t make us different people than we are.”

 “I dunno, I guess I would have expected something more…um…impressive?”

 Zuko waved his hands frantically. “No no no. Do NOT ask Aang to be impressive. Unless you like uncontrollable hurricanes with fiery rocks and waterfalls everywhere.”

 “Hey! It’s not like that any more, and you know it!”

 “That doesn’t make it any less overwhelming, and you know that.”

 Aang sighed. “Ignore him, Mikka. He’s just jealous.”

 Zuko made a derisive noise, then went back to looking after Ursa.  Right about then Lu Ten emerged from the cabin carrying a wooden crate with three or four full bags stuffed into it, a hand-woven basket over one arm, and a large water skin slung over the opposite shoulder. He stopped briefly at the spring to fill the water skin, then climbed the column of stairs without any evidence the load was slowing him down at all.  Aang and Mikka reached up to help him with the baggage as he stepped into the saddle. “I was wondering what we’re going to do about our farm animals,” he said as the luggage was stowed away in the corners of the saddle.

 “The Fire Lord said he’d take care of them,” Mikka piped up.

 “My name’s Zuko,” the Fire Lord corrected him, gently. “You can use it, you know.”

 “Um. Okay….Zuko.” Mikka looked like he was halfway expecting to get blasted by fire for his impertinence, but Zuko just smiled at him again, nodding his approval. Mikka smiled back, tentatively.

 “Mikka, I brought HanPan along.”

He handed the basket over to Mikka, who looked relieved. “Oh, thank you! I can’t believe I almost forgot about him.”

 Aang snuck a look into the basket. Large liquid eyes, a little pink nose, white whiskers, gray fur, and a very large set of ears looked back at him. “Hey, this is a wind mouse! Where’d you find him?”

“He fell out of the sky after a storm,” Mikka said. “He was hurt pretty badly. I healed him up, though, and he’s fine now.” The boy stuck out a hand and made a clicking noise. HanPan scrambled out of the basket and sat up in Mikka’s palm, looking around. Mikka scrounged in a pocket and produced a few grains of corn, which HanPan accepted with regal grace. The wind mouse then began to nibble on his feast, seemingly not at all concerned with the strange faces peering at him.

 “I can’t wait to introduce him to Momo,” Aang said. “That’s my flying lemur – I left him at home because a friend wanted to borrow him for the day and I didn’t know how long we’d be gone.”

Zuko looked at him. “Sokka again?” Aang nodded. “Do I want to know exactly what Sokka is doing with Momo every time he borrows him?”

 Aang shrugged. “I have no idea either, but whatever it is, Momo doesn’t seem to mind.”

 Lu Ten finished getting their belongings stashed against the wall of the saddle, and stood there, at a loss. “Okay. Ready to go. How do we, uh, get him started?”

 “First, you sit down,” Zuko advised. “And grab hold of something.” He himself had shifted around until he held his mother’s head pillowed in his lap.

 Lu Ten took a seat, looking a bit doubtful. Aang took the reins and called out, “Yip yip!”, and Appa roared in response and zoomed up and away.  Mikka yelled in surprised excitement, and Lu Ten grabbed at the side of the saddle and muttered an oath under his breath. “Sorry!” Aang called. “He accelerates kind of fast!”

“Well, any way out of prison is a good way out,” Lu Ten said. “I admit that never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d be getting out like this, though.”

“We could always put you back,” Zuko suggested.

 “Quiet, runt. I didn’t ask for your input.” Lu Ten grabbed a small sack and chucked it at Zuko’s back. It bounced off with a hollow clank.  Zuko twisted around and caught it, looking daggers at his cousin. “Toss your own stuff around, Lu.”  He set the bag carefully down at his side. Another muted clank sounded. Zuko took a quick look into the bag, then closed it again, apparently satisfied.

 “What have you got in there?” Aang asked.

 “Nothing important,” Zuko said, much too quickly. “Just something I brought to show mother, if I found her. It’s not interesting to anyone else.” He pointedly avoided meeting Aang’s eyes while he said this.

Aang scowled at him. “Toph keeps telling you what a terrible liar you are, so why do you keep trying?”  Moving like the wind, Aang snatched up Zuko’s rucksack and ducked backward, out of the older boy’s reach.

 “HEY!” Zuko yelped. He jerked like he wanted to chase after Aang, but realized that would disturb his mother, and settled back down instead, satisfying himself with a fiery glare in Aang’s direction. “That’s private.”

 Aang was holding the bag in both hands, looking puzzled. One had had found something cylindrical and hard, probably metallic, within the sack.  Aang frowned, not seeming even to hear Zuko’s complaints. “What’s this?” he murmured. “Feels…familiar?”

 Zuko bit his lower lip. This was not at all how he’d wanted this scene to play out.

 Aang untied the mouth of the rucksack and looked in. The puzzled expression grew deeper. He darted a hand in and drew out a Fire Nation hairpiece, taller and more ornate than most. It was clearly old, but had been lovingly cleaned and burnished to a fine mellow shine. Aang stared at it. Zuko watched him uneasily. Lu Ten and Mikka, sensing that something important might be happening here, wisely stayed out of the way and kept quiet.

 “This is…mine…” Aang said, in a dreamy voice. “Or…it was, once.” He shook his head and seemed to snap out of the trancelike state he had been about to drop into. “This…where did you get this? It’s been missing for over a hundred years. I thought it was destroyed.”

 Zuko shifted uncomfortably. “No. It was my mother’s. When she left, she gave it to Uncle for safekeeping. And he gave it to me. I wanted to show it to her, to…explain some things.”

 Aang looked at him, aware that once again Zuko was holding back on him. “Why did your mother have Roku’s headpiece? This is the one Sozin gave me – him – back when they were friends, I can tell.”

 Zuko shook his head. “This isn’t a good time to talk about this, Aang.”

 Lu Ten frowned. “There’s no big mystery here, Zu.” He turned to Aang. “She inherited it from her father, who got it from his. It’s one of her family keepsakes.” He gave Aang a puzzled look “I’d have thought you’d have known all about it.”

 Aang was lost. “Why would I?”

 “You remember your past lives, don’t you? This crown was Roku’s. Yours. It got passed down through his line. Ursa was Roku’s granddaughter, though he died long before she was born.”

 Aang blinked. Thought about that. Blinked again. Turned to look at Zuko, who was avoiding his gaze. “How long have you had this?” the Avatar demanded. “How long have you known?”

 “Er…known what?” Zuko tried, somewhat desperately.

 “That Roku had kids. That your mother was his descendant. That you’re his – my --  great grandkid!”

 “Oh. That.”

 “Yeah, that! Why didn’t you say something? How long have you had this?”

 Zuko sighed. “Uncle gave it to me while father had him locked up, when he told me about Sozin and Roku and how the war started. When he told me I had to be the one to fix it. He gave it to me then, to remind me I had a choice – that I could be my mother’s son and not my father’s.”

 “So – before even the eclipse!”

 “Yeah.”

 “Why didn’t you say something at the Western Air Temple? I’d never have let the others chase you off if you’d shown me this.”

 “That’s why I didn’t show it to you,” Zuko said. “It was unfair pressure.”

 “It was important, you stupid – we almost chased you off for good and then I’d have lost to Ozai! Why did you take that risk?”

 Zuko hunched his shoulders. “Because I wanted to be accepted for myself, because you believed me, not because of some weird kind-of-family connection!”

 “But – you dummy – you’re Roku’s great grandkid! That makes a difference!”

 Zuko’s response was quiet. “Not that much of a difference. Azula is too, after all.”

 That set Aang back. “Oh. Ah. Okay, that’s a point.”

 Zuko seized the opening. “See, that’s why I wanted you accepting me on my own merits.  What if I told you and it made you act differently toward Azula? She’d have happily taken advantage of it to try and kill you again.”

 “Azula…” Ursa’s voice was weak but clear. Zuko’s head whipped back to his mother. Mikka scooted over on his hands and knees to check on her. Ursa’s eyes were half-open, but not seeing anything. “Azula…” she whispered again. “Where…are you…?”

 Aang didn’t miss the faint expression of hurt that crossed Zuko’s face and was quickly wiped away again. “Mother?” he said. “Azula’s not here. But we’re going to where she is. Can you hear me? It’s Zuko. We rescued you.”

 Ursa didn’t seem to hear. Her eyelids drooped again.  An idea suddenly crossed Aang’s mind, and he held Roku’s crown out to Zuko. “Here. Give this to her.”

 Zuko frowned. “I don’t know what good that’s going to do, but…I can’t see any harm in it.” He took the crown, a bit reluctantly, and held onto it for a long moment. Despite all his protests, Aang could see that the crown meant a great deal to Zuko. Roku, why didn’t you tell me about this? he wondered. Roku hadn’t even mentioned that he and Ta Min had children, let alone grandchildren and great grandchildren. Obviously when he had a chance, he’d have to interrogate – well, himself – on that particular question.

 Zuko gently picked up one of his mother’s limp hands and closed it carefully around the base of the crown. Then he rested it on her chest and brought her second hand up to join the first. 

 Nothing happened for a few long moments. Then Ursa took a deep breath. Then a second. Zuko held his own breath.

Her beautiful amber eyes opened. This time they were clear. She blinked, looking up at Zuko’s face bent over hers. “Zuko. My dear,” she said in a tone of wondering love. “Oh, my darling, my heart. Why are you here?”

 Zuko closed his eyes, swallowing hard, shoulders shaking. Then, voice hoarse, he answered.

“I came for you. I found you. And you’re safe now.” He wrapped his hands around hers where they held the crown. “You’re safe now,” he repeated, as tears ran in silent silver streams down his face.

[To be continued]