As autumn became winter, it became abundantly clear to anyone with eyes that Song and Zuko were madly in love, though they made certain to never be together without some sort of chaperone or escort.  This didn't stop the rumour mill, of course, but it did help to temper it. 

In the middle of winter, Haru and Ty Lee were caught in bed together.  The rumour mill went wild with this, and Zuko spent one of the better afternoons in his life restraining Ty Lee's father.

When Haru vanished, the rumour mill went even crazier, only to die down on the earthbender's return a mere two days after the start of spring — with Dai Li prisoners.  He proceeded to spend half a day locked in a room with General Iroh, presumably debriefing, and once more he and Ty Lee were rarely seen apart.

Zuko's afternoon meetings with Song, much to their displeasure, grew shorter and shorter as the days grew longer again. There was simply too much Zuko had to do — as it was, it was distressingly common for him to go two or three days without food or sleep.

The only people this really seemed to please were the aides involved in scheduling the Firelord's meetings, and they didn't seem to be aware of how Zuko was stinting himself in order to meet their demands.  "It isn't fair," complained Song to Ty Lee one day, when the younger girl had dragged her out to the market.  "He's so tired, and starting to get depressed because he can't be in five places at once like he thinks he's supposed to be!"

"Seven," Ty Lee corrected absently, holding up a bolt of silk to her face to check the colour. "I think right now he's supposed to be in seven places."

"How can he possibly do that?" Song demanded.  "You'd think someone would realise what was going on."

"People have. But Zuzu insists he can handle it." Ty Lee rolled her eyes and picked up a second bolt of cloth.

"Why can't someone just— schedule him?  You know, like Doctor Chang is?" Song asked, sounding a little desperate.

"That's what the aides are supposed to be for," Ty Lee replied.

"Well, they're doing a pretty bad job of it!" snapped the doctor, then someone tapped her on the shoulder. 

She turned to see a young nobleman, roughly Zuko's age.  In his shadow stood a lanky, unhappy-looking kid.  The noble gave both girls a dazzling smile.

Ty Lee rolled her eyes again. "What's up, Lǐ Qí?"

"I couldn't help but overhear your problem," he said in the cheery, irksome tone of one who had obviously been trying to hear every word he could, "and I think I've got just the solution you need!"

The younger noble arched her eyebrow. "Oh?"

Lǐ Qí grinned, and jerked his thumb at the boy in his shadow.  "I could loan you Ku-Ji here for a few days — he does my schedule for me."

Song saw fire flare in the boy's eyes when the nobleman named him, and wondered.

"It's not up to us," Ty Lee said, after a moment. "We'll bring it up with His Lordship and get back to you."

Lǐ Qí flapped a hand, unconcerned.  "Take all the time you need.  Ku-Ji won't have plans.  He's fairly bright for a colonist, but he doesn’t socialise much, you know?"  In a stage whisper, he added, "He's afraid of girls; it's hilarious!"  At this, the kid flushed angrily.

Ty Lee's eyes narrowed, but she didn't comment. "Fine. Can you go away now?"

"Very well, ladies, I shall leave you to your… whatever.  C'mon, Ku-Ji," he said, flouncing off.

"It's Kouji," muttered the boy.

"Whatever."

"Jerk," Ty Lee muttered as they walked away.

"We should hire him," Song said.  "He hates that jerk, anyone can see that."

"Oh, definitely. If we can convince Zuzu," was Ty Lee's doubtful reply.

"That's the easy part," Song said with a grin.  "Just tell him that he's doing the poor kid a favour.  I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping out a kid who's got to put up with that idiot every day."

"Good point." Ty Lee grinned back.

"And if Lǐ Qí was exaggerating, I'm sure we could find the kid work in the palace somewhere," the doctor went on, tossing her braid over her shoulder.

"Definitely," the younger girl agreed.

"Let's go talk to Zu," Song said, taking Ty Lee's hand.

"Lead the way," Ty Lee replied, carefully replacing the fabric she'd been looking at.

It took them several hours to get enough time with Zuko to pitch the idea of hiring someone to work his schedule for him — and at first, he didn't take it too well.

"I can handle my own schedule," he said, defensively.

"It isn't about the schedule," lied Song blithely.

"This kid is totally miserable where he is," Ty Lee went on. "You'll be doing him a favour."

"Lǐ Qí mispronounces his name and insults him to other people when he's standing right there," added Song.

Zuko scowled.  "All right. Fine. I'll try this out."

The doctor  hugged him tightly.  "Thanks, Zuko."

"You're welcome," he murmured, hugging her back. He'd lost weight, she could tell through his robe.

Song drew back and smoothed down his hair.  "Let's get some food, okay?"

"I don't have time," Zuko explained.  "I have somewhere I need to be in five minutes."

Song glanced at Ty Lee for help, but the other girl shrugged. There was really no help for it, until they got the kid there.  The doctor sighed and kissed the tip of Zuko's nose.  "We'll bring him by tomorrow or the next day," she promised.

"All right. I'll find time to meet with him." He kissed her hand quickly and slipped off.

*          *          *

Kouji hovered outside the throne room door, uncertain.  He'd agreed to this meeting without even pausing to think about it — Lǐ Qí was an annoying ass, and the boy was desperate enough for a new situation at this point that he would have gladly accepted a post moving nightsoil.  However, he hadn't realised that he would have to actually meet the Firelord…

Nervously, he ran one hand through his hair and wondered if he had done the smart thing by wearing clothing that was distinctly Earth Kingdom in colour and style.  Well, what was done was done.

The door was opened by a stiff, unpleasant-looking aide. "You have five minutes."

The twelve-year-old swallowed hard and nodded, then entered the room cautiously.  At the proscribed distance, just as his parents had thumped into him as a kid, he bowed deeply to his monarch.

"Rise."

When he looked up, he saw a much less impressive figure than might have been expected, given the legends already springing up about Zuko Peacemaker (not everyone called him that, but the epithet had begun to stick). Instead of the imposing warrior the legends made him out to be, the Firelord was a thin, weary-looking teenager. "You must be Kouji."

"Yes, sir," Kouji replied, careful to be polite.  Definitely shouldn't've worn the Earth Kingdom stuff, he thought.  He'd mostly done it to piss Lǐ Qí off.

"I'm told you're good at schedules."

"Yes, sir," the boy said again.  "It's… something of a gift."

Zuko nodded. "Are you interested in trying to maintain mine?"

Anything to get away from Lǐ Qí, Kouji thought. "Yes, sir!"

"All right, then." He stood up, walked over, and handed Kouji a piece of paper — his current schedule.

The boy looked down on it, and his grey eyes went wide.  "…you have got to be kidding me," he blurted, forgetting whose presence he was in.  "Did a blind hopping llama put this together?!"

"No, my aides did," the Firelord said, wryly. "Sometimes I think they have less brains put together than a blind hopping llama."

Kouji rubbed the back of his neck.  "This is gonna be interesting," he said, but he was smiling.  Finally, a challenge!

"I'm sure it will," the older boy replied. "Any questions?"

"Um… yeah, what's the order of importance, here?"  He wrinkled his nose.  "Lǐ Qí only goes to parties and stuff, so I don't have much basis for comparison."

"Security, intelligence, and economics are most important. After that, use your judgment."

"Yes, sir," replied Kouji, his mind already racing as he began plotting ways to make sense of the scrap of paper in his hands.

A page joined them in the room, summoned by an unseen bell. "Xìn Xī will show you to the office I've had set up for you, and tell you how to find my study when you're done."

Kouji remembered his manners then and bowed deeply.  "Thank you, Lord Zuko."

"Of course," the older boy said. "I'll talk to you next time I have a minute."

The preteen followed the page out of the room and immediately got to work on the schedule.  He took a break to eat around mid-afternoon when his stomach refused to be ignored any further, and had turned the mess into something coherent by nightfall.

The Firelord was in his study when he went there to drop it off, sitting in his chair, fighting through some kind of paperwork.

"Um… Lord Zuko?" Kouji said tentatively.

The teenager looked up. "Hey. Any luck?"

Kouji dared to grin at him.  "I'm done."

Zuko arched his eyebrow. "Really? Let me see."

Cheerfully, Kouji passed it over.

The Firelord scanned it. One the plus side, as he saw it, he was no longer expected to be in multiple places at once. On the downside… "There's a lot of space in here."  The rising tone on the last word almost made it a question.

The twelve-year-old came around to peek over Zuko's elbow and blinked.  "Huh?"

"Like, here for example. There's a big empty space."

"…that's night," Kouji said.  "You know, when people sleep?"

"Huh," said Zuko, as if this were a new concept.  "What about this one?"

"Dinner.  And that other one is lunch.  And somebody told me you spend time in the gardens with someone, so that's that spot right there…"  Kouji sounded uncertain now, and gave the Firelord a worried glance.  Had he messed up somehow?

"All right," the Firelord said after a beat.  "It's just… a little more blank space than I was expecting."

"You're used to being scheduled by blind hopping llamas, remember?" the boy replied.

"I know, I know. Still." Apparently, the young monarch was more expecting Kouji to find a way for him to avoid having to discover how to clone himself than to find him time to sleep.

"Did I mess up?" Kouji asked, worried now.  No, no, no, I don't want to go back!

"No, no, I don't think so," said Zuko reassuringly.  "I just… I'm a little surprised there's this much blank space."

Kouji made a small noise of disgust.  "Lǐ Qí would pitch a fit if he was scheduled for more than three things a day."

The Firelord stared at him.  "What, really?"

"Most noble kids are really lazy," the boy said with a shrug.  "They're gonna be surprised when they actually have to take over the estates and stuff."

"Oh. Right, yeah," was the absent reply.

Kouji bit his lip and fell silent, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.  What was he doing, badmouthing other nobles to the Firelord?  He needed this appointment, just to get away from Lǐ Qí — and more importantly, keep from being sent home.

"Well, anyway. Thanks for putting me in one place at a time," said Zuko at last, putting the paper aside.

"It was my pleasure, my lord," Kouji replied.

Zuko almost smiled at him.  A bit confused, the boy decided to bow again — after all, it couldn't hurt anything.  "You don't have to do that," Zuko assured him. "Not in private, anyway."

"I… I don't?" Kouji asked, confused.

"Nope."

What does that mean? the preteen wondered.  Am I hired?  He hasn't brought up anything like contract terms — or does he even worry about that kind of thing?  "A-all right…"

The Firelord almost smiled again, then turned back to whatever he'd been working on his desk.

Was that a dismissal?  Confused, Kouji shifted again.

Zuko turned the paper he was reading upside down, then made a face when it proved just as illegible that way. He muttered something about mandating handwriting courses.

The boy blinked several times.  He felt that Ozai's son was just as confusing as Ozai had been terrifying.  Eventually, he decided that he'd been dismissed and padded toward the door.

Zuko didn't stop him.

The twelve-year-old closed the door behind him and then leaned against it, letting out a heavy sigh.  "This place is confusing," he muttered.

After a long moment, Kouji elected to explore the palace.  If he was going to be hired on here, it was best to know the place, right?  Keeping one hand to the wall, he started walking.

After about ten minutes of this, a harried-looking nobleman pulled him aside, and told him to go to the library and retrieve a specific text on citizenship law for him.  Surprised, Kouji glanced up at him.  "A-all right," he said.  Well, if the scheduling thing didn't work out, maybe he could be a page.  "Um, where's the library?"

The nobleman had already wandered off, and couldn't answer him.

Kouji rolled his eyes and leaned on the wall, trying to get his bearings.  After a moment, he nodded, and slipped down a hallway.

Sure enough, he made it to the library.  Now to find that book… which was easier said then done. The palace library was the largest in the world, discounting the mythical spirit library of Wan Shi Tong.  "Joy," muttered the young man before diving right in.  Rather than finding his text, he instead stumbled on a small, fragile-looking boy, curled up asleep in a chair.

Kouji blinked, watching him curiously.  He wasn't wearing red… or indeed, any of the colours of the four nations.  Instead, the boy was wearing white.  Was he mourning? Kouji wondered.  Was he even Fire Nation?  He looked a bit too fragile for that, to be honest.

The child twitched a little, curling in on himself.

Kouji jerked back, almost afraid he'd disturbed the other boy, who whimpered a little, twitching again.

Nightmare, Kouji realised.  "Hey," he said softly.

The other boy jerked awake. His eyes widened when he saw Kouji, and he didn't say anything.

Is he scared of me?   "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," Kouji said.  "I was trying to find this book, but I don't know where anything here is…"

"O-okay," he stammered, then slid off his chair. "Wh-what book?"

The younger boy took a step back, since the white-clad one seemed to like distance, and told him the title.

"D-do you w-want me t-t'get it?"

"You don't have to," Kouji replied.  "If you'd just tell me where it is, I'm sure I can find it myself."

"I-I'm n-not good at d-directions…"

"All right," the younger boy relented, "then you can get it."

The boy in white disappeared deeper into the library, and returned about ten minutes later with the scroll. "H-here…" He held it out, careful to keep his hand as far to the end as he could without dropping it.

Kouji accepted it, taking care not to get too close to the other boy.  "Thank you."  Taking a step back to make him comfortable, the twelve-year-old bowed.

The smaller boy bowed back.

He turned to go, and paused.  "My name is Kouji."

"Y-Yì Suì," the other boy stammered out.

"It's nice to meet you."  Kouji grinned at him, then went off to track down the noble and give him the text.

Current Location: the upstairs couch>
Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Tetsujin - Juno Reactor
Tags: au, avatar, fanfic, roulette

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