Two weeks later, as planned Zuko and Kouji returned from their vacation, both looking much healthier and less stressed than when they left.  The returning boat trip had been much easier on Kouji than the one to the island — rather than being physically ill, he was only nauseated while on the sea, and was back to his usual self within an hour of setting foot on shore.

Leilani had come to greet them, and was pleased to note that Zuko had gained weight and that someone had finally cut Kouji’s hair.  With the slightly overlarge clothing, fading sunburn, dark hair cropped close to his skull, and the glaive in his hands (roughly cut off at the end; it had clearly been altered so he could use it), it was hard to recognise the younger boy.

Zuko even managed to smile at her. “It’s good to see you again, ‘Lani. How’s Minami doing?”

“She’s doing very well.  I’ll let her know you asked for her.”  The healer beamed at them both; on cue, Kouji flushed and ducked behind Li Shang, who looked equally as sunburned.

“That’s good to hear.”

“Your uncle would like to speak with you when you’re settled back in,” Leilani informed him.  Zuko wasn’t going to like the subject at all.

Zuko nodded. “Of course.” He needed to get updated on everything that he’d missed the last two weeks, after all.

“And Kouji, Toph will be waiting for you.”

“I’ll accompany him,” said Shang.  “I need to talk to her, anyway.”

And so, they all split off — Zuko to go talk to his uncle, and Kouji and Shang to go talk to Toph.  Leilani accompanied the Firelord; if there was Fire Nation business that she couldn’t hear, Iroh would ask her to step out.

Iroh answered his office door immediately when Zuko knocked, and promptly embraced his nephew. “It’s good to have you back, Zuko,” he said, relieved that the younger man at least looked somewhat better.

The healer smiled, watching them.  Iroh had missed the Firelord greatly.

“It’s good to see you again, too, Uncle,” Zuko replied, a little awkwardly.

“We need to talk,” the old man said, drawing his nephew into the office. He nodded for Leilani to join them — apparently, they were going to cover that topic, first.

Oh, joy of joys.

She slipped into the office and closed the door behind her.

“I think you need to talk to someone,” the General said, as soon as the door was shut.

“…I don’t quite follow,” Zuko said, confused. “I’m talking to you now.”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know that full well.”

“He means about your… nightmares,” said Leilani quietly.  “The things that— bother you.”

The young Firelord folded his arms and glared at his uncle. “I don’t need to talk about any of that. It’s in the past, where it belongs.”

“The mind doesn’t work that way, Lord Zuko.”

“You can’t keep bottling all of this up,” Iroh agreed, quietly.

“I’ll find a way,” the younger man snapped back. I’m not going back over that. Bad enough that I relive it when I’m dreaming, I don’t need to do it again when I’m awake.

“No, you’ll ignore it until the bottle breaks,” Leilani told him.

“I don’t need to talk about this. I won’t.”

“You do need to.”

“No, I don’t. I won’t do this.”

“You have to, Zuko,” Iroh insisted. “This has been tearing you apart for years. The only way to put it truly behind you is to work through it.”

Leilani nodded agreement.

Zuko looked from one to the other, then shook his head. “There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t,” said Leilani quietly.  “I’ve seen this drive soldiers to the breaking point, Lord Zuko — and they hadn’t seen half of what you have.”

“You’ve already been to the edge,” Iroh pointed out, just as quietly. “Next time, we might not be able to pull you back.”

The Firelord was silent for a long moment.

“Please,” said Leilani.  “There truly is no other way.”

“How would this work, exactly?” he asked, to buy himself a little more time to marshall counter-arguments.

“At a certain time every day, you and whoever you chose to confide in go to a secluded place for an hour and try to work through your past together.  You would be under obligation to talk about things you really don’t want to, and your confidante would be under obligation never to share what you tell them.”

“…there wouldn’t be any way to keep this secret,” Zuko pointed out. “No way to make sure people who shouldn’t know about this don’t.”

“How do you know?” Leilani asked.

“People will notice if I disappear for an hour or however long every day. Once they notice, it’s not that hard for them to figure out where I’m going. After that, it’s not all that hard to figure out why.”

“We’ll have to risk it,” Iroh said, calmly.

“And things can be done to prevent eavesdropping,” Leilani added.

The Firelord bit his lip, searching for another counterargument.

Leilani simply waited.

“I guess I don’t really have a choice, do I,” he said, a little sarcastically.

The healer sighed.  “If there was another option that we could trust to work… but there isn’t.”

“Fine,” he said. “Fine.”

Iroh relaxed slightly. “This will help, Zuko.”

The Firelord didn’t answer.

Leilani took a breath.  “You can at least choose the person you talk to, Lord Zuko,” she pointed out.  “Someone you can trust, someone who can help.”

He jerked his head, once, an irritated imitation of a nod.

Sighting, the younger bender glanced at Iroh.

The General sighed as well. “Zuko…”

“I’ll give you a name by tomorrow morning,” the younger man cut him off. “In the meantime, what have I missed?”

“I’ll be in the infirmary,” Leilani told the general, “and then with Minami.”

He nodded. “All right, then.”

The healer slipped out of the room, leaving the two men to talk.

Surprisingly for everyone, Kouji greeted Toph with a hug.

She pushed him off after a few seconds. “Watch it,” she said, sarcastically, but she was grinning a little.

“I missed you beating me around,” the boy told his bending master.  “Shang tried, but it just wasn’t the same.”

“I missed having someone to beat around,” she said, reaching up to ruffle his hair. “Hey, you got your hair cut.”

“Yeah, that’s my fault,” offered Shang.  “It was getting in his eyes when we were sparring, so I cornered him and cut it all off.”

“I’m not complaining, just noticing,” she said.

“Well, when I explain why I’m here, you might be complaining.”

“…Why are you here?”

The soldier grinned.  “To let you know your training time with Kouji’s been cut in half.  He’s getting combat training now, too.”

“This is combat training,” the tiny earthbender snapped, bristling.

“Excuse me.  Non-bending combat training.”

“…I can hear you smirking,” she said, and promptly knocked his feet out from under him.

He twisted in the air and took the impact on his hands, rolling to his feet in an instant.  “You’re faster than the other earthbenders I’ve faced,” Shang commented.

“Good for me,” she said, smirking herself now.  “Now, are you gonna ask nicely if you can borrow my student, or do I have to hit you again?”

Shang grinned at her.  “Master Toph, may I borrow your student to teach him other forms of combat?”

“That’s better,” she said, still grinning. “And sure, I guess you can.”

“Thanks.”  Shang excused himself, and then Kouji prepared himself for his daily beating.

On his way out to his first stop, Liàng swung by the manor belonging to Lady Mai.  It’d taken him several days to make his gift for her, specifically the elaborate detailing on the metal, but it had been a challenge and he’d enjoyed it.  He could only hope she would like it as well.

The butler who answered the door recognized him. “Master Liàng,” he said, bowing. “Welcome back. Please, come in. Would you like me to get milady?”

“Yes, please,” he replied, relieved at a lack of snubbing.    “I won’t take too much of her time.”

He bowed again, led the younger man into a small parlor, then left to tell Mai she had a visitor.

Liàng took that time to remove the gift from his pack; he’d concealed it in a simple handkerchief, uncertain of how one went about presenting these things to females.

“Hello,” a familiarly blank voice said from the doorway. “You’re back.”

He turned and bowed.  “Not for long, my lady,” he replied.  “I wished to show my appreciation for your aiding me earlier.”

She waved a hand, dismissively. “When I find a beat-up man on my lands, he’s my responsibility.”

“Still, I can’t think of many who would think that way.”  He extended the parcel to her.  “Please, accept this token.”

She studied it for a minute, then nodded and accepted it. “Thank you.”

Another bow.  “Thank you.”

She pulled aside the handkerchief, curious about what he’d given her.

It was a beautiful hair comb, of the sort that could be used to hold one’s hair in place.  Elaborately decorated, it was plainly a work of art — and on close examination, there was a hairline crack along the back of it, as if it could be separated from the teeth.

She frowned slightly, and pulled along the crack.

The comb came apart in her hands, revealing a strong, slender blade.  She smiled slightly, and bowed at the smith. “Thank you.”

An answering smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.  “My pleasure, milady.”

She put the comb back together. “I wish you luck on your travels, then, Master Liang.”

“I thank you, Lady Mai.”

Leilani yawned as she emerged from Haru’s old room.  It had been a quiet night, sleeping in Minami’s arms, which she appreciated, especially after the surprise birth not three nights before which had nearly gone badly for mother and child.  Fortunately, Chang had been on hand to supervise and Leilani had been on hand to heal.

She covered another yawn with her hand as she headed for breakfast.  “Leilani?” Zuko asked, quietly, from an alcove, just out of sight of the bulk of the hallway.

Startled, the teen turned to him.  “Yes, Lord Zuko?”  She stepped into the alcove.

He shifted awkward. “Will you do it?” he asked, quickly.

She almost asked what, then realised.  “Yes, I will.”

He relaxed just a hair. Leilani was the only person he could think of that he trusted to be discreet, and also didn’t feel he had to either impress or avoid disappointing. “Good. Good, thank you.”

“Have you selected a time and place, or would you like me to do that?”

He shook his head. “Um, i-if you could, that would be all right. Or I can. Whichever.”

“Is after dinner all right with you?”

“Sure,” he said, quickly. That was nice and vague. Besides, he skipped dinner half the time, anyways, when he had more important things to do — this meant he could avoid the ‘sessions’ easily if he felt he had to.

“My dinner.”

“…Right, of course.”

She smiled at him.  “I’ll try to think of a place.  We’ll start tonight.”

He nodded, resigning himself to the inevitable.

Current Location: my dad's chair
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: the sounds of little birdies
Tags: au, avatar, blood lines, fanfic