Things had been quiet since the takedown of the Róng Yào. In the years since the coup, the children in the palace had grown — Mito, now twelve, looked more like his father than ever, and Aiko and Yuki, at six, drove the palace mad with their antics and lack of care for their safety. The princesses were forbidden to wander without supervision, but often slipped their leashes.

Zuko was now thirty, and those closest to him, who saw him every day and paid attention to the man as well as his office, might have begun to notice that something wasn’t right.

Leilani was unsurprisingly the first to realise; now the head physician in the palace, she saw Zuko every day for his psychological needs and took care to monitor his physical health as well. The first thing she noticed was how tired he seemed to be; frowning, she began closer observations.

He was slowly, but steadily, losing weight, and was moving noticeably more stiffly than he had even six months before. A dark note entered her thoughts, and she stopped him one evening when they had finished their session. “A moment, Lord Zuko?”

“Sure. What’s on your mind?” he asked, turning back.

“You seem tired,” she hedged. “I’d like to check you over.”

“Maybe later,” he evaded. “I have to get back to work.”

“Please? It won’t take long. Five minutes at the most.”

He sighed. “All right. Fine.”

She rose to her feet and drew water from the gourds at her waist and conducted her examination. After three minutes, she shooed the water back into the containers.

“Satisfied?” he asked, with a note of wryness and something she couldn’t quite identify.

She didn’t answer.

“…Leilani?”

The waterbender closed her eyes. “I need to examine you more thoroughly. Come by the infirmary tomorrow morning.”

“…We’ll see,” he said, then turned and limped back towards the palace.

She bit her lip as she watched him, hoping desperately that her diagnosis was wrong.

Predictably, he didn’t come to the infirmary the next morning. She didn’t see him again until their session that night. Strangely, she didn’t chide him for skipping out; instead, she took him by the hand and led him to the infirmary.

“Leilani —”

“This is more important,” she told him quietly.

“There’s no need for this,” he responded, just as quietly.

“Humour me.”

“…Fine.”

Once they were in her domain, Leilani closed the door and ordered the Firelord to lie down, drawing a curtain around the bed for privacy.

He sat on the bed, but didn’t lie down. “I still don’t think this is necessary.”

The healer didn’t reply as she began a more thorough examination. He silently put up with it, which was a strong indication that he’d noticed something wrong, as well. Finally, her hands fell away, and she sat down next to him.

“Well?”

“…Zuko…”

“…If it’s that bad, I need you to say it,” he said, after staring at her for a long moment.

She was silent a moment longer, then bowed her head. “You’re dying, Zuko.”

Another long silence from the Firelord. “How long?” he asked, carefully calm.

“…that depends,” she said at last. “It could be anywhere from one to five years.”

His eyes widened. “That’s not good enough. I need ten, at least.”

“Then you’re going to have to start changing things,” she told him. “If you keep going like you are now… you’ll be lucky if you even have two.”

He was silent for another very long moment. “What do you recommend?”

“Find a regent.”

“…Let me rephrase. What do you recommend that doesn’t involve telling the entire world about this?”

“He — or she — doesn’t have to take over completely, my lord,” she replied. “Just a few meetings for now. Slowly ease out.”

“How much?”

“Ten percent.”

Zuko was silent again, for nearly five minutes. “…Fine.”

“Thank you. If we work together, we can delay this,” she told him softly.

He nodded, curtly, and said nothing.

“…I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Not your fault.”

“You’re not going to like any of this,” was all she said to that.

He didn’t disagree. “Is there anything else you can tell me?”

“Not right now.”

He stood up and limped away, ignoring the fact that they hadn’t yet had their session that night.

Rather than chase after him, the upset healer sought out her lover.

Minami was alone in her room — her husband having taken their son out to their estates in the country for a few weeks.

“Minami?” whispered Leilani as she peered inside.

The albino noblewoman lit up and knelt for her lover — while many of the habits Azula had beaten into her years before had been broken by now, this was one she had never been able — or, truth to tell, completely willing — to give up.

The waterbender slipped inside and walked to the older woman. “Minami…” Tears glistened in her eyes. Minami’s smile faded a little, and she rose and carefully embraced her lover. Desperately, Leilani clung to her, trying not to cry.

The noblewoman held her, not saying anything.

After several moments, Leilani looked up at her. “I… I should go talk to the General…” She made no move to leave.

“All right.”

Leilani kissed Minami’s forehead. “I’ll come back when I’m done.”

“All right.” The older woman smiled.

A weak smile in return, and Leilani quit the room.

The general was in his office — now in his mid-seventies, he was, unlike his nephew, still in nearly as good condition as he had been during the war. The palace children all adored him — he spoiled them unstintingly, sometimes to the chagrin of their various parents.

Hesitantly, Leilani knocked on the door.

“It’s open.”

She closed the door behind her when she entered and took a deep breath. “G-general…”

“…Leilani? What’s wrong?” the old man frowned, worried, and put down whatever it was he’d been reading before she came in.

“It’s Zuko,” she said softly. “I… he’s dying.”

Iroh went very quiet, and a few shades paler. “What do you mean, dying?”

“His body is giving out on him,” she replied. “He’s got… between one and five years, I think.”

“That — that can’t be right. He’s only thirty.”

“I know,” she whispered. “But he came so close to dying so many times when he was younger…”

“I know. Believe me, I know.” I was with him, some of those times. There are more you don’t know about, from before you met him. Zhao and his pirates, the ensuing mess at the North Pole…

“I’ll do what I can for him,” she said. “But… I can’t stave it off forever.”

“How long do you think you can buy him, if all goes well? What’s the best-case scenario?”

“The absolute best, if a miracle happens? Twelve years or so.”

React later. Ask the important questions now. “Who else knows?”

“Nobody save myself and the Firelord.”

Good. As soon as this leaks, the buzzard-wasps will start to descend. “All right.”

“I’ve asked Zuko to cut back on his duties,” she said. “Only a little at first.”

“Did he actually agree?”

She nodded. “To a ten percent reduction.”

“…He’s not going to do it all at once,” Iroh pointed out. “It will be several weeks, at least, before he gets down to that level.”

“I know,” she replied. “But it’s a start.”

He nodded.

“I… I don’t know what else I can do, general.”

“Just do what you can, Leilani.” He sighed. “What can I do?”

“Keep an eye on him?” she asked. “I can’t watch him all the time, and I know he wants to make ten years at least.”

“Until the twins are of age,” he clarified, and nodded. “Of course.”

“And… I had to tell someone.”

“Which was a good idea. I doubt he plans to,” Iroh pointed out.

Leilani groaned. “Katara will kill him.”

“If and when he finally tells her,” he agreed.

“He won’t be able to hide it forever. I noticed before I even examined him.”

“I noticed that something wasn’t quite right,” Iroh agreed after a moment. “But I suppose I didn’t want to believe it. Or I would have asked you to look into this earlier. Maybe you could have been able to paint a better picture if that were true.”

Her hands clenched into fists. “I should have caught it sooner. If I had… maybe he wouldn’t be…”

“This wasn’t your fault, Leilani,” the General said firmly. “If you have to blame someone, blame the people who kept trying to kill him and caused all of this damage.”

She smiled bitterly. “I guess I’ve been spending too much time with him.”

“I suppose so.”

The woman sighed and ran a hand through her hair before smoothing down her blue dress. “I can’t think of anything else to report.”

The old man nodded. “Let me know if anything changes?”

“I will,” she promised.

“Thank you.”

The healer bowed herself out.