Kouji stared blankly at Zuko.  "We're going where?" he asked the prince incredulously.

"Ember Island," he replied, not sounding too pleased about it, either. "For the weekend. All of us."

"…why?"

"Because Dad doesn't want us around. That's why."

The colonist shuddered at the mention of Ozai.  "Great," he muttered.  "More boats."

"And two creepy old ladies to babysit us, too," Zuko said unhappily.

"Li and Lo are coming too?" Kouji asked, dismayed.

"They're already there. We're staying in their house."

Kouji groaned.  "Great.  When do we leave?"

"In an hour."

He sighed.  "That's short notice.  I'll go pack, I guess?"

"Yeah, I guess," Zuko replied, sulkily.

Kouji shuddered — whether at the prospect of boats or of spending a weekend being babysat by Azula's tutors was unclear — and dashed to his room.  Within half an hour he was back in Zuko's room.  The prince was pacing in circles, already packed and still clearly pissed off by the whole vacation idea.  Kouji watched him for a moment, then offered, "At least you'll have more time with M-Mai?"

"Yeah, I guess," Zuko muttered. It clearly didn't make up for it.

*           *           *

Nobody was particularly surprised when, not two minutes after their boat left the harbour, Kouji was violently seasick.  Zuko hovered for a while, but was too agitated to actively and constantly hover the way he had on their last boat trip together.

Fortunately, Kouji had had the sense to get a hold of some anti-nausea tea; after his initial bout, his stomach ceased its rebellion and he curled up on one of the seats.

"I'm so excited to spend the weekend on Ember Island!" Ty Lee was saying. "It's going to be great to hang out on the beach and do nothing."

"Doing nothing is a waste of time," Zuko shot back. "We're being sent away on a forced vacation. I feel like a child."

Ah, that would be why he's so cranky, Kouji thought, watching him.

"Lighten up," Azula said. "So Dad wants to meet with his advisors alone, without anyone else around. Don't take it personally."

Are they going to fight again? the boy wondered, closing his eyes.

Fortunately, Ty Lee shoved them off on a tangent before that could happen. "Doesn't your family have a house on Ember Island?"

"We used to come every summer when we were kids," Azula answered.

"That must've been fun."

"That was a long time ago," Zuko said, quietly.

Kouji flinched and curled up tighter.  This vacation was going to suck.

Fortunately (maybe?), the ferry ride was short, and there was only about ten more minutes of awkward silence while Zuko brooded over the ocean and not even Ty Lee tried again to lift the mood.

Lo and Li were waiting for them on the dock. "Welcome to Ember Island, kids," they said in unison.

Kouji ducked behind Zuko.  Okay, even Yui and I don't do that, he thought, creeped out.

Their tiny house was tucked between two larger ones. None of the older kids looked particularly happy once they'd identified it. For the girls, it was less than they expected, and for Zuko, it was one more addition to the very long list of reasons he did not want to be here.  Kouji, on the other hand, didn't mind so much — it was bigger than his home in the colonies, and despite having spent several months with Zuko, Kouji was not used to luxury.

Lo and Li led them into the house.

"It smells like old lady in here," Zuko hissed at Mai.

"Gee, I wonder why," she hissed back.

Kouji hung back, looking around curiously.

"Who are these two beautiful women?" Ty Lee was asking, studying a painting on the wall.

"Can't you tell? It's Li/Lo and me!" the old ladies said, posing like the old painting.

Kouji stared from painting to women and back again.  "…of course, it's obvious now," he deadpanned.

The five of them were then shown to the bedroom they would be sharing for the weekend. Ty Lee was the only one who seemed happy.

"Oo! I love the seashell bedspread!"

"Are you serious?" Mai asked. "It looks like the beach threw up all over it."

Kouji was inclined to agree with her.  The room was just… overstuffed with beach-style décor.

"We know you're upset that you were forced to come here this weekend," one of the twins was saying, "but Ember Island is a magical place. Keep an open mind."

"Give it a chance," her sister continued.

"And it could help you understand yourselves and each other," they finished, again in creepy unison.

One of them picked up a rock from the table. "The beach has a special way—"

"Of smoothing even the most ragged edges," her sister finished, taking the rock.

Azula yawned.

"Time to hit the beach!" the old ladies said, discarding their overrobes.

Zuko stepped back and Mai covered his eyes.

Kouji fled the room.  Zuko, only too relieved to leave the room himself, went after him. "The girls are changing."

"R-right," Kouji replied, blushing now.  "G-guess we should do the same?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

The boy, tellingly, hadn't packed any sort of swimming suit.  Instead he pulled on shorts and a sleeveless top.  He eyed his bags of dirt and sand regretfully for a moment, then left them.

Sullenly, Zuko changed as well, and they joined the girls in the front room and wandered out onto the beach. Azula promptly crushed two little boys' sand castle, claiming their spot for her own group. Ty Lee was promptly swarmed by boys helping her set up her own little area. Azula looked faintly jealous.

Kouji sighed, bright red still.  "Hey, how close do I need to stay?" he asked Zuko.

"Close enough that I can see you," he replied, setting up his and Mai's area.

"Okay."  He promptly shot away from the group, as far from Azula, Ty Lee, and their bikinis as he possibly could.  The next time Zuko looked over at him, he'd found a group of kids and was talking awkwardly  to them.

Apart from looking up to check on him every five minutes, Zuko seemed more preoccupied with Mai for the rest of the afternoon, until his sister called them over to play Kuai Ball.  Much to Kouji's displeasure, Zuko called him away from where he'd taught some of the people his age to play a variant of earthball, not so much to watch but to remain within the prince's sight.

On the other hand, he got treated to what had to be the most intense game of Kuai Ball ever played. It ended with a small explosion that set the net on fire. Azula clearly took some things far too seriously, no matter how much she mocked her brother for doing the same thing in other areas.

Even her post-victory taunting sounded like a few of the victory speeches he'd read in his history lessons.  "Can I go back to my game now?" he muttered.

Before Zuko could answer, two of the other teenagers hanging out came to invite Mai and Ty Lee to a party they were throwing that night. Azula, not to be outdone, invited herself and Zuko.
"Yeah, fine. But unless you want to stay with Lo and Li all night, you're coming with us to the stupid party," Zuko muttered, retrieving his shirt after the boys left.

"…I'm not sure which is worse," Kouji replied.

"Up to you. But at least at the party you won't have the undivided attention of two creepy old ladies," Zuko pointed out.

Kouji considered this.  "I'll go."

The prince nodded. "Go back to your game. I'll come get you when it's time to go inside."

"Okay."  The colonist sped back to the people his age, and the adapted earthball game.

Zuko came to grab him about an hour later. "Come on."

Sighing, Kouji bowed to his companions and followed Zuko back.  He had a feeling that tonight was going to be bad.

While they were eating dinner, Zuko asked his sister kind of a relevant question. "Why didn't you tell those guys who we were?"

Azula actually gave a thoughtful answer, rather than cutting her brother down. "I guess I was… intrigued. I'm so used to people worshipping us--"

"They should," Ty Lee interrupted.

"Yes. I know. And I love it. But I just wanted to see how people would treat us if they didn't know who we were."

Zuko put on a rather dark expression and looked away.  Kouji's eyes narrowed, and under the table he took Zuko's hand, squeezed, and let go.

Fortunately, the twins decided to be weird enough to draw attention away from Zuko's sudden change in mood before the girls could ask about it. "Like waves washing away the footprints on the sand, Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate."

"Ember Island reveals the true you."

They then stood up. "To the party!" they finished in unison.

"Oh, gods," Kouji whispered, "tell me they're not coming too."

"They're not," Zuko assured him, as the girls scattered to change and do whatever else girls did before going out.

Kouji sighed.  "Can I just stay on the beach?"

"Not after dark," the prince replied. "Unless you really want to see what people do on the beach at night."

The boy cast a horrified look at him.  "They— on the— but the sand—!"

"Yeah, I don't wanna think about it, either."

Kouji moaned.  "I can at least bring a scroll with me so I can hide in a corner?"

"Sure." Zuko sighed.

Pleased at this, the boy scampered off to put on a nicer shirt and grab a scroll.  At least this way he might be able to go unnoticed.

A bit later, the teenagers joined him in the main room, and they all set out for the party house.

They were the first ones there.

If she weren't so frightening, it would be almost funny to watch Azula's awkward attempts at flirting.

Kouji just shuddered and tried to become invisible.  Was attracting the opposite sex all teenagers thought of?   …well, Zuko didn't, anyway.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before the party filled up. Azula continued her awkward attempts at flirting, Ty Lee was cornered by her own unawkward flirtations, and Zuko and Mai sat alone on a couch. Neither one seemed to be having much fun.

Even more fortunately for Kouji, it seemed as though most of the invited teens were willing to leave him be since he was quiet and out of the way.  After a while, Ty Lee sat next to him. "Mind if I join you?" she asked, quietly. "They'll probably leave me alone if I do..."

Kouji jumped, tearing himself from the Adventures of Omashu Li.  He flushed as he looked up at her.  "N-no, not at a-all," he replied.

"Thanks," she said, and hunched down. She pulled her hair out of her braid to screen her face. "This party's gonna blow up soon."

He considered Azula's reputation and paled.

"This creep keeps trying to hit on Mai, and I think I probably shouldn't've taught Zuli how to flirt," Ty Lee continued.

"…oh, gods," Kouji said, picturing how pissed off his brother-prince must be.  The prospect of Azula flirting didn't bear consideration.

"So, what's up with you?" she asked, having finished fiddling with her hair to make herself less visible.

"J-just trying n-not to be n-noticed," he replied.  "Z-Zuko m-made me come."

"Well, if you'd gone to the beach, you'd probably have either tripped over someone getting squishy with someone else or been eaten by an eelshark," she said, philosophically. "And if you'd stayed in the house, Lo and Li would've been all creepy at you. I really don't get how Zuli manages to stay sane spending so much time alone with them. Well, um, sane for her, anyways."

"I wouldn't've b-been eaten by an e-eelshark," Kouji protested.  "I d-don't like water."

"Well, a sandcrab then," she amended. "Either way, not fun."

Kouji sighed and drew his knees to his chest.  "Y-yeah, I guess…"

Ty Lee sighed. "I wanted to come here, but now I think it's a bad idea. Wish their dad had sent us someplace else..."

Kouji shuddered at the mention of Ozai, as always.  "Wish I'd stayed in New S-Sozin…"

She looked at him, surprised. "Don't you like Zuzu?"

"He's the o-only thing I like here," he replied, looking down.

"If you'd stayed in New Sozin, he wouldn't be your friend," Ty Lee said, quietly. "And that would be bad for him, 'specially now. I think you and Mai are the only things holding him together."

"I know," Kouji whispered.  "H-He's the only reason I'm st-still here."

She sighed. "If it helps, I don't think he's any happier than you are. He got too used to freedom while he was… away."

"Last spring wasn't free," Kouji said bitterly.

"More free than he is here," she replied. "Imagine everyone watching you, all the time. You can't go anywhere without a zillion people knowing and watching and at least half a zillion following. Zuli likes it, but he doesn't. And I wouldn't trade places with either of them for all the worship in the world."

Kouji considered this, then shuddered.  "So glad I'm not n-noble," he muttered.

"I'm noble, and I'm not watched," she pointed out. "Mai is, but she's one of the Seven High Houses and the crown prince's girlfriend besides. What he went through the last couple years has to have sucked, but at least he could make his own decisions and go and do and say what he wanted without worrying about the consequences."

"Th-there were consequences," Kouji countered.  "M-maybe n-not as d-drastic as here, but all a-actions h-have consequences.  A-and he and Un— a-and General Iroh c-could've been killed i-if they'd b-been found out last spring…"

"That's true," she agreed. "But at least he could decide how to handle it without being handled himself. And it'll be worse if he inherits. Which hopefully won't be for ages, he needs to grow up a while." She didn't mention how hard Azula would fight to make sure that 'if' never became 'when.'

"Y-yeah, I guess…"  Kouji sighed and rested his chin on his knees.  …how long will I last if Azula…?

"Life sucks sometimes," Ty Lee said, slumping further and pulling a convenient cloth above her head as one of her many boyfriends wandered by. "At least people think I don't notice."

He looked over at her.  "I bet you know a lot more than even Az-zula thinks."

Ty Lee flushed. "I'd like to keep it that way, okay? There's a lot Azula doesn't know and I don't think she'll be forgiving of a lot of it. 'Specially where Mai's concerned."

"I'd n-never t-tell her," Kouji promised.  Cause then she might start wondering what I know…

"Some secrets are good," Ty Lee said, then smiled. "Want me to show you how to paralyze someone?"

Kouji perked up visibly.  "Sure!"

"Okay. It's really simple, what you need to do is—"

Before she could finishe, she was interrupted by Zuko making a scene and getting kicked out.

"I was just leaving," he spat, and then stalked out.

"…shit," Kouji said, scrambling to his feet and running after him.

"Hoo, boy," Ty Lee said behind him, and then went straight to Mai.

*           *           *

He spotted Zuko stalking away along the beach. The prince paused at an outcropping, then started climbing up to an obviously long-abandoned house.  Kouji didn't slow down, just kept running straight up after the older teen.  Zuko ignored him, heading straight for the house.  Kouji was breathing hard, though not panting – thank you, Hyo – when he caught up with Zuko at the door.  He said nothing, however.  The prince yanked on the handle, then, when it proved locked, he kicked open the door.

The house was large and painfully empty, a mausoleum.

Kouji flinched at the echo provided by the doors exploding open, and looked up at his brother-prince.  "Z-Zuko…?"  He said nothing, heading for the stairs and climbing them. He seemed to know exactly where he was going.  Confused and curious, Kouji followed; at the top of the stairs they could see a painting of the royal family, done years before.

It took him a moment to realise that the boy in the painting was Zuko.

The prince stared at the painting for a long moment, then moved on to the objects on the table beneath it. First, a round piece of clay, cracked and years old, with a tiny handprint frozen in it. He placed his own hand over it, making a tiny clinking noise.

Kouji peered around his elbow silently.  He'd get no answers.

Zuko took the disc quietly and went out to sit on the porch, still staring at it.

Kouji lingered momentarily, staring at the painting, then followed.

By the time he joined the older boy, Azula had also come up to the house. "Come down to the beach with me," she was saying. "Come on. This place is depressing."

Zuko followed her, leaving the handprint behind.

The colonist looked around, considering staying where he was.

A few minutes later, Zuko came back. "You can stay here or come with me if you want," he said, then headed upstairs.

"…okay?"

Zuko returned a few minutes later, with what looked like pieces of a broken table.

And the family portrait.

"Zuko?"

"What?"

"You okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

He's always fine.  Kouji got up and followed him.

Zuko paused halfway out of the house. "On second thought, this might get messy. You probably don't want to see it."

"What's going on?"

"Mai dumped me. Azula's probably going to needle us both."

"…oh."  Kouji considered.  "I'll stay in sight."

"Just stay in the house. Depressing or not, it's safer."

Kouji sighed.  "All right."  He looked around for a candle or something to read by.

There wasn't anything, but Zuko lit one of the table legs and stuck it in the sand just outside for him to use as a torch.

"Thanks, Zu…"

He didn't reply, just headed down to the beach. After a few minutes, a faint warm glow caught the corner of Kouji's eye.  The boy looked up to see the fire raging higher than it should have been, then die down again.   …was that Azula? he wondered, then shook his head.  "No.  Had to have been Zuko."  He doused the torch in the sand and skidded down towards the fire.

By the time he got down to the remnants of the fire, the four of them were gone.

"…what the hell?"

He heard shouting and smashing from the party house up on one of the cliffs.

His eyes went wide.  "They didn't."  He pelted towards the house, scrambling up the cliff without bothering with the path.  He ducked out of sight as a bunch of teenagers ran past him.

The prince and princess and their friends followed shortly after.

"We're going back to Lo and Li's," Zuko said, quietly. He looked… not happy, not unhappy, but he and Mai had their arms around one another again and he at least wasn't as numb as he was after the last destruction he'd played a role in.

"What did you do?" Kouji demanded.

"Smashed some stuff," Ty Lee told him. "And now we walk away. And now his parents will find out he was throwing a secret party and he'll get in trouble for it." She didn't look too distressed by this. She did not like being cornered when it wasn't on her terms.

Kouji stared at the four of them.  …what?  Why had they done that?

None of them were willing to answer. Zuko reached for Kouji's hand with his free one. "Let's just go back. Sooner we get there, sooner this weekend will be over and we can go home." The phrase had a slightly different inflection than it had all last winter and spring.

Kouji hesitated.  "…I left my scroll back at the big house.  I'll catch up, I promise."

"You three go ahead," Zuko said, letting go of Mai. 'I'll go back with Kouji."

Dammit! Kouji thought.  Now I have to go get it.  He hid his unhappiness and led Zuko back to the house, retrieving the scroll from where he'd left it by what remained of the torch.  Zuko stared at the house for a minute, then quietly retrieved the clay handprint disk. "Come on."

"All right," the boy said softly, following his brother-prince.

After they got back to the house, the girls went to bed. Zuko curled up on a windowsill with the disk, staring outside.

Kouji tried to stay up, intending to sneak out, but Zuko never went to bed, and eventually the boy fell asleep. 

When he woke the next morning, Zuko was right where he'd left him, still awake and holding the disk.

"…Zu?" he asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Morning," he replied.

"Did you sleep…?"

"No."

Kouji stumbled over to hug him.

The prince didn't hug back, still staring at the plate. "Ty Lee's going back down to the beach. So's Azula. Dunno about Mai. I think I'm just gonna stay back here."

"When do we leave?"

"Don't know. Noon at the earliest."

Kouji nodded.  "I'll probably try to get in a game before we go."

"Stay in sight of the house," was all the prince told him.

"Mm," Kouji replied, reaching for his shirt.

Zuko fell silent again, staring out the window. As Kouji left, he spoke one more time. "Lock the door for me, please?"

"…okay," Kouji replied, doing so and running before Zuko realised he hadn't actually agreed to stay in sight.

Sure enough, the girls were already down at the beach, Ty Lee once again surrounded by boys, Mai ignoring the world under an umbrella, and Azula playing a solo game of Kuai Ball. Why they'd let her back on the court after yesterday was anyone's guess.

Kouji watched them for a moment, then scrambled towards where the party had been held the night before.  The house was empty, all the kids having gone back to the beach. A token effort had been made to pick up both the ordinary damage of a wild party and the extra stuff Zuko and the girls had piled on it after.

The boy looked around, making sure he was alone, then located a number of shattered vases.  Carefully, one by one, he put them back together, keeping one foot out for anyone coming back.  No one came, and Kouji finished his task in under an hour.  Once he was done, he ran back to the house.

"Where were you?" Zuko asked.

Kouji blinked.  "Huh?"

"You weren't in sight. You promised yesterday, and I reminded you this morning." Zuko didn't sound angry. More scared.

"…I had to take care of something," Kouji said, squirming slightly.

Zuko studied him for a minute. "Did anyone see you fixing whatever you fixed?"

The boy flushed, but shook his head.  "Nobody came near."

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am."

"Okay, then." He went back to staring out the window.

Kouji hesitated, then went over and hugged Zuko.  "I'm sorry…"

"What for?" he asked, not pulling away.

"Lying," Kouji whispered.

"Just don't do that, okay? When I tell you to stay in sight, stay in sight."

The boy nodded.

Zuko went back to staring at the handprint "Maybe I should smash it."

"Why?" Kouji asked.

"Never mind." He sighed. "I hope we leave soon."

"…yeah.  Me too."

Current Location: my bed
Current Mood: bored
Tags: au, avatar, fanfic, sf zukoline, small flame

(Leave a comment)