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Fanfic: Pay the Price
Title: Pay the Price
Author: Dark Puck
Claim: Avatar: The Last Airbender (Hyo [OC], Iroh, Long Feng)
Summary: Iroh is going to kill the man who killed Lu Ten.
Notes: Written with the assistance of Bex. Written as a followup to Price of Command.
So bury fear, for fate draws near
And hide the signs of pain
With noble acts, the bravest souls
Endure the heart's remains
Honour
Hyo stares at the papers he's just finished writing. One is a recommendation for a suitable replacement for the rank of Commander of the Dai Li - he's gone with his initial instinct and chosen Liu - while the other is a will, spreading his possessions among his family and few friends, and archiving his wish that, in the event of his demise, Long Feng would look after his daughter.
Mi-Cha.
It's only been a month since the war ended, but Hyo has managed to get everything in order for the future. The Director is back and once more in overall command of the Dai Li, as well as in charge of Ba Sing Se -- no matter how much General How and the rest of the Council of Five hate it, Long Feng is the only person who knows how to run the city since Supreme Bureaucratic Administrator Joo Dee has suddenly forgotten how.
He just wishes that he could help Long Feng in the search for King Kuei. Long Feng is frantic that the Earth King seems to have vanished so completely, enough so that he constantly pesters both Hyo and General How, asking why they have yet to find 'his boy'. How was certainly surprised to realise Long Feng cares for Kuei, Hyo thinks, and sighs. Best not to delay this - if he holds out too long, Iroh will certainly come looking for him.
Hyo reaches for another piece of paper and starts to write again.
~*~
Mi-Cha is confused.
She doesn't know why Daddy is so sad, or why he told her that Long Feng would take care of her now, or that he wouldn't see her again.
This is not acceptable to the little girl, so she makes her way to Long Feng's office to find out. His door is open, so she walks right in to see him frowning at a paper. "Daddy's acting weird," she announces.
"Is he?" Long Feng asks, glancing briefly at her.
She nods. "He said you'd take care of me now. And that he wouldn't see me again."
The Director freezes for a moment, then slams the paper down before standing. Mi-Cha jumps; Long Feng looks positively scary. "Where has he gone?" he demands of her.
"I don't- the city?" she hedges. He had been heading in that direction before forbidding her to follow, anyway.
Long Feng's eyes narrow, then he steps out of his shoes and goes out to the door and does something Mi-Cha has never heard in her life: he yells for the Dai Li to find Daddy, now. And then he actually runs out of the room; still confused, Mi-Cha follows after him and ends back up in Daddy's office, where Long Feng is tearing it apart.
A sheet of paper catches his eye, and he snatches it off Daddy's desk and peers at it intently. He then thrusts it at Mi-Cha, saying, "Take this to one of the captains." He doesn't wait for her to take it, instead running off again. Mi-Cha blinks at the hole the Director has left in the wall, then goes to find Liu or one of the other captains.
~*~
To pass the time (and to ensure he doesn't try to avoid what he knows is coming), Hyo has been taking care of the damage done to the crystal caverns three months before, during the fight where the Avatar died at the hands of Princess Azula. It's soothing, after a fashion, to know he can still do something useful in his last moments.
After all, this place is a historical landmark now, and as such, will have scores of people coming to sightsee. He should make sure it will be safe.
This busywork covers his hopes that maybe Iroh will have changed his mind.
No such luck.
He hears the old man's voice behind him. "I am curious. Where were you during what happened here?"
Hyo straightens and turns to face Iroh. Interestingly, the former general is clad in Earth Kingdom-style clothing. "I was making arrangements to keep certain... assets of the Dai Li out of Princess Azula's hands." Including hiding his daughter away...
He refuses to flinch at the memory of that fiasco. It turned out well in the end.
"I see." There is a moment of silence, and then Iroh says thoughtfully, "You should know why I am going to do this."
Hyo blinks at that statement. Is he implying that it isn't because of his son?
"You lied successfully to Azula," the general tells him. "You kept many of your most dangerous secrets from her. You didn't let her get her hands on the Dai Li who change people, or even know they exist. You arranged for the dangerous one to remain here in Ba Sing Se when Azula left." A pause. "You did that to Azula. I do not know how much you could manage against Zuko, and I will not allow either of us to find out."
Hyo blinks again, very surprised now. He's doing this for his nephew? "I would like to point out that Azula discovering the changers would have had disasterous consequences for everyone."
"Yes," Iroh agrees. "This does not make you any less dangerous."
Hyo closes his eyes and lets out a noiseless sigh. "True."
A moment of silence between them, then: "I will make this painless."
The Dai Li Commander opens his eyes and catches Iroh's golden ones with them. His arm throbs briefly with phantom pain, and then Iroh moves, shooting his arm out. A small dart of red flame jets out of his fingers--
--and is blocked by the earth just in front of Hyo exploding upward.
Hyo lets out a startled exclamation and steps back, then turns to see who just interfered--
Oh.
Long Feng is standing at the entrance Hyo used to get to the Crystal Catacombs, looking uncharacteristically mussed and angry. "What are you thinking!?"
Hyo opens his mouth, but gets no chance to answer. The wall Long Feng put up has cracked, and fire spins out--
The Dai Li Commander doesn't think, only reacts, and another wall springs up to protect his boss from Iroh's attack. This doesn't seem to phase Iroh greatly, as he turns his attack onto Hyo, who waits for it--
The earth quakes, throwing Iroh off-balance and nearly doing the same to Hyo; the fire goes wild and lashes at the crystals on the ceiling.
"You were going to let him kill you!" Long Feng yells. "Why?!"
Hyo doesn't answer, for there is no time: Iroh is on the attack again. Rather than answer he moves, defending Long Feng but making no move to counter-attack. He doesn't need to, really; Long Feng is taking care of that, even as he yells at his subordinate.
The fight isn't really two-on-one - Hyo participates only to defend Long Feng; the main event is the old general against the Director.
This certainly doesn't stop Long Feng from verbally haranguing Hyo at every given opportunity: at one point he shouts, "How could you do this to me--Cha!"
Hyo hopes Iroh doesn't catch the slight pause before the 'cha', but then he has to block another attack on the Director and thus doesn't see the old man's eyebrow rise.
It's starting to seem as though sheer exhaustion might be what ends the battle when a sudden, clear voice cuts through the crashing rock and roaring fire.
"DADDY!"
All fighting stops, save for one last defence from Iroh against the latest rock volley from Long Feng, then three pairs of eyes, two green, one gold, fall on the little girl who is standing in the entrance to the Crystal Catacombs.
"Mi-Cha!" Hyo calls in surprise, hearing his cry echoed by Long Feng.
"Daddy!" she yells again, not so loud this time since she doesn't have the sounds of battle to overcome with only a child's voice, and runs to him, slamming into his body and wrapping her arms around his waist and holding on as tight as she can.
Startled, and hoping Long Feng yells at whoever let her wander off alone, Hyo wraps his arm around his little girl and holds on tight, wondering if Iroh will continue this fight.
The ongoing silence seems to indicate that both the general and the Director see no need to battle with Mi-Cha on the field now. Carefully, the Commander lifts his daughter up in his arms and turns to see what is happening.
It seems to be a standoff. Iroh wears an unreadable but interesting expression, while Long Feng is at the ready - he won't attack with Mi-Cha looking on, but he is clearly ready to start fighting back at the slightest provocation. Then Mi-Cha twists in Hyo's arms, turning to face Iroh.
"Why are you trying to hurt my daddy?" she asks him in confusion.
Iroh is silent a moment, then admits, "To protect my nephew."
Mi-Cha clings to her father and replies, "But people hurt me when Daddy isn't around."
Hyo flinches, knowing exactly what she's referring to.
"--what?" ask Iroh and Long Feng simultaneously, and the Commander closes his eyes in pain as his daughter answers.
"A man hurt me after the Fire Nation took Daddy away."
He opens his eyes to see Iroh flinch as Long Feng shouts, "WHAT?"
"Now is not the time," Hyo says quietly. Not now. Not in front of the man who will kill him.
"When is the time, Hyo?" Long Feng snarls. "After you let the Dragon kill you?!"
He flinches, and Mi-Cha holds him tighter.
"Well?" Long Feng demands.
"It's done with," Hyo answers. "And Liu and Bae know better than I do what happened." Does Long Feng think it doesn't hurt him that he wasn't able to prevent what his daughter went through?
"There is still the matter of your suicide attempt here," hisses the Director.
Hyo doesn't respond, but Iroh saves him the need. "I did not realise she was so young," he comments, drawing attention back to himself.
"Not many would have," Hyo replies. He had married relatively late, after all. By the time he had fathered Mi-Cha, many men his age would have had children for at least a decade.
"I think there have been enough families broken because of this war," Iroh says thoughtfully now. "There is no need for the little girl to lose one of her fathers."
Oh, for-- Hyo thinks, suddenly annoyed. Why is it that everyone seems to think that he and Long Feng--
"Long Feng is my uncle," Mi-Cha corrects Iroh cheerfully.
"Of course he is," Iroh agrees.
Hyo can see Long Feng grinding his teeth.
Movement catches his eye, and he turns to see Iroh leaving. The old man pauses, however, and says, "You're welcome to stop by the Jasmine Dragon at any time."
"I think I will pass," Hyo says politely.
Iroh smiles inscruitably and disappears, leaving the trio of earthbenders alone.
"We are going to take Mi-Cha to Alak," Long Feng informs his subordinate iciily. "And then you and I are going to have words."
Suddenly, Hyo cannot help but smile, though he isn't sure why. "Yes, sir."
Current Location: the living room couch
Current Mood:  awake
Tags: fanfic, oc-centric, pay the price of command
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