The Chong Sheng Trilogy: War by rachelthedemon

Revelations

Disclaimer: I own not, you sue not.

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The Chong Sheng Trilogy

PART I: War

Chapter 12: Revelations

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Aang stared at her, blank and numb and simply not believing he could've heard what he just heard. The words themselves would not process. Not make sense. As though he was hearing them in another language. The fire's crackle filled the void so at least the silence wasn't completely deafening. But it was oppressive enough to still be uncomfortable, and the look on Jin's and Shen's faces didn't help at all.

"Iroh...? Was supposed to rule the country for the White Lotus?"

Jin nodded, breaking that gaze long enough to sip her tea. "He's been a member of the society since before the Siege. Yes, he attacked us. But truth be told he didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to be seen as worthy of the crown. And even in his campaign, he wasn't unnecessarily ruthless as many of the other generals were."

Suki frowned, finally speaking up. "Then how did Ozai outwit them?"

"Through the assassination of Fire Lord Azulon," Shen replied. "That had been a plan of the White Lotus for a long time, to allow General Iroh to take the throne. But...It was carried out far too early. Originally, it wasn't supposed to happen until he'd returned home. But for some reason, Azulon was taken out while he was still at the siege." He sighed, sipping his own tea. "Ozai saw the opportunity and didn't hesitate to jump on it. He forged a deathbed request that Azulon be succeeded by his second son rather than his first."

Aang frowned, looking back at the fire. "He stole his brother's birthright. His country. Everything."

Jin nodded, setting her teacup down. "This didn't throw as big a wrench into things as it might have, but it still gummed up the works a bit. Getting Iroh on the throne now would mean not just killing off Ozai, but his children as well. And no way was Iroh himself going to let that happen. Instead, he opted to come home, and to train up Ozai's heir to take the throne when the time was right."

"So why can't we just get rid of the big shot and be done with it?" Toph asked.

"Because we have a slight problem," Shen said. "The heir we want to take over has been banished. Stripped of his birthright. As of now, he can't inherit the throne, and he would never be recognized as Fire Lord if he tried. Were we to take out Ozai...we'd be crowning Fire Lady Azula." He shivered visibly. "Trust me, that's the last thing the White Lotus wants to see happen."

"Above all," Jin said, " We have got to get that boy on the throne before his sister beats him to it. He's our only hope of truly winning. There's no use taking out Ozai if we're going to have someone worse to deal with."

"I hate to be the wet blanket here," Suki said, "but I don't think he's ready to rule anyone."

Jin smiled. "Of course he isn't. Not now at any rate. But trust me, he will be by the time he gets there. Because he'll have to learn to be in order to get that far at all."

"He will be," Aang said, staring into his teacup. "It's his destiny to lead the Fire Nation back to what it was before the Yuan Dynasty. Just like it's mine to restore the balance between the Four Nations. To make it up to the world I let down when they were counting on me the most..."

Shen shook his head. "It's not your destiny to do it alone, Avatar. It wasn't fair for anyone to put that kind of burden on the shoulders of a child. It took us a hundred years, but we've learned our lesson. The rest of the world is not just depending on you to do all the work. We're behind you, to help you. Because it's our fight as well."

Toph nodded, grinning. "We've got your back, Twinkle Toes."

Aang sighed, looking at them all with a mixture of admiration and relief, surprised at how humbled those words made him. He smiled, hoping the look on his face could say what he had no words for.

* * * *

It was late afternoon when Zuko finally woke again. Not that he was able to tell or anything since he had the shade to the porthole closed to keep out the sun. He only realized it when Sokka shook him gently, making him bolt upright with a strangled gasp and shudder. Sokka himself backed away in alarm, holding his hands up in a pacifying gesture.

"Whoa, easy there..."

Zuko looked over at him, feeling an immediate rush of relief sweep through his body and mind. He closed his eyes, resting his forehead in a trembling hand. "It's okay...m'fine." He didn't even think before the words were out of his mouth. "How is she?"

"Still asleep," Sokka replied. "Your uncle's with her now. She's woken up a couple times, but she isn't sick. Just tired."

"Good." He rubbed his temples, groaning softly. "Now it's just my head that's killing me."

"Yeah," Sokka murmured, half to himself. "Should probably sleep more."

"Can't do that," Zuko shook his head. "Too much stuff to do. We're a skeleton crew as it is and we're down one until she recovers."

"I took care of the helm and the engine room already," Sokka said. "It's all right. We'll make it a few more hours until we beach. You just...you need to rest."

Zuko cracked an eye open, looking sidelong at him. The boy wasn't pale or shaky as he seemed to get whenever he was particularly frightened, but he definitely looked uneasy. As though there was some heavy weight on his mind that he was desperate to ignore by shifting such concerns to anything else he could find.

"Sokka?"

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

Sokka shook his head. "Nothing. It's not important. We have bigger stuff to worry about."

Zuko sighed, turning to look at him fully now. "That doesn't mean the 'little stuff' isn't important. Something's bothering you."

He looked up, out the tiny strip of porthole between the shade. "This. All of this. Yeah, I know, it's war. War's fucked up and stupid by nature but...but I just have this really bad feeling about everything that I can't shake. I know my instincts are hit and miss, but...but I feel like I'm gagged and strapped to a barrel of blasting jelly and I'm watching the fuse burn down and I know this is going to blow up in our faces but I can't warn anyone..."

"You're afraid of what we'll find at the temple."

Sokka nodded. "The blockade means they've conquered it. They have all those facilities at their disposal now. And the Mechanist, provided they didn't kill him outright. The thought of what they're capable of now scares the hell out of me, yanno?"

Zuko nodded. "They're my people. I know what they're capable of, and if they have a chance at this shock and awe attack, they won't waste it. But other than gathering information, there isn't a whole lot we can do. We need to know what's going on first. Then we can prepare accordingly. I know it's frustrating and it feels like we're helpless, but we really are doing the best thing we can."

"You really think your sister was telling the truth?"

Zuko sighed. "I don't know. Even when she's telling the truth, she twists it to her advantage. The thought that she's right is scary enough, but knowing it's got to be part of a bigger plan of hers is just as bad."

"You know, when I said I thought insanity ran in your family, I was joking." He paused. "You do know what a joke is, don't you?

Zuko looked him square in the eye. "Every joke has a punchline."

"Fair enough." He sighed. "So now what?"

"I'm tempted to hunt out the crew's baijiuu stash until we beach ourselves, but trust me, it's a bad idea. Call me a pansy, but if you're going to get drunk, you might as well do it on something that doesn't taste like bilgewater."

Sokka snickered, bringing a second wave of relief over him that the boy was beginning to relax a bit. "Any suggestions?"

"Palm wine. It's sweet, but that just means it packs a bigger punch in the long run 'cause you'll end up drinking more." He smirked. "Plus, it goes great with satay."

"Satay?"

"Grilled meat skewers. Spicy, but you get used to it. Especially if you're like me and you're used to putting fire flakes in your congee." He sighed heavily. "I haven't had any in ages."

Sokka blinked at him. "You...You people serve meat on sticks?" He paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Why are we at war again?"

Zuko looked back at him, stunned into silence more by the feeling than the comment that provoked it. It was a familiar sensation, but fuzzy. Like the memory of a dream that he couldn't quite recall the content of, only the emotion. He knew he'd felt like this before, but it was so long ago and so much had changed since then that he grew to think he'd forgotten how to do so anymore. But apparently, it wasn't nearly as difficult as he'd trained himself to think, for he felt the corners of his mouth tug upward in a smile.

And for the first time in so many years, he laughed.


TO BE CONTINUED...

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