Chapter Text
It was an old nursery rhyme, albeit one that had stopped circulating during the beginning of the Hundred Years War. Though few remembered the whole thing (and those that did always argued over the order of the first four verses and the first four words of the fifth) parts of it had become a popular saying. ‘Firebenders rise with the Sun’ was a simplification of what Iroh knew as the first verse
The Children of Fire rise with the Sun
Passion in their blood, they won’t be outdone
Still, it was just a simply nursery rhyme, one he hadn’t thought of in ages, not until Ember Island. There was a truth in the rhyme, you see. The sun called to Firebenders, and especially young one tended to rise with the dawn and bed down at sunset. It was why Iroh was so surprised when he saw Zuko sneaking out of their vacation home late in the evening. He followed surreptitiously and found the boy heading to the water, playing in the small waves that broke the surface and laughing under the full light of Tui. The scene brought the second verse to mind.
The Children of Water rise with the Moon
The flow of the tides, as always, their boon.
He shook his head of such a nonsensical thought. Zuko had already begun basic firebending, comparing him to a Waterbender was silly. Still, it was dangerous for the young Prince to sneak out on his own and Iroh would remind him of it.
After he had played for a few more minutes.
~
There were several other small things, things Iroh noted and immediately discarded. After all, the last Avatar to be killed was a waterbender. The next would be of Earth. Iroh held on to that knowledge when he saw Zuko train and it seemed at if the wind bolstered his flames. When he had no aversion to water and seemed energized under the full moon. When he stood barefoot on the ground and was far more hard to move than he should have been. Not to mention his ‘invisible friend’ that Iroh was almost certain was a spirit.
Until the farce of the Agni Kai.
No one else saw it, because no one else was looking. They were too busy watching his brother scar the face of his son - with glee in the cases of Azula and Zhao. Iroh was watching his feet. Watching the bare feet stay in place, even when the blow should have knocked him back.
The Children of Earth are Strong as Stone
Their ability to endure let’s them stand alone
Ozai left and the others went with him, some taking Zuko to the healers on Iroh’s orders. When Iroh was alone he went to examine the stone tiles of the dueling ring. Perfect impressions of Zuko’s toes were embedded in the rock. A type of perfection that could only be made with Earthbending.
He breathed flame hot enough to melt the rock, then drew the heat back so it would set. With the stones giving no more evidence of what had occurred, Iroh moved swiftly. He had to get Zuko out of here.
~
“What now, brother?” Iroh watched his brother carefully.
“Zuko must be punished.”
Has he not been punished enough, Ozai? Iroh frowned, but saw this as his opportunity. “Perhaps he needs to get away from the protection of the royal family? A journey or quest of some sort.”
A wicked grin stole over Ozai’s face. “Of course, the Avatar!”
Iroh nearly spit out his tea. “What?”
“I’ll send him to find the Avatar.”
Iroh felt his heart rate return to normal. “A most…challenging venture.” Under any other circumstance he’d be annoyed at what was an obvious move to permanently get rid of his son while looking like he was doing nothing of the kind. The Avatar, as far as everyone else knew, was holed up in Ba Singh Se, a place not even Iroh could break in his prime.
“Of course it would reflect poorly if he died, so i will accompany him on his quest.” Iroh volunteered. Ozai’s cruel grin grew wider. Of course, this sent the only one who had a chance of challenging him for his throne far away as well.
Hopefully by the time Ozai learned the truth about his son, it would be far too late.
~
It was amazing to watch now that he knew. The way the wind would gust slightly at Zuko’s dramatic motions, His strange energeticness at the full moon. So many little signs no one seemed to see. Whether it was on the ship that took them to the Earth Kingdom, or on the back of Komodo Rhinos, Zuko traveled with seemingful ease
The Children of Air are Unbound And Free
Effortlessly passing over land and sea
The spirit had come along too. Iroh had never directly seen it, but he saw Zuko talking to it when he thought himself unseen. With what he knew now, he was sure the spirit was the previous Earth Avatar. It was not unknown for prior Avatars to guide their newest incarnation after all. And it appeared to do so subtly. With his obvious gusto in his search for the Avatar, it was apparent Zuko had no idea he was the object of his own search.
Well, the former Avatar wasn’t the only one who could be subtle. It had been easy enough to convince Zuko not to look in Ba Singh Se. After all, the Fire Nation had been attacking it for longer than Zuko had existed and not once had the Avatar tried to defend it.
So they traveled the Earth Kingdom in their search, right in the middle of the war. And Zuko got an unvarnished look at it all. The destruction of homes and families. The actions of the soldiers toward the people of the Earth Nation. More than once Zuko had stepped in when witnessing something dishonorable and more than one Agni Kai was held.
It was hard for him to do that to his nephew. To chip away at the utter faith he had in his people, his father, and the war as a whole. He knew he had caused Zuko no end of restless sleep and misgivings. But the world needed to be returned to the balance and sadly fate had chosen Zuko to do it. The sooner he understood what he had to do, the better.
It was three years into his search when they ran into Admiral Zhao in one of the port towns. Iroh felt his hackles rise. He had not forgotten how the man had enjoyed watching his nephew be hurt. As it was the interactions were kept brief. Zuko nearly flipped the table when Zhao admonished him for ‘getting in the way of hardworking soldiers having a bit of fun’.
The tensions didn’t decrease when Zuko set out the next morning, only to find Zhao had commandeered all of his men and his rhinos.
“There will be more waiting for you in the next town over. My business for the Firelord cannot be delayed.” Zhao said smoothly. Too smoothly.
Zuko’s hands clenched. Iroh moved to intercept, especially in fear that the element that came from his nephews fists wouldn’t be flame. “There is nothing we can do against the Firelord’s will. It is not a long walk.”
“If you don’t mind, I would prefer to stay with the General.” Jee requested. “I am here as a personal favor to him, after all.”
“Well, let it not be said I am not a reasonable man.” Zhao said jovially. “If you wish to tie your fate to the Dragon of the West, who am I to gainsay you.”
“I don’t trust that man,” Jee commented as Zhao left.
“Nor should you.” Iroh agreed. “Let’s make haste. I don’t think we should be here any longer than necessary.”
“You make it sound like we are in danger Uncle.”
“I am not so sure we are not.”
~
The path to the next town was through a canyon. The path was well traveled but strangely empty.
Both Iroh and Jee had their guards up. Zuko was muttering under his breath, his eyes fixed on some point ahead. He was talking to the spirit, which meant at least one of them had noticed something was wrong.
They had just gotten in sight of an old stone bridge running over the Canyon when they heard Zhao’s voice. “No hard feelings, just Firelord Ozai’s orders. Oh and Iroh, I know you think I’m without mercy, but that’s not true. This time I won’t make you live with your child’s death.” Zhao shot a blast of fire at a point in the rocks near them. Several other blasts came from the lip of the canyon, each striking a predetermined point. There had obviously been blasting jelly hidden in the rocks, because each strike triggered an explosion that rained heavy rock on their heads.
Iroh tried to cover Zuko, but in that moment his nephew’s eyes glowed, the unearthly light spreading to his scar. Zuko stomped at the ground and shot his arms up. The Earth below them flowed upwards, creating a shield. The avalanche crashed around them, with only whispers of light peeking through.
“We’re alive,” Jee gasped. “Prince Zuko, what was that?”
“I don’t know, I don’t -” Zuko stared at his hands as though he’d never seen them before. “Uncle, what was that?”
“That, nephew, was Earthbending.” Iroh answered solemnly,
“But it can’t be. I’m a Firebender. The only one who can bend multiple elements is…the…Uncle?” Zuko’s voice dropped to a whisper, sounding more like a child that he had in years. “It can’t be. Uncle, please…”
“I am sorry, Avatar Zuko.”
Jee’s breath came in as a sharp hiss while Zuko’s came out a broken sob. “Is this a j-joke? Father sent me into the world to catch myself?”
“No, your father sent you into the world to get rid of you.” Iroh hated to be so blunt, but if Zuko were to survive he had to know the truth. “He sent you on a fool’s errand to keep you out of the way, then employed Zhao when that didn’t get you far enough.”
“Father tried to kill me.” The words were sour on his tongue, but he couldn’t deny them.
“And he thinks he succeeded. He must continue to think that.”
“While I do what? Master the elements? Figure out someway to defeat my own people?“
“While you stay alive!” Iroh pulled his nephew close. “The world can’t lose you. I can’t lose you.”
“I don’t know what to do, Uncle.” Zuko did his best not to cry. “I just-it’s can’t even begin to understand any of this.”
“You knew already, didn’t you.” Jee observed. “You’re far too calm about this.”
“I have suspected for a long time.” Iroh admitted. “I did not know until the Agni Kai. I jumped on the idea of a quest because I needed to get Zuko away before Ozai figured it out too.”
“Because my father would kill me, thus ending the Avatar cycle forever.” Zuko released his Uncle and flopped back onto the ground. “I’m not just the Avatar, I’m the last Avatar.” he closed his eyes. “What clued you in?”
“You rose with the Moon as well as the Sun. Earth beneath your feet steadied you. And I am fairly certain the spirit that follows you around is one of you past lives.”
“Spirit?” Jee asked at the same time Zuko turned his head to stare into apparent nothing.
“Aang, is that true?” Zuko’s frown deepened. “And when were you going to tell me?” His face twisted in a mix and anger and annoyance. “How the hell were you going to break THAT to me gently?” Whatever the Spirit responded with, Zuko just rolled his eyes and turned his head the other way. “Now what?”
“Now we do nothing. We have food in our bags and enough air is coming through that we can breath. We wait long enough that Zhao won’t catch us leaving, and then we flee.”
“We’ll need to find him teachers,” Jee felt twisted inside. He was planning to not only desert, but plot against his own army. But at the same time he knew he couldn’t stand for a King that would assassinate his own son for being inconvenient. Not to mention if Jee were discovered to be alive, he’d be killed just for knowing of the plot. “You and I can teach him what he still needs to know of fire, and the Spirit can teach earth-”
“Aang doesn’t know Earthbending, He’s an Airbender.” Zuko supplied.
“An Airbender?” admittedly Iroh wasn’t suspecting that. In a way that made things easier, since there were plenty of Earthbenders, but no one left alive who could airbend. “Then we must find an Earthbending teacher. Perhaps in Ba Singh Se?”
Zuko’s eyes widened as he stared at something unseen with horror. Wisps of wind gussied around the cave. “I don’t think it’s a good idea Uncle.”
“Zuko, you need to master the elements.”
“It’s not that, the moment you said the name of the city, Aang reacted. Badly. I’ve never seen him like this before.”
“Like what?” Jee asked.
“Terrified,”
“No Ba Singh Se then.” Jee did not want to know what would upset an Avatar Spirit so much. “We should probably leave the Earth Kingdom all together as soon as we can.”
“Aang can teach him Airbending, so our next step should be water,” Iroh agreed. “The North Pole has seen far more Fire Nation activity in the surrounding waters. The Southern Water Tribe should be our first stop.”
“Aang’s calmed down. Well, rather he’s excited for a different reason. Uncle, what’s ‘penguin sledding’?”
“I do not know. He will have to tell us when we get there.” Iroh pulled Zuko back into the hug. “I know this is a lot to take nephew, but you are my family, first and foremost. I will always be there for you.”
“I love you too Uncle. But I’m still upset at you for not telling me sooner.” Zuko shifted slightly so his back was resting on one of the rock walls. He had only been up for a few hour but the adrenaline crash for the assassination attempt and, well, a bunch of stuff he wasn’t ready to think about, did him in. He felt his eyes starting to close. “Good part is, I don’t have to get back at you.”
‘That’s…good?” Iroh seemed confused by the statement.
“Yep. Aang doesn’t have to hide his presence from you anymore, and he’s something of a prankster.” Small bursts of air gusted around the makeshift cave in anticipation. “Sweet dreams Uncle.”
Oh so that’s how it was, eh? “Sweet dream Avatar Zuko,” His nephew opened his eyes just long enough to give Iroh a dirty look before he drifted off into sleep.
Fire and Water, Air and Earth, when you have all four
The Avatar exists to keep Balance evermore.