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“My name is Joo Lee,” Zuko repeats as Aang’s friends gape at him. He doesn’t shift uncomfortably or look around at the Dai Li agents for help. He doesn’t drop that unnerving, plastic smile. It pulls at his scar in strange ways, contorting his face. Aang is almost sure a real smile from Zuko wouldn’t look like that.
The Fire Lord’s son without an ounce of red cloth on him is a strange sight indeed. Zuko-- Prince Zuko--clasps his hands in front of his sternum and bows his head politely. His green and yellow sleeves, oversized as Earth Kingdom fashion dictates, flow over his knuckles and brush his fingertips as he lowers his hands to his sides. They hang there, palms flat against his thighs, utterly useless. He’s wearing clothes that, while they look dignified enough for a representative of the city, are too large for him. They’ve been made for someone else.
“No, you’re definitely Prince Zuko,” Katara points out, bristling. Aang has to agree--except this Zuko is very different from the one they’ve known. For one, he’s got hair. It's short and messy, and actually looks pretty soft, but it's there where it wasn't before.
“I’m sorry,” Zuko replies mildly, “I believe you have me confused with someone else. My name is Joo Lee. I have the honor of escorting you throughout Ba Sing Se.” His face doesn’t move when he speaks. Aang swallows hard and doesn’t fight when Sokka grips his arm and pulls him away from the Fire Prince. His friend tries to herd Katara and Toph behind him too but the girls are still as stone. Katara’s hand hangs over her waterskin threateningly.
Zuko doesn’t blink.
Zuko smiles.
Aang’s stomach drops.
“I don’t know what you think you’re trying to pull here--” Sokka starts, but Toph takes two short steps forward and slips her hand into the crook of Zuko’s arm deftly, cutting him off. Moving like his limbs are operated by marionette strings, Zuko tucks her hand further into his elbow like a gentleman leading a lady. He turns his head to look down at her, still smiling wide wide wide . “Toph!”
“I, personally, would love a tour of Ba Sing Se.” Toph tells Zuko, ignoring Sokka’s conniption fit in the background. Her voice makes Aang shiver even more than Zuko’s strange behavior; it’s the voice she used in front of her parents, high and feminine and completely fake. He spies her toes curling tightly into the dirt and Aang’s already upset nerves are suddenly on high alert. He casts a look around their loud little group, searching for whatever it is that’s upsetting Toph so much.
The Dai Li are closer than they were before. Aang’s lungs squeeze inside his chest. Toph tilts her head, sightless eyes only on Zuko. “Perhaps we could freshen up first, though? If you could show us to our accommodations?” Her hair is coming loose from days of travel and hours of walking through the city. Strands drift across her forehead in a way Aang knows usually irritates the dickens out of her, but Toph doesn’t react.
“Of course. I would be honored to escort the Avatar's group to comfortable lodging.”
Sokka and Katara grumble about it. But the way Zuko’s face seems to strain, the muscles in his cheeks bulging grotesquely, scar on full and prominent display, makes Aang stay quiet. Toph’s ruse works up until the Dai Li leave them to their quarters, shutting the doors behind them with a clang of finality.
Toph lets Zuko go as Sokka charges up to him. He raises a finger under the Fire Prince’s nose, scowling. “Alright, what’s your evil, evil Fire Nation plan here, huh? What do you think you’re doing?”
“Yeah! Why are you pretending to be another person?”
Zuko just blinks at the siblings fuming in front of him. For a second there seems to be a spark of recognition in his eyes as they sweep over Sokka and Katara, to Toph, and finally land on Aang. His smile drops by a few degrees, but when Sokka makes a sharp move towards his boomerang, Zuko snaps back to attention. “I am not sure what you mean. I am Joo Lee. I have been Joo Lee.”
“Not a lie,” Toph says. It brings the siblings up short. Sokka splutters, boomerang falling limp in his grasp where he’d been ready to smash his enemy’s face in with it a second ago. Aang’s head feels stuffed with cotton, useless.
“What? That can’t be; you have to be wrong. He’s literally Prince Zuko, I’d recognize his face anywhere!” Sokka gestures, a bit harshly in Aang’s humble opinion, to the scarred side of Zuko’s face. The other boy doesn’t even flinch. Katara’s hand lowers slightly from where she’d been getting a ball of water ready for launch. “His hair is better, and so are his clothes, but that’s the only difference!”
“Maybe he’s trying to trick us?” Katara offers, sounding a little more hesitant. She looks to Aang but he shrugs, still helpless. Zuko’s smile is slipping further now; he looks like he’d probably understand how Aang feels.
Toph turns to Zuko. “How long have you been Joo Lee?”
“I--” Zuko stops smiling altogether and Aang wishes he could feel happy at the progress. Sokka takes a step back from him as the boy reaches up to rub his forehead. His hand drops before his fingertips can make contact, though, as if he’s aborted the movement. As if, Aang realizes, stomach through the floor and traveling fast towards the center of the earth now, he’s been trained out of it. His next smile is only slight, and very forced. “I am not sure what you mean. I am Joo Lee. I have been Joo Lee--I am your guide in Ba Sing Se.”
“I don’t think you are,” Toph says. Her voice is sharp. “Because Sokka and Katara aren’t lying, but those guards’ hearts were beating really fast when we called you Zuko.”
“I am not sure what you--”
“I think Joo Lee is who those Dai Li made you be.”
“What are you saying, Toph? I thought the Dai Li protect Ba Sing Se,” Katara interjects. Her brow scrunches in thought, eyes still glued to Zuko.
“I mean, they weren’t doing a really good job of it when we got here,” Sokka adds. “But why would being bad at protecting the city make them try to--to brainwash the Fire Prince?”
“We shouldn’t talk about Zuko like he isn’t here,” Aang forces from his lips. Zuko’s eyes are too wide and he thinks he can see something in there behind the false cheer, something uncomfortably reminiscent of a caged animal.
“They could want to show what they did to him off, like my parents did with me when I looked like the perfect daughter.” Toph counters, steamrolling over Aang’s words. “I had to use court rituals to get them to leave us alone, so appearances have power here. The Dai Li might not protect Ba Sing Se as much as they, I dunno, enforce the rules here. Like you would focus on your manners at a really fancy dinner in the palace. They really didn’t want us talking to Zuko, though. They were moving in on him as soon as you guys said his name.”
“Is that true?” Aang blurts. He steps forward and dodges Sokka’s restraining arms this time. Zuko looks like he’s coming down with a pounding headache. “If Katara and Sokka and you are all telling the truth, then something must have happened to you to turn you from Zuko into Joo Lee.”
“I do not know who Zuko is,” Zuko manages through gritted teeth. His smile is more grimace than grin. “I am Joo Lee and I am supposed to guide the--” He cuts off then, looking sick. Aang puts a hand out, unsure if he’s willing to be touched. Zuko goes stiff though, shoulders curling inward by just a hair. Aang ignores the way his own eyes prick at that. “I am to guide the Avatar through Ba Sing Se.”
“What the heck?” Sokka whispers behind them. Zuko doesn’t shake him off when he reaches out and shakes his shoulder. “Hey, Prince Zuko, snap out of it. You’re supposed to want to capture the Avatar, not help him.”
“Do you?” Katara asks hopefully. “Want to capture Aang?”
“Hey!”
“Well, if he feels the need to capture you, then he’s got to be Zuko somewhere in there. You know, really deep down under all that Joo Lee.”
“Oh yeah!” Aang turns back to Zuko, who still hangs limply from Sokka’s grip. Sokka doesn’t seem to know what to do now, and relaxes his grip gently, awkwardly patting Zuko on the arm before letting go completely. Looking at Zuko, it's hard not to think of a broken puppet; it makes Aang want to be violently sick. “Hey, it’s okay if you wanna capture me! It could be just like old times! All you gotta do is be Prince Zuko again.”
“I--I--” Zuko is lost now, looking from one to the other of them. His scar stands out against the pallor of his skin; he shines with sweat. “I--am--Joo--Lee.”
Toph frowns and waves a hand at the boys. “Back off,” she advises, “his pulse is going crazy. He’s really not doing well, guys.”
“I have a bad feeling about this. This is going to be really difficult.”
“Do we even want him to turn back into Zuko?” Sokka mutters to his sister. At her scandalized look, a slap from Toph and a yelp from Aang, Sokka raises his hands above his head. “Hey, I’m just saying if Prince Zuko isn’t trying to follow us everywhere it could be easier for us to move around!”
“Look at him, Sokka.” Aang snaps. It’s strange to let anger control his actions, the feeling curling grossly in his stomach. But Zuko is panting now--and his nose has started bleeding. He does nothing but stand there, muttering his new name over and over; he doesn’t even raise a hand to wipe the blood off his face. “He’s unwell.”
Sokka’s face softens when he looks back at their (old?) enemy. “Oh man, Zuko. Okay, okay, we’re not gonna leave him to be Joo Lee. Scrap that plan. Geez, are you alright?”
“I--” Zuko looks around at them, bleeding and confused. He coughs weakly. Aang reaches out to grip his arm, hoping he can be a little grounding. He flinches again but lets the Avatar touch him, which makes Aang feel worse rather than better. The old Zuko--the real Zuko--would never allow this. “I--I’m not Joo Lee?”
“No,” Aang tells him, clear and kind, “you’re not. Not anymore. We’ll help you make sure you won’t ever have to be Joo Lee again.”