Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A small cluster of guards stood at attention in the pre-dawn light, keeping watch as the young Fire Lord hugged his uncle goodbye.

“Write if you need me, nephew,” General Iroh said one more time as he pulled away. “And remember, the path that you walk is your own.” 

“I’ll be fine, Uncle. I’ll see you in a month. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you and Bumi.”

And with a final exchange of goodbyes, the old general boarded his war balloon. The Fire Lord waved as the balloon took off and watched until it vanished into the rising sun. Both Kyoshi Warriors and palace guards waited at attention beside him until he turned to return to the palace.

“-and the way he jumped in the window! I mean, we all know he’s an amazing firebender, but that’s not even normal for benders. Plus all his mysterious disappearances, and…” 

It was still early and Yuma was less than halfway through her post-breakfast tea. As such, she was only vaguely listening to Ryu’s Fire Lord conspiracy theory. It had been a week since the Fire Lord avoided an assassination attempt by simply not being in his room when the assassins appeared, following them in through his window instead. In that week, Ryu had spiraled from admiration of Fire Lord Zuko’s athletic ability to certainty that he was effectively an omnipresent and omniscient ghost in the night. Yuma was skeptical.

She was grateful for the distraction when Arai dragged himself into the mess hall and dramatically dropped onto the bench next to her. “I hate early morning shifts.”

“And how was General Iroh’s send off?” she asked, pushing the extra mug she’d grabbed toward him. It was universally agreed that pre-dawn duties were the worst and after six years in the palace guard together, she knew that Arai’s hatred of them was extreme even by that scale.

“I went. I guarded. I saw a squirrelfox. It didn’t try to kill the Fire Lord. Now I’d like to go back to sleep.” He took one sip of tea and pushed it away to pillow his head on his arms, topknot almost hitting the mug.

Unfortunately for her, that left a beat of silence open for Ryu to start again from the other side of the table. “Arai, you agree that Fire Lord Zuko acts weird sometimes, right?”

Arai turned his head to look at Ryu without sitting up. “Is this about your Fire Lord ninja theory? Sure, I don’t think he acts normal , but I doubt it’s because he has secret ninja assassin skills.”

“But you saw him jump in the window after the assassins a few weeks ago. And there’s those times when he ditches his guards and then pops up somewhere with his earthbender friend. Like two days ago, when the Kyoshi Warriors were looking for him for almost an hour-” When Ryu got started, he didn’t really stop. His gestures got bigger with each example, making Yuma pull her tea closer protectively. And his voice got louder, which made her anxious for a different reason. Compared to his father, Fire Lord Zuko had been extremely lenient so far, but that wasn’t a reason to abandon caution when speaking about the nation’s ruler. She glanced reflexively at the rest of the room, relaxing at the mostly empty tables. Thankfully it was still early. The breakfast rush hadn’t started yet. “And he disappears after almost every meeting, and -”

“I’m pretty sure those disappearances are him falling asleep in empty rooms - it doesn’t look like he sleeps enough at night,” interjected Arai from his arm pillow.

“Maybe because he’s up late sneaking through the palace!”

“Maybe because he’s seventeen and he’s trying to completely change the goals of the nation in a year,” Yuma pointed out. Even if talking about this was risky, she’d watched for seven months as the Fire Lord faced off against generals and ministers four times his age while he grew increasingly pale and exhausted. It hurt to see. He was doing a good job at ruling from what she could tell, but he’d probably have collapsed already without his uncle or the terrifying earthbending girl who’d stayed when the Avatar and his other friends left. And now General Iroh was gone, off to Omashu to help with preparations for next month’s Peace Conference.

“Yeah, that,” mumbled Arai, still not looking up.

“All the more reason to use his secret ninja skills.” Ryu waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll prove it to you.”

Yuma scoffed at that. “Oh really? What’ll I get if all you prove is that he reads reports too late and falls asleep in empty meeting rooms?” At only twenty-four, Ryu was a bit like the overgrown puppy of the guard, and he was very good at distracting her from stressful things like the Fire Lord’s potential collapse. She was only seven years older, but that was enough time to have served under three Fire Lords so sometimes it felt like decades.

“ When I find proof, you have to switch for my next three overnight shifts. On the small chance I don’t find anything in two weeks, I’ll give you three shift swaps of your choice.”

“Done.” She elbowed Arai, “Do you want in on this?”

“Nope,” he declared into his arm, “You two have fun. I’m an unbiased observer.” And with a yawn, he finally sat up. “I’m also not going to get to eat if I don’t grab food now. Captain Imai wants to talk about security for tomorrow.”

“That’s where I’m going too!” Ryu exclaimed. “I’ll wait for you then.”

“Oh that’s when the Avatar is coming? I almost forgot that was happening.” Yuma admitted, as Arai walked away.

“Do you think he’s staying?” Ryu asked, thankfully not returning to his other favorite topic. “I liked having him around - he’s so smiley. And the orange robes are cool.”

“I doubt it. He’s visiting all the nations before the Peace Conference - for balance or something - and he was here for almost two months last winter. Hey, Arai,” she turned toward the approaching guard who was carefully avoiding spilling his soup, “is the Avatar staying?”

“No, but I guess one of his friends will be.” Arai deposited his tray on the table and slid onto the bench beside her. “Probably here to offer some last minute Water Tribe views on the peace proposals. Anyway, that’s what the meeting’s for - we’ve got to keep an eye on him in case he’s actually here after the Fire Lord, and we’ve got to make sure he doesn’t get attacked by anyone looking to restart the war. Plus we’re already on high alert on the off-chance someone tries something in General Iroh’s absence. It’s going to be a fun few weeks.”

“Well, you enjoy that.” Yuma drained the last of her tea and gathered her plates. “I’m going to spend my morning watching old men shout about national pride and dreaming of passing those shifts off for some sunny gate-guarding time when someone admits they were wrong.” She grinned at Ryu. “See you both later.” Ryu rolled his eyes but smiled back. Arai’s mouth was already full of rice and nori but he waved his chopsticks at her as she left.

After seven months as captain of the palace guard, Imai thought she knew most of the differences between the old Fire Lord and the new one. Apparently one of those was that Fire Lord Zuko would literally climb walls to abandon his personal guard when he felt like it, while Ozai had been almost rooted to his throne. Another was obvious as the Avatar leapt off his sky bison with a shout of “Zuko!” and wrapped the Fire Lord in a hug: Fire Lord Zuko had friends. People he trusted. Imai had served under both Azulon and Ozai, and had never seen either of them allow a hug from anyone.

The Avatar pulled away. “Oops. I mean,” He pitched his voice formally deep and bowed. “Greetings, Fire Lord Zuko.” 

Technically, all three children were potential security threats. Captain Imai had made that clear to everyone on duty. It was always good to be cautious. But she was more worried about Fire Nation-based threats. All Secretary Ito’s recent intelligence indicated the existence of at least one group actively working to depose or eliminate the Fire Lord and resume the war. All the children in front of her were all extremely formidable individuals - though it was easy to forget that when the Avatar smiled again and a flying lemur landed on his head - but the death of any of them could shatter the peace. 

“Suki!”

And now the head of the Kyoshi Warriors was hugging the Water Tribe boy. And was that a kiss? That wasn’t great for security. Imai’s shoulders tensed.

Oblivious to her concerns, Fire Lord Zuko rolled his eyes and smiled, “Hello, Aang, Katara, Sokka. ” Next to him, the blind earthbender girl - Toph -  huffed. “Gross, Snoozles.” 

Unabashed, the Water Tribe boy - Sokka - pulled back from Suki’s side to clasp the Fire Lord’s arm with a smile. “Greetings, Jerk Lord. How’s the nation-ruling?”

Imai watched the Fire Lord respond to the Water Tribe warrior and move to pet the Avatar’s giant bison. The colorful cluster of teenagers exchanged hugs and conversation around him. These children had basically ended the 100 Years War, and they were laughing together, apparently oblivious to the possibility of a threat, internal or external. Not that Imai could see any threats, but it was the principle of the thing. 

“The Gaang’s all back together!” Sokka cheered, as he pulled Zuko - Fire Lord Zuko - away from the bison and back to the group.

“For a few hours, at least,” his sister added from next to Toph. “We have to keep going to get to the Northern Water Tribe tomorrow.”

“Yeah, the Earth Kingdom generals weren’t happy when I was late to Ba Sing Se. I don’t want to do that to Chief Arnook.” Avatar Aang, keeper of balance, looked sheepish for a second before switching back to excitement. “But Katara and I are going to stay at the Western Air Temple tonight! It’ll be like old times.”

“I’ll still be here though.” Sokka slung his arm over the Fire Lord’s shoulders. Imai’s nerves buzzed at the continued casual contact. One did not simply touch Agni’s chosen ruler like a normal person. Even if he was a teenager. And, again, they were friends. The Water Tribe boy didn’t appear to notice the effect he was having on the guards. “After they leave, wanna show me all the awesome fire lord-y things you’ve been doing?”

“Actually, I have a meeting in an hour,” Zuko said, shifting out from under Sokka’s arm. Imai stifled a sigh of relief. “For the peace conference.”

Unfortunately, sliding away from Sokka put the Fire Lord closer to Toph, who promptly elbowed him. After months of her presence, this was not a surprise to anyone watching and did not cause any stiffening. “Sparky has meetings all the time . But I can catch you up on all things Fire Lord, Snoozles. And then later you can help me force him to take a break.”

“Ok, good plan,” Sokka said over the Fire Lord’s protests, “but if we only have an hour we need to get moving. I want food and I want news before we split up. Let’s go, people. I’m starving!”

And with one last bison pat from the Fire Lord, the group turned toward the palace. Katara was talking to Suki, Toph asking Aang and Sokka about the trip, and Zuko listening, as they passed the guards at the doors. The other Kyoshi Warriors followed. Relieved at the lack of international incidents, Captain Imai glanced at the courtyard and left the remaining guards to finish their shift watching over the dozing bison.

These days, meetings were Yuma’s least favorite guard duty. She understood the argument against having any of Fire Lord Zuko’s friends in the room - even if the war was over, most members of the council were extremely paranoid about any outside influences on the proposals for the treaty - but that didn’t make it easier to watch the Fire Lord face off against almost the entire council alone, arguing to prove every point. With his demonstrated firebending skill and the present guards, she wasn’t worried about his physical safety. He’d won three Agni Kai’s since his coronation. But he was losing weight and there was a purple-blue shadow growing under his good eye. 

The questions and arguments had only increased in both volume and sharpness yesterday, with General Iroh’s absence. Watching the old men filter in, Yuma could tell that today would be similar.

As everyone settled into their places at the table, a short young woman in scribe’s robes slipped into the royal stenographer’s desk. Fire Lord Zuko turned to nod at her but paused, head tilting. “Is Ami well?”

“Oh,” The woman looked wide-eyed back at him, “She has a cold, Your Majesty.” She bowed. “I’ll be taking her place for a few days until she feels better.”

“Ah. Thank you…”

“Keiko, Your Majesty.” She bowed again.

“Thank you, Keiko. I hope Ami feels better soon.” He turned back to face the assembled council as they seated themselves. Yuma could see the scribe relax at her desk. Unlike Ozai, Fire Lord Zuko had a tendency to notice his staff for reasons other than reprimand, but it was still disorienting. Yuma still tensed slightly whenever he spoke to one of the staff, on the off chance that this was the day someone set him off. It was hard to turn off instincts developed over years of watching people receive harsh words and blows for the slightest mistake. Hard but nice. If his rule lasted, the atmosphere of fear might leave the palace.

Yuma let her attention wander as the Fire Lord started the meeting. They were reviewing the Fire Lord’s proposal for reparations to be offered to the Earth Kingdom and Southern Water Tribes at the peace conference in Omashu. It was a controversial proposal and she didn’t need to hear the details again, choosing to focus on the body language in the room instead. 

Most of the council sat rigidly as the Fire Lord outlined his proposal. A few generals were already scribbling angry notes. Oba, the Minister of Industry was the only one who looked relaxed in his seat but he was clearly studying the rest of the room more than focusing on the Fire Lord. The Minister of Agriculture frowned as he did sums in the margins of his notes. Fire Lord Zuko continued speaking, but she could see his back get stiffer as the tension in the room rose until one of the older generals slammed his fist on the table. 

“We can’t start this peace conference by offering things! Your Majesty, the other nations are just waiting to pounce - to blame us for everything and drain our nation dry. They should be grateful that you’re ending the war at all.”

The Fire Lord took a careful breath before responding. “The Fire Nation started the war - we need to show our commitment to rebuilding international relationships with our resources.”

“But again, Your Majesty, we did not lose this war - why should we pay as if we did?” General Arata shot back. Yuma rolled her eyes behind her face plate. This argument happened in one form or another at almost every meeting. Even Fire Lord Zuko’s new appointees to the council had little support for reparations.

“Not only that,” the Minister of Agriculture added, “but I’m not sure we can provide for our own people if we give away so much of our harvest. Your Majesty, you have to remember that you are responsible for a nation now. Thousands of people could starve because of your decisions.”

Fire Lord Zuko’s face paled. “I know my responsibilities and I won’t let my people starve. If you read my proposal, you’d see that the part of the reparations would come out of my personal treasury, and the remaining amounts I’m suggesting are reasonable even if the harvest is bad.”

“We understand that you pity the weaker nations, but the honor of the Fire Nation and your honor as its leader require a strong back, not weak knees and reparations ,” the admiral of the southern navy spat. “It doesn’t matter if the harvest is good or bad. We shouldn’t give up what we have to those who weren’t able to take care of their own.”

“My honor, Admiral, requires reparations. I’ve learned that honor- it’s not about the perception of others or the appearance of always being right. I will not face the leaders of the other nations- We can’t just place all the blame on the past to avoid taking responsibility for the pain that our nation has caused, even if it’s not pain that you and I caused personally- and some of it is. Honor requires that we acknowledge our failures and grow from them.” The Fire Lord sat upright and resolved, but Yuma could see his jaw clenching. His hands were fisted in his robes. Behind him, the scribe’s face was pinched with concern.

“You make good points, Your Majesty, generals” The Minister of Industry sat forward and made careful eye contact with each man at the table, before continuing, “But I doubt that we will make progress on this proposal with so much anger in the room. Perhaps we should take a short recess to gather our tempers and resume the conversation in a more productive manner.”

While the Minister of Industry didn’t usually join in the shouting, this was the first time Yuma had seen him try to help calm a meeting. Usually that was General Iroh’s role. She couldn’t tell if the Fire Lord was surprised, but he nodded jerkily and after another breath agreed “Minister Oba is right. Let's adjourn for fifteen minutes.”

Council members rose and filed out of the room in clumps, muttering amongst themselves. Yuma watched the Fire Lord sag slightly and rub a hand over his eyes, alone at the head of the table, before standing and following the last few men out the door. Keiko the scribe remained at her seat, looking after him.

After ten minutes, the room began to fill again. The atmosphere was calmer and the conversations were quiet as the different ministers and generals returned to their seats. The Fire Lord’s place remained empty. Yuma glanced at her duty partner, Akeno, who shrugged. “I’ll check on him,” she muttered, and ducked out the door. No one was coming down the hallway from either side, and a quick check of the small garden courtyard across from the meeting room only showed two Kyoshi Warriors relaxing on the ground. No Fire Lord.

“Have you seen the Fire Lord?”

One of the Kyoshi Warriors sat up, “No? Didn’t he stay in the room with you?”

“We haven’t seen him since the meeting started,” added the other, standing. 

Yuma’s stomach dropped. “We took a break.” The Fire Lord had disappeared. Somehow. In the middle of the palace. She hoped he’d just dozed off in the sun somewhere. Captain Imai’s many lectures about potential threats and attacks started looping through her mind.

The first Kyoshi Warrior smiled at her. “We’ll find him. Just give us a minute.” Yuma nodded and returned to her post as the other two young women split up to search.

Hopefully he was ok. He’d lost track of time trying to steady himself. Or something. The last two council members walked past her to their seats. Some of the men were whispering and glancing at the Fire Lord’s empty place. It was embarrassing for the ruler to be late, but other options were worse. Physical collapse, emotional collapse, assassins with arrows, blades, bending...

General Arata started, “Where is-”

“I’m right here,” said the Fire Lord, as he entered the room, no Kyoshi Warriors in sight. “Sorry, I lost track of time for a moment.” Yuma wanted to slump in relief as he took his place at the head of the table. His robes were a little rumpled, but he was safe. “Let’s continue.”

After a tour of what must have been the entire palace - Sokka was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to go into some of those rooms - Toph led him into an open garden, complete with pond, and dropped down in the grass next to the water. Sokka sat next to her and stretched out his legs.

“This is a good place to hang in the afternoon because it’s where Sparky comes to relax when he’s stressed - which is like all the time right now - so he’ll show up whenever his meeting is done. Plus, there’s dirt.” She wedged her toes into the ground with a contented sigh. “They’ve got those mats on most of the floors and the walls are either wood or covered in it. I take my dirt where I can get it.”

“Huh, you’d think the Fire Nation didn’t want random earthbenders messing up their palace,” Sokka drawled. Toph shoved him

“Stop being dumb. Sparky and I are improving security. It’s their own fault that I can’t fix more stuff.”

Ok, Sokka. Serious face time. “Toph,” he turned so he was sitting facing her, “have you been here since the comet? Didn’t you want to go home?” He’d been waiting to ask until they got somewhere private. Toph hadn’t sent any letters south, unsurprisingly, but she’d featured in the few Zuko had sent since Sokka and Katara had gone home. 

The real question - did you feel stuck here when we left? - felt too complicated to ask.

“Nope.  I just don’t want to go home yet. Plus I’m trying to figure out lavabending and this is the obvious place to do it.”

“But what about your parents? Aren’t they worried? Don’t you miss them?” He couldn’t imagine staying away from his dad after the war ended, but Toph’s parents were different.

“I had Sparky send them a letter telling them I was here. They can’t have me kidnapped from the Fire Nation capital anyway.” Then Toph went on the offensive. “And I couldn’t just abandon Sparky after you all left to do avatar-y, Water Tribe things. Everyone here is so formal and awful. He needs someone to drag him away from his desk for some fun.”

And that got to Sokka’s main worry. “Has it really been that bad?” It had been good to be home again - to see the Southern Water Tribe start to rebuild, and to help . And to finally let some actual adults be in charge. But Zuko’s letters had increasingly avoided any serious topics - they’d actually mostly been about Toph and the adventures she’d dragged him into - and Sokka’s instincts had shouted increasingly loud warnings until he’d decided he had to at least check on his friend. So he’d talked to his dad and hitched a ride to the Fire Nation with Aang who was on his “Avatar tour of peace.”

Toph was quiet for a minute. “It’s not good, Snoozles. I mean, I get that you had to go home to help rebuild your tribe and all, but Sparky’s our age and he’s trying to teach himself how to run a country in a year while keeping a bunch of fire-happy old guys who used to work for his crazy dad from restarting the war. People have tried to kill him. Multiple times. Thankfully, the Kyoshi Warriors are awesome, and most of the palace guard people seem pretty cool too.”

Sokka flipped a stick into the pond. “What about Uncle Iroh? Isn’t he helping?” 

“Uncle’s helping, but he can’t do too much or people’ll think he’s like Long Feng was to the Earth King. And some former colonists were refusing to leave and getting in fights in Omashu so he just left to help Bumi and make sure everything was peaceful before everyone shows up for the conference. Suki helps and I drag Sparky away from meetings and try to distract him when I can, but it’s tough.” 

“Well, I’m here to help. And I’m the plan guy. I don’t really have a plan yet, but I’ll figure something out...” Sokka dropped his chin onto his hand and stared at the pond as if a plan would emerge from it, fully formed. Instead, a turtleduck emerged. And then another, and a whole collection of babies.

“What do you think, Snoozles?” Toph asked after a minute, pulling Sokka out of his planning/turtleduck-watching. “About Sparky?”

“He looks tired,” Sokka said. “Like, his letters were kind of too good to be true, but he looks really exhausted.”

Toph was quiet after that. Sokka laid back and tried to think up potential save-Zuko-and-the-Fire-Nation-from-themselves plans. The mother turtleduck started preening the babies. It was adorably distracting. She’d moved onto the third one when Zuko appeared with two Kyoshi Warriors trailing behind him. He looked even more drained than before as he lowered himself down next to Sokka and flopped onto his back with a groan. A few of the turtleduck babies immediately began approaching him to nibble at his robes.

“How were the meetings, your fiery-ness?” Sokka asked lightly. It wasn’t the time for a super serious conversation with Zuko. Sokka had a limit for the number of super serious conversations he could do in an afternoon anyway.

“Ugh… It was awful. They keep bringing up the same arguments to everything I suggest! How is peace supposed to work if it’s wrong for us to admit we’ve done anything wrong? Even the people who kind of agree don’t say anything.” Zuko directed his rant at the sky, as if Agni might answer, before looking at Sokka. “How was your afternoon? Did Toph show you around? Not that things have changed, but-”

Sokka cut him off. “It was great. Toph gave me the full tour. I’m pretty sure I saw parts of the palace that you’ve never seen.”

Zuko smirked. “I doubt that.”

“Of course not,” Toph added, “I didn’t show him the lava tunnels. I was waiting for you. C’mon. Sokka wants to see our lavabending skills!”

Zuko glared at her from the ground, not that Toph could see it. “That’s just what you want to do.”

“It’s bending melted, fiery rocks. It’s objectively awesome and one of us has to be able to do it.”

Sokka tapped his chin thoughtfully. “You know, lava flows and neither of you are exactly flow-y people. Maybe Katara should try!”

“Whatever, Snoozles. If I can bend metal, I can bend anything earth.” Toph sent the ground rippling to the edge of the pond as a demonstration, surprising the turtleducks who shifted even closer to Zuko. “Sparky and I have almost got it working when we do it together.”

Sokka quirked an eyebrow at Zuko, who responded with a half shrug, “I’m pretty sure I just cool down a bit of lava until it’s rock and then she bends it, but it’s close.”

Toph jumped up and with a twist of her foot, sent earth spikes to push Sokka and Zuko up. “Let’s go. One hour of lavabending practice, and then you guys can do whatever dumb serious things you have planned.”

“Fine, Toph.” Zuko pulled himself to standing. “But just one hour - I’ve got-”

“-reports to read and paperwork to do. I know. But let’s have some fun first.”

Later that night, Ryu settled into a nest of blankets he’d piled in the shadows at the bottom of the Palace wall. He was ready for his stakeout: tea, blankets, a good view of the Fire Lord’s balcony - everything he’d need to prove to Yuma that Fire Lord Zuko was sneaking out and climbing walls. Except maybe next time he’d have to ask Yuma to come with him, in case she didn’t believe he’d seen what he saw. 

The Fire Lord was still in his study. At least the lights were on in his study, but Ryu could wait. He was a guard. Guards were good at waiting. 

Guards were less good at waiting while wrapped in cozy blankets. An hour passed, and then a little more, and Ryu’s eyes started to droop and his head started to nod. 

His eyes had drifted shut when a figure climbed out the Fire Lord’s window and disappeared through the window of the floor above. He was fully asleep by the time the shadow returned.

Chapter Text

The research hall was almost deserted when Keiko arrived. She glimpsed one or two other early arrivals already leaning over desks in large offices, but most doors were still closed. The library wasn’t even unlocked yet. She had to let herself in through a side door to get to the Information offices. The secretary’s door was open already but thankfully none of her fellow undersecretaries had arrived. 

Even though she’d arrived early specifically in hope of finding it, Keiko’s nerves spiked when she saw the small scroll on her desk. This was the fourth time in three weeks that there was a scroll waiting when she walked into the office for the day. This was a problem. Most of Keiko’s notes contained sensitive information. Every night before leaving, she moved any papers to the locked cabinet in the corner and every morning a smooth, empty desk surface waited for the day’s work. Every morning but four.

There were a lot of offices in this hallway, all filled with desks - clerks, subclerks, scribes, analysts - and the Information section was blandly named, poorly labeled, and basically hidden in the library for a reason. It was usually better not to advertise who exactly looked over the rumors of poisoners in the palace kitchens or waterbending assassins infiltrating the laundry before passing the more likely information (which was never the laundry waterbenders and very rarely the poisoners) to Secretary Ito. But the two times she’d found a scroll before anyone else arrived, the other desks were all empty. Whoever was leaving these papers had some idea that the information was less useful to Tashiro’s reports on the southeastern Earth Kingdom or Kuri's notes on the Colonies and more useful to Keiko.

Keiko picked up the scroll and turned it between her fingers for a moment, looking around. As usual, everything else in the room was in its place. Desks were clear, baskets empty, cabinets locked, windows shuttered. Finally, she sat and unfolded the scroll. Its brief but clear descriptions of both words and body language without drawing conclusions. Most of it was also familiar. She sighed and unlocked the cabinet to pull out three similar scrolls and a portion of her own notes. It was time to talk to Secretary Ito.

The office of the Secretary of Research wasn’t technically a small room, but the lack of windows and overflowing cabinets and shelves lining the walls made it seem smaller than it was. The secretary himself was hunched over his own desk, peering at a report. Keiko recognized her own handwriting.

“Excuse me, sir.” She bowed slightly, making the sign of the flame, as Secretary Ito looked up. 

He adjusted his glasses and smiled questioningly at her. “Ah, Undersecretary Keiko. Good morning. Do you need something?” 

She straightened to offer her report. “In the past month, someone anonymously left four scrolls on my desk, sir. The scrolls contain details about the Fire Nation council meetings and private conversations between members presumably during or after the meetings.” She placed the four scrolls on his desk, next to a stack of papers. 

Secretary Ito picked one up, feeling the paper before opening it and scanning through the contents as he asked, “Do you trust this information?”

Keiko picked at her sleeve a little. “I didn’t at first.” She’d thought it was a prank. Someone trying to imply that she was too junior, too short, or too unassuming for her position by taunting her with fiction from an unattainable source. There had been enough pointed comments and skeptical looks when she took on the role of undersecretary rather than scribe. “The source would have to be very highly- or specifically- placed. But yesterday I-” impersonated a scribe- “managed to attend a council meeting. As far as the actual meeting time, the notes line up with my observations.”

Ito frowned and raised his eyes from the scroll to meet hers. “So you think someone on the council is leaving reports for you?”

“On the council, one of the guards, someone eavesdropping somehow… The notes aren’t just about the meetings- they describe one-on-one conversations between council members too. Nothing explicitly treasonous.” She would have brought that to Secretary Ito immediately, untrustworthy source or not. “But there were very negative comments on the Fire Lord’s policy decisions and ruling abilities, and hints at the benefits of someone more mature taking power. Specifically from Generals Arata and Okada, but there are conversations with other council members. The Minister of Agriculture, Industry, the new Northern Admiral…” His response had been particularly colorful - she didn’t think they needed to worry about treason from him at least. “I need to analyze today’s information in light of what we already know, but...”

But it was concerning. Arata and Okada had been obvious in their dislike of many of Fire Lord Zuko’s decisions, though never expressing any actual intent to counter them. If they were talking to other council members, trying to draw others to their point of view, and if anyone was siding with them… 

Still frowning, Secretary Ito nodded, “Bring me your conclusions and the supporting information as soon as you finish them. And let me know immediately next time you receive anything like this.”

“Yes, sir.” Keiko collected the scrolls from him. “Do you have an idea about who this is?”

“Possibly.” Secretary Ito turned back to his papers in dismissal as he added, “I’d rather be wrong.”

“I'm sure I’m right though!” Ryu protested as Yuma smirked at him. He’d missed a leaf stuck in his topknot from his late night vigil. Arai trailed behind them on the way to breakfast, yawning.

“Really? Did you get any proof last night? See any Fire Lords creeping along the rooftops while you were hiding in the garden?” she prodded.

Ryu huffed. “...no.” 

“Uh huh. And did you sleep well out there?” 

“I barely fell asleep,” Ryu rolled his eyes. “And actually I had a nightmare about an earthquake that-”

“You!” Yuma started as the Fire Lord’s earthbender friend, Toph, stomped around the corner, and intercepted them three doors away from breakfast. She could smell the komodo sausages. “You wanna tell me why you were camped out outside the Fire Lord’s window last night?”

“Not a nightmare,” muttered Arai from behind her. Yuma fought the urge to laugh, despite her horror. 

Ryu gaped at the tiny girl who glared up in his general direction until he spluttered, “What? You saw me? I mean, I had permission- Sorry, not saw- but- what?” 

This was not a hole Yuma was going to dig him out of. Even if it became literal. She took a small step away from Ryu’s side, ignoring the clear “please don’t abandon me” message that his eyes immediately started sending her way.

“That didn’t answer my question,” Toph stated before whirling towards Yuma, who promptly froze. “What do you know about this?”

“Uh… nothing?” she hedged, wishing she could disappear in a way that didn’t involve the earth swallowing her. 

“Really? Cause I can tell you’re lying.” Yuma stared. What?  

“It was for a bet,” Arai interjected from behind them. “They’re just embarrassed.” Apparently the exchange had woken him up. This was either salvation or being thrown to the tigerwolves. Yuma couldn’t decide which as Toph’s terrifying glare morphed into a terrifying smile.

 “A bet? About Sparky?” Sparky? Yuma stared. The Fire Lord?   The earthbender sounded gleeful. “Tell me more.”

“Well, Ryu here thinks the Fire Lord spends his free time climbing walls, and Yuma doesn’t.” Arai explained, taking initiative for Ryu, who didn’t look quite capable of words at the moment, and Yuma, who really didn’t want to explain. “So Ryu’s got a week to prove his theory or he gets all Yuma’s bad shifts. If he’s right, she takes his bad shifts.”

Toph’s grin grew even wider and her eyebrows raised. “Ha! Well, let me help you,” she looked back in Ryu’s direction, “especially since it doesn’t seem fair that you have to do all the work.”

Ryu finally got his voice back. “Do you know if he’s climbing the palace walls?”

“What? No, that’s cheating,” Toph scoffed. “I mean I can show you when and where to look if he were trying to sneak around the palace. Just come find me when you’re free and say it’s spirit business or something.” 

“Uh… ok.” Even though Ryu looked confused, Yuma had a sinking sensation that she was going to lose the bet.

Toph cocked her head to the side for a moment and straightened. “Alright then. Talk to you later, Ryu, Yuma, Other guy.” Arai gave her a sloppy salute as she disappeared behind them. 

They were still standing in a confused group a moment later when Captain Imai rounded the corner that Toph had come from. “Guardsmen. What are you doing? And why is there a leaf in your hair, Private Ryu?” 

Ryu frantically ran a hand through his topknot, dislodging the leaf. “No reason, Captain, sir. Just… ran into a tree.” 

Captain Imai eyed him skeptically. “You should watch where you’re walking then.” He nodded as she continued past them.

“Ran into a tree?” Yuma hissed at him as they followed her. “That’s your cover story?”

“I don’t know. She scares me,” Ryu muttered defensively.

“I’d pick her over the earthbender,” responded Yuma.

Arai laughed as he added healthy amounts of spice to his rice and fish. “The two of you are overreacting. I’m sure it’ll be fine. You’ve even got help, Ryu.”

Ryu’s eyes widened. “I know… She’s right though.” He glanced at Yuma. “It doesn’t seem fair that I have to do all the work.” He went back to piling more food on his plate, somehow fitting figs into a corner not full of eggs and vegetables.

Yuma shrugged, opting a serving of gruel. It was boring but that would hopefully settle her stomach. “It’s not my fault it’s basically impossible to prove that nothing is happening.”

“Well, next time I do a stakeout, you’re coming with. It’s only fair.”

“Fine. We can watch nothing happen together.”

“If something is going to happen, it’ll be soon.” Secretary Ito met Captain Imai’s eyes. “They’re running out of time before any peace agreements become official. And with General Iroh out of town…”

They were in Imai’s office, waiting for the Fire Lord and the Head of the Kyoshi Warriors for the morning’s security briefing. The secretary often arrived early to check in with the guard captain before the meeting officially started. Sometimes it helped to present a united front for the Fire Lord. Sometimes it was just nice to reminisce with another veteran of palace affairs.

“I know,” Imai said, looking at her own notes. “It’s been obvious since the moment the Fire Lord decided to send his uncle to Omashu rather than someone less integral to the support for his rule. But we don’t know enough to arrest anyone yet.”

“And none of your guards have betrayed any concerning allegiances?”

“No, they learned discretion under Ozai.” The former Fire Lord had encouraged both group punishments, and rewards for anyone with information - or even just gossip - about potential disloyalty in the ranks. Six years of that had been enough to teach the palace guard how to keep any opinions to themselves. “Well, most of them,” she amended, thinking of the big, young guard she’d seen earlier that morning. Somehow Ryu had missed that particular lesson.

“That makes it difficult,” Secretary Ito said.

“There’s been no large scale signs of disloyalty to the Fire Lord in the palace since the coronation.” Almost a fifth of the guard had left or been escorted out of the palace in the days before Fire Lord Zuko’s rule officially began, unwilling to serve a regime that was - in their eyes - demeaning the Fire Nation to the level of the other Nations. The gap had been filled with guards from the reserves. “But I worry some of the guards are just waiting for an opportunity.” 

“And there’s no way to be certain until other loyalties call.”

“Exactly.” They sat in silence, contemplating the dangers of a disloyal guard, until the door opened and Fire Lord Zuko entered, followed by Suki, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. Captain Imai and Secretary Ito rose and bowed, which the Fire Lord returned with a slight bow of his own before they all sat to begin the meeting. 

As usual, Secretary Ito began by summarizing the current state of intelligence relating to the Caldera and the palace. “There don’t appear to be any violent threats at this point - no indications of assassinations or imminent attacks. The concerning signs are on a larger scale and have two main components. First, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, there is a clear move in the council to stir up conflict.” 

Fire Lord Zuko nodded at that, sighing. His face was slightly flushed, Imai noticed, and his voice sounded congested. “I know. Everything I say in meetings these days gets shot down as childish or naive. The only way I get anything done is by talking to everyone individually ahead of time.” 

“What do you think their specific goal is, Secretary?” Imai asked.

“I think, since the Fire Lord has shown that an Agni Kai is not an easy path to his removal, that a group is attempting to push him to his mental and physical limits.”

“So they’re trying to get Zuko to die of exhaustion?” Suki asked, crossing her arms and eyeing her friend.

“I’m not going to die of exhaustion,” muttered Zuko with a glare.

“Zuko, you’re sick right now. You don’t eat enough. You’re definitely not sleeping enough. And I know your lightning scar still bothers you sometimes.” Suki shot back.

“It’s more likely that they’re pushing for justification to declare you unfit to rule,” Secretary Ito interjected.

“But I’m not unfit,” Zuko pointed out. “I’m sane. I’m not sending people off to their deaths or burning fields or banishing the staff because they looked at me wrong. I go to every meeting. I come up with potential solutions. Nobody disagrees with the ideas until I present them to the entire council and I don’t know why.” 

“You’re the youngest Fire Lord in modern memory and some people disagree with your choices. They want an excuse.”

“But who are they?” Imai asked, frustrated. “How many people are working on this?” There wasn’t much she could do about the political aspect of the Fire Lord’s protection. The guard was there for physical attacks. At least knowing who they should protect him from would help.

“At least two. It looks like Generals Arata and Okada are heading this particular move, and our latest information indicates that they’re reaching out to other people on the council privately, with the Minister of Industry at least responding favorably.” Captain Imai had no idea why the secretary stared flatly at the Fire Lord as he spoke. Zuko either ignored it or didn’t notice because his only response was a sneeze. Imai winced.

“General Arata’s the one with the spiky moustache, right?” Suki asked. Zuko nodded absently. “Then he’s also been increasingly rude to my Warriors recently.” 

“The other concerning sign, in terms of military, is that the demobilization of the second division under General Arata has stalled. They’re currently stationed about 10 miles outside the Capital.”

“Why?” the Fire Lord asked. “Did they give a reason for the delay?”

“Apparently there was a mix-up in the orders they received, Your Majesty. Somehow they received orders meant for the forty-fifth division, which is set to remain active until after an official Peace agreement has been reached.” Secretary Ito’s skepticism was mirrored by everyone else in the room.

“So the division might move in if any political method fails,” Imai said. That was something she could address.

“That’s my guess,” responded the Secretary. And that could lead to civil war.

“Your majesty, with your permission, I’m going to put the Caldera Home Guard on alert and call up the reserve guard company until the Peace Conference,” Imai decided. That way the Home Guard would be prepared for any potential attacks on the Capital, and Lieutenant Hiro’s reserves would be in the palace, ready for any action here.” 

Zuko nodded with a frown. “Fine. I guess that’s wise.”

“And I’m going to talk to the Kyoshi Warriors about increasing the number on shift at a time,” Suki said. Zuko’s frown turned into a grimace. More Kyoshi Warriors on duty meant more people following him, and he’d made his dislike of that clear. 

“I’ll let you all know immediately if we learn anything new,” Secretary Ito said.

“And what am I supposed to do?” Zuko asked. “Just wait for an attack? Try not to act stupid in meetings?”

“Your Majesty, it would help if you could keep track of specifically who agrees with you in individual meetings and then protests in front of the full council,” Secretary Ito suggested. “And please don’t go on any more late night tea excursions.” The Fire Lord flushed guiltily at Secretary Ito’s accusation and Suki smirked. Imai restrained a groan.

“Urgh….” groaned Sokka from where he was lying facedown on the sparring mat an hour later. It was, in fact, slightly more dramatic than necessary. “I’m dying…” 

Suki stood above him, grinning and looking significantly more energetic than he did. The sound of the other Kyoshi Warriors sparring continued around them, ebbing and growing when someone paused to walk their partner through different steps or moves.

“Dying?” Suki laughed. “You’ve been sparring with all the big, strong Water Tribe men. How is this too intense for you?” 

“One,” Sokka raised a finger above his head, “none of them can do that thing you do with your fans. Two, I don’t feel like I’m melting in the South Pole.” He was sticky and gross. It was only late spring in the Fire Nation, but the humidity was already stifling compared to the clear, cold air in the south. “And three, everyone there goes super easy on me because of my leg.”

Suki’s amusement turned to concern and she sat down next to him. “Is your leg okay? You should have said something. It didn’t look like you were favoring it.”

Sokka rolled over so he could see her frown and flapped a hand in dismissal. “It’s fine. I mean,” he corrected, “it hurts some days but it’s mostly fine.” It would probably ache for the rest of the day and tomorrow, but sparring with Suki was worth it.

“Oh good. I wouldn’t want to break you on your second day here.” Suki relaxed, and she leaned back on her arms.

“Nope. No breaking here. I might be done for today though - I need time to recover from being beaten up by my girlfriend again.” Another hour just lying on his back in the training room sounded nice.

“You’re recovering from getting beaten by the Fire Lord’s personal guard. You should be honored.”

“I am. You’re amazing,”  Sokka said, finally sitting up. “And I’m glad you made time for me in your crazy busy fancy bodyguard schedule.” Suki made a face at him. “How’s that going, by the way? Is guarding Zuko easier or harder than protecting Kyoshi Island?”

“It’s complicated,” Suki shrugged, “The actual assassins have been pretty inept so far, thankfully, which you already know. But there are all these snide nobles and generals... It’s nice having Ty Lee around.” She looked over to where the newest Kyoshi Warrior was showing one of the younger girls how to turn a defensive block into a strike at the chi point on an opponent’s neck. “She knows everything about the fancy Fire Nation practices and had some great recommendations for intimidating people without causing a scandal or something.” She turned back to him to ask, “How’s the Southern Water Tribe?”

Sokka stared down at his hands. “It’s good. Growing. Katara wants to build a southern waterbending school. Dad and Bato are heading up rebuilding the village. There’s actually a person-high wall now. And Pakku’s helping.” He made a face. Pakku was less insulting than when they’d first met, and he was actually nice around Gran Gran, but still… Sokka was not a fan. “The village looks like a whole new place.” Suki gave him a look at his less-than enthusiastic tone. Sokka didn’t know where he fit in this whole new place, with all its adults and peace and… and everything. But he ignored those thoughts and tried to sound more upbeat. “Things are going great so I thought I’d come spend some time with you and see if Zuko needed any help.”

Suki waited until he met her eyes to say anything. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.” Sokka smiled and let her words sink in before standing with a groan. His leg was already getting stiff.

“So anything I should know before I meet up with the jerkbender for lunch?” he asked, reaching to pull her up.

Suki wrinkled her nose as she stood. “There’s some stuff going on, but you should probably talk to Zuko about it.” 

Sokka raised an eyebrow but she didn’t elaborate. “Cool. Cool cool cool. Ask Zuko about stuff. Will do.” He wiped down the practice sword he’d been using, and returned it to the rack. “You coming to lunch?”

“I’m going to be late,” Suki said. “The girls and I have to talk about scheduling.” Sokka was pretty sure the schedule practically ran itself at this point - there were only so many ways to schedule ten people for 24/7 guard duty - so that was a little concerning.

“Okay then. I’ll see you there maybe,” Sokka said with a wave. Time for a shower, and then to hunt down the Fire Lord and ask him about stuff .

Apparently, part one of “stuff” was that Zuko was sick. He didn’t look up when a freshly-showered Sokka walked into his study, instead staring at the stack of paper in front of him and resting his forehead on his hand. The brush in his right hand was motionless. Loose strands from his fraying topknot floated around his neck and ears. There were a lot of papers on his desk, along with a half-empty cup of tea and a plate with a half-eaten sandwich balanced precariously in a corner, one paper-slide away from disaster.

Curious as to how long Zuko would remain oblivious, Sokka stood to the side and watched him read- at least he assumed there was reading going on. Pages weren’t being turned, so he wasn’t entirely sure, no matter how fixedly Zuko stared at the words. Zuko was still on the same page when he finally looked up, barely meeting Sokka’s eyes before sneezing violently into his drapey Fire Lord sleeve.

“Wow. Are you ok?”

“Sokka. Ah- how long have you been standing there?” Zuko asked, scanning the room as if someone else might be lurking in a corner. He sounded both raspier than normal and more congested.

“Eh, a few minutes. I'm early and you were kind of focused on your,” he waved a hand, “fancy paperwork.” Sokka took in Zuko’s bleary eyes and flushed cheek. It matched the red mark on his forehead where his hand had been. “You don’t look so good, buddy. Wanna skip out early and eat? And maybe take a nap?”

Zuko glanced back at the paper and winced. “I’m fine-” He paused long enough for Sokka to stare skeptically, before sneezing again. His sleeve had to be getting gross. “Ugh, I just need to finish reading this proposal for this afternoon. It’s taking longer than I’d planned. Lunch in half an hour?”

“Sure. I can wait.” Sokka ignored the empty, ravenous monster that was his post-workout stomach. He’d survive. As long as he was distracted. “Can I read any of this stuff while you work?” Zuko looked back up from his reading, eyebrow raised.

“You want to read political briefs?”

“Uh, yeah? You don’t have to show me your national secrets if you don’t want to, but how can I give you all my awesome Water Tribe advice if I don’t know what’s going on?” Zuko continued to stare and Sokka added, “It’s not like I’ve never seen paperwork before. I helped my dad with this stuff too. I mean, it was less formal obviously but then Pakku got involved and you know the Northern Water Tribe and-”

“Fine.” Zuko sniffed as he grabbed one of his smaller stacks and started flicking through it, pulling out a few groups of sheets. “Here, try one of these.”

Sokka glanced at his options. Fishing industry report, peacetime southern factory production proposal, public air travel regulation proposal- “Ooh, war balloons. Are you sure it’s okay if I read this?”

“Air balloons,” Zuko said without looking up, “And I say it’s fine and I’m the Fire Lord. Just let me read.”

“Okay then…” Sokka muttered, dragging a chair well out of sneezing range and settling down in it. Zuko glared at his paper but kept reading.

Despite the dry language, it didn’t take long for him to get sucked into the proposal. When Sokka first imagined the balloons, he’d seen them as a way to make travel easier for everyone - a ship that could go over land and water. Also flying was awesome. After the Fire Nation army had gotten hold of the designs- after he and Toph and Suki had almost fallen to their deaths while fighting an army on his own invention- after his nightmares started fillings with heights and screams and fire and you made this - Well, he’d started actively trying to not think about anything balloon-related. So to see the beginnings of a plan to use war-air balloons the way he’d initially imagined, even if it was wrapped in unnecessary formalities, made Sokka’s heart relax in a way he hadn’t known he needed. There were detailed descriptions of how to manage travel lanes, map out air currents, balance military and civilian needs, and set up a network for public air transportation in the Fire Nation… It was a way to take what Sokka had imagined and make it useful for hundreds if not thousands of people, and not in a way that entailed raining fire down from the sky.

The proposal was enthralling enough that Sokka barely registered Zuko’s presence until he looked up with a question about the planned retrofitting of old airships to see his friend staring at his desk with glazed eyes. “Uh… Zuko?”

Zuko blinked and groaned. “Ugh, I just can’t focus today!”

“You can’t focus because you’re sick, man,” Sokka pointed out reasonably. “It’s your body telling you to rest.”

“It’s just a cold.” Zuko’s defensive tone matched Sokka’s extreme skepticism. His sneeze just increased the skepticism.

“A cold is being sick!”

“Sokka, I can’t take a break. I’ll just drink extra tea before the council meeting this afternoon. There’s too much to do for next month.”

Sokka stared at him. “Zuko, you need to sleep. You can’t argue for world peace while sneezing all over those generals. Plus,” he added with a shrug, “if you keep pushing yourself, you’ll get sicker and then you’ll get pneumonia and then the next thing we know we’ll be at your funeral and your uncle will be sad.

Zuko scoffed. “People don’t die of colds.” 

“Ok, so maybe not die. But seriously, nobody’s going to listen to you if they’re too busy ducking your Fire Lord germs. And I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to be able to focus on what they’re saying if it takes you an hour to read a page.”

“That’s what scribes are for- I'll read the meeting notes later. I can survive a two hour meeting.” Sokka snorted at that and Zuko added, “Really, Sokka, I promise I will come back and rest as soon as the meeting is over.”

“Why?” Sokka asked. “Why can’t you just let someone else take the lead today?”

Zuko dropped his head in his hands. “Because part of the council thinks I’m not ready for the throne and if I miss a meeting for a cold they’ll say it’s proof.” Oh. That was probably what Suki had been talking about.

“And going to a meeting looking like you’re going to pass out will convince them all?” 

“Going to the meeting and then resting will show that I can balance the needs of my Nation with my own needs,” Zuko said decidedly.

“Fine…” Sokka huffed. “But I’m telling Toph and if you try to go back to work afterwards, she’ll earthbend you into bed and trap you there until tomorrow morning. Now come on. It’s definitely lunch time and if you’re going to sit in a dumb meeting all afternoon while sick, you’d better have some soup and tea and all the hot things beforehand.” Did the Fire Nation do blubber tea? They didn’t have tiger seals, but there might be something similar. He’d have to check while Zuko was in his meeting.

After over two hours of tense discussions, Yuma was glad to escape the council meeting when it ended. It was worse than yesterday’s. The only bright point in Yuma’s mind was that the Fire Lord hadn’t disappeared at any point. They hadn’t picked up the reparations argument again, but the proposals for the future of the colonies were almost as contentious. Fire Lord Zuko’s eyes were practically glazed over by the end of the arguments and his responses were slow and less articulate than normal. Toph had been waiting with the Kyoshi Warriors to drag him off after the meeting, saying something about idiots and colds and rest. Which did clarify the Fire Lord’s thousand yard stare when one minister’s objection had turned into a droning lecture. The Minister of Justice had finally cut them off, recommending smaller meetings for any such side discussions.

“That was painful to listen to,” Yuma muttered as she and Akeno made their way back to the guards off-duty room after everyone had left. 

Akeno glanced at her. “The shouting?”

She nodded. The shouting was the easiest part to complain about. “That too, I guess. It gives me a headache and I’m just watching.” The shouting, the snide remarks, the dismissive tone… They all contributed. But mainly, “my mother’s sister lives in Yu Dao with her husband.”

“Ah,” Akeno said. And after they’d passed the pair of servants presumably on their way to clean the meeting room, “It must be difficult listening to people discuss tearing them from their home.”

Tearing them from their home was how General Okada had described the idea when Fire Lord Zuko suggested opening conversations with the Earth King and with people in the colonies about how to determine their future. 

Yuma’s brother had been a soldier. For the first four years of being a guard, she’d silently listened to council decisions that might lead to his death. The lower personal investment in council decisions had been one of the few silver linings of his injury and subsequent honorable discharge. With the war ending, she’d thought… well, it didn’t matter.

“Do you think they’ll stay with your family if it comes to that?” Akeno asked when she didn’t say anything.

Yuma shrugged. “Probably not.” It was unlikely. Her grandparents avoided acknowledging her mother’s family and it was still their house and farm, even if her parents managed everything.

“People will be hurt and angry if the Fire Lord gives up the colonies,” Akeno said. Ahead of them, the scribe turned off toward the Research hall. “And if he’s considering the possibility now, who knows what other concessions the Earth King and his generals will try to drag out of him during the Peace Conference.”

The picture of Fire Lord Zuko facing off against the cartoonishly mountain-like Earth King and his looming Council of Five appeared in Yuma’s mind. It looked surprisingly similar to the meetings she’d been watching recently. “I guess it helps that he gets to practice arguing against a hostile audience right now.” Even if it was painful to watch.

Akeno frowned at that. “But wouldn’t it be better if he had someone with more experience who could show him how to stand up for the Fire Nation in these delicate situations? For your aunt and uncle?” It went unspoken that General Iroh was not that person. His priorities as demonstrated over the last seven years did not include his Nation. 

Yuma’s heart stopped momentarily, then started racing as she processed the question. Akeno’s tone was light but his words were treason. Or close to it. Suggesting that someone else should lead the Fire Lord… She knew the Guard was tense. Captain Imai was watching everyone. And Yuma’s grandfather - the one who had gotten her a position in the Palace Guard during Azulon’s reign - didn’t exactly support the new regime. She should have expected loyalty checks. 

“I trust the Fire Lord’s decisions,” she said carefully. And it was true, even if he was young. “He cares enough about the nation to exhaust himself looking for the best solution.” And to be banished for protecting a division of untried soldiers, and…

Akeno gave her a long look before nodding. “That’s good to hear.” 

Thankfully, they were almost to the guardroom. The short remainder of the walk was stiffly silent and Yuma split away from Akeno the moment they entered the room. Ryu and Arai were already relaxing around one of the low tables in the room, Ryu mid-story as usual, with the rest of their squad scattered around the space. Another squad was drilling firebending katas in the lengthening shadows in the adjacent courtyard. She dropped smoothly onto a mat next to Ryu and willed her heart to slow and thoughts to stop.

“Did you have a fun shift?” Arai asked.

“Of course,” Yuma ignored Arai’s concerned look. It felt like Akeno was still watching her. She didn’t turn around.

“Did you hear?” Ryu jumped in, story over. “Hiro’s reserves are coming tomorrow and we’re all going to be on double duty until the Peace Conference.”

“Wait, really?” Yuma looked to Arai, who shrugged and nodded. 

“Captain Imai is concerned about a loyalist move, I guess. Rumor is we’re all getting new shifts starting tomorrow. Agni willing, I won’t get assigned to anything overnight. I did my time on the night squads.” He grimaced but Yuma was distracted by her own possibility. 

“So I might not be on meeting duty for the next month?” Even night shifts had to be better than that. She wouldn’t mind not sharing shifts with Akeno too. 

“I don’t know what we’re going to do for the bet though,” Ryu said mournfully. “There’ll be too many people around for the Fire Lord to do much.” He paused as if waiting for suggestions, but when neither Yuma nor Arai had any to contribute, he moved on. “Anyway, let me tell you about this cabbage guy Arai and I saw…”

Yuma began to relax to the background rhythm of katas and flame and Ryu’s stories about the various people who passed through the smaller kitchen gate during his shift. Her underlying tension dissipated in the face of Ryu’s enthusiasm.

The difficulty with council meetings, in Keiko’s opinion, was that no matter how optimistically enthusiastic one went into them, by the end the hours of arguments and political maneuvering left one tense and pessimistic. Keiko probably ranked slightly lower on the tension-pessimism scale than the Fire Lord, but her brain was tired. Generals Arata and Okada had continued to be antagonistic, but they hadn’t exactly shouted out any evil plans and no one else on the council had done anything to obviously reveal themselves as part of a conspiracy. Which was not unexpected, but it would’ve made things a lot easier. Keiko wanted to figure out what was going on and hours of tracking posture shifts and eye contact while also taking notes was the painfully slow method. 

Today’s obvious takeaways were that Generals Arata and Okada often looked to each other before speaking, the Minister of Justice was getting exasperated with the interruptions, the Minister of Agriculture made faces when anyone got exceptionally loud or harsh but that didn’t keep him from agreeing with some of the two generals’ points, and the Minister of Industry was watching people almost as much as she was. So far she’d put the council at two people decidedly anti-Fire Lord, two quietly pro-Fire Lord, five vaguely disapproving, and nine uncertainties. The primary question was whether vague disapproval meant “not a fan of this idea” or “we should overthrow Agni’s chosen and pick someone new.”  

When she finally returned to the large, somewhat drafty room the scribes worked in, Keiko was relieved to see Ami still writing at her desk.

“How was being a scribe again today?” Ami asked, continuing her work as Keiko slumped down at the empty desk next to hers. Dai’s desk, maybe? It didn’t matter.

“Long.” And she still had to catch up on her other tasks. “I think the Fire Lord caught your cold. He spent half the time trying not to sneeze while various ministers talked at him.” 

Ami frowned, rubbing her chest sympathetically, “I should have gotten someone to take my shift as soon I started feeling sick. Today’s been alright, so hopefully he’ll feel better soon too.” Her nose was still red, but she looked as put together as normal otherwise. With her smooth topknot and tall, graceful presence, Ami was always a popular choice as scribe for meetings of the most powerful people. Keiko could fade into the background well, but people didn’t exactly see her as calm or graceful when they noticed her. More like short or distracted. Just because she was noticing things they weren’t.

Speaking of noticing… “Do you want another break tomorrow anyway?” Keiko asked, casually fidgeting with her stack of meeting notes. 

“You want to cover the council meetings for a third day in a row?” Ami’s eyebrows shot up. “Do you miss scribing that much? Those meetings are the worst .” This was objectively true. There were too many people talking. The meetings were too long. Almost nothing got accomplished. But full council meetings were also the easiest opportunity to watch the full council interact. Scribing wasn’t actually Keiko’s job anymore, so she couldn’t sit in on twenty one-on-one meetings to track interactions that way.

She couldn’t exactly say that though. Instead, she said, “True, but they have all the drama.” 

“You can get drama from the kitchens. Go there and watch them work for a bit instead,” Ami pointed out with her brush. Then she shrugged. “But if you want to scribe again tomorrow, go ahead. I have plenty of other things to catch up on after yesterday.” Ami was the best. Keiko’s favorite person. 

“Thanks,” Keiko smiled back, sitting up straight like a polite person. “I promise I’ll keep the transcript as clear as possible.” She was already internally considering who to watch more carefully and what tells to look for. Someone on the council was obviously planning something. Secretary Ito agreed. And so did her secret source. She just needed to figure out who all was involved and what they were planning and why. And who her source was. The drama in the kitchens wasn’t nearly as engrossing, especially since she didn’t particularly care whether Pastry Chef Naoko’s relationship with the Northern Admiral’s personal chef was currently on or off.

“Your transcripts are always pristine,” Ami turned back to continue her work. “I don’t know why they recommended you for transfer.”

Now it was Keiko’s turn to shrug. “I add too many notes to the copies. Which I will not do tomorrow,” she hurried to add, looking at the stack of paper in front of her.

“I think your notes are useful,” Ami said, looking at her own stack of paper. Keiko’s notes were useful. Secretary Ito had requested her transfer because of them. Also because he’d caught her gossiping with one of the royal seamstresses. Keiko was very good at trading up when it came to gossip. Most people thought her notes were excessive and the gossip a distraction.

Keiko forgot her response when she saw someone else enter the room. Most of the other scribes had already finished their work for the day and left. Also this wasn’t a scribe. It was a lost-looking tan young man in blue. Which meant the Fire Lord’s Water Tribe friend had wandered into the Research hall for some reason. She stared. Ami glanced up at her lack of reply and followed her eyes to also stare as the newcomer made his way across the room. 

When it was obvious that he was approaching them, both women stood to bow - Ami more gracefully than Keiko, of course - at the proper degree for a visiting dignitary.

Sokka sketched a rough copy of their bows which was thus not at all the right depth for a visiting dignitary toward a minor palace staff member. “Uh hi? I’m Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe,” he introduced himself confidently, as if the blue didn’t make it obvious. “The Fire Lord asked me to drop these off.” He waved the bundle of scrolls in his hand.

“You’re delivering papers for him?” Keiko asked. That was usually someone else’s job. Someone who wasn’t a visiting war hero.

Ami gave her a pointed look before she reached for Sokka’s bundle of scrolls with a polite smile. “Of course. We can take care of those.”

Sokka handed them over, explaining. “Well, more like I wanted to come here anyway and asked Zuko if he wanted me to bring anything. I was actually looking for information on the new airship designs. Do you know who I should talk to? There are a lot of offices and a lot of papers around here.”

“I’m pretty sure those are still classified as military material,” Keiko said apologetically, making Sokka frown.

Ami looked up from scanning through the scrolls. “Actually, there were some new civilian ones. The Minister of Industry presented them to the Fire Lord a few weeks back because the factories are pivoting away from making the war balloons and Fire Lord Zuko wanted to make sure the new designs were less intimidating.”

Keiko snorted. “By what, making them pink?” 

Ami continued, ignoring her. “The designs should be in the meeting records.” At Sokka’s lost expression, she started walking past him, carrying the papers. “Come on, most of these go there anyway. I’ll show you.” Keiko trailed behind them, curious.

The records room was only a few doors down from Ami’s office. It was the portion of the library where recent meeting notes, resource reports, and other such briefings were stored for referral. There was a constant turnover, as most records were moved to the archives for preservation after a few years, meaning that the room always smelled of fresh ink and new scrolls. The main library collection contained works whose usefulness lasted much longer. Keiko preferred the scent of old paper and sense of history that one got in deserted corners of the library, but records were generally more useful for her work. Classified material, of course, went into its own separate section.

Ami waved at the records librarian as they entered. He eyed Sokka silently, but let them pass. The librarians knew everyone in the Research Wing, and everyone trusted Ami. She was that type of person. People trusted Keiko too, mostly because she’d been around the library forever, trailing behind her father as he filed books and scrolls.

“So I didn’t get your names. And what do you two actually do?” Sokka asked as Ami led them between the shelves of scrolls.

“That’s Ami. She’s a scribe and I’m an undersecretary,” Keiko said. “And my name’s Keiko.”

“Those are different jobs?” Sokka’s confusion showed on his face.

“Usually,” Ami said, glancing back at Keiko. 

Keiko smirked. “They can overlap a lot. She takes meeting notes and I read them and try to pick out the useful information.”

“The Fire Nation sure likes their notes, I guess.” Sokka eyed the full shelves around them. "There's probably more paper in this room than we have back home."

“Here we go,” Ami stopped at a certain cubby and started sifting through the scroll labels, pulling out first one long scroll and then a second, smaller one. “This should be the blueprints.” She opened the larger scroll to glance inside. “And here are the notes from the meeting, if you want to look at those.” 

Sokka accepted both scrolls from her gratefully. “So I can just take these?”

“You have to sign them out, but they aren’t classified and you are the Fire Lord’s guest,” Ami said with a smile. They turned back toward the front desk where the sign-out page was, pausing to re-file some of the scrolls Sokka had returned. 

“Why are you interested in the war balloons anyway?” Keiko asked.

Sokka grinned proudly. “I invented them. And when Zuko said there was a new, non-war design I wanted to see it. It’s the second- or maybe the third- generation of my design.”

“Wow. That’s cool,” Keiko said while Ami showed Sokka where to sign and what to put for scroll numbers. She hadn’t realized the war balloons weren’t originally a Fire Nation design.

After they left the records room, Sokka paused at the entrance to the scribe’s hall. “Thanks for your help! I’ll definitely bring these back tomorrow, all safe and sound.”

“You’re welcome. If you need anything else, we’re both usually here or the librarians are always available. The records staff is very ready to help,” Ami said.

“And I’d love to hear more about how you invented the airship,” Keiko added. How had the war balloons become a Fire Nation weapon if they’d been invented by the Water Tribe? It was going to bother her at random times until she found out.

They bowed him off and returned to Ami’s desk. “That was unexpected,” Ami observed dryly.

Keiko agreed. “Do you really think it’s alright for him to check out those designs?”

“I mean, they aren’t classified and he is the Fire Lord’s friend… I’m sure it’s fine.”

“I guess so,” Keiko responded, sitting down to work next to Ami for a bit. Her mind was already turning back to the council conspiracy problem. She pulled out a fresh sheet of paper to separate her observations from the transcript and tried to piece together potential alliances from who entered or left the meeting together. It was going to be a long night.

Captain Imai looked over the duty schedule and resisted sighing. Lieutenant Hiro and the reserve guard would be arriving in the morning and she was adjusting the schedule to include the extra shifts. The palace was going to be almost overrun with guards for the next few weeks. To best protect the Fire Lord, something had to be done about the gardens at night on the off-chance he did decide to go against all recommendations and sneak out- 

A knock on her half-open door interrupted her thoughts. “Come in.” Ryu, the tall, open-faced guard from the morning entered and bowed nervously. Imai had almost forgotten that she’d asked for him to be sent to her after dinner. “Private Ryu. I was informed that you spent a portion of last night in the gardens outside the Fire Lord’s chambers. Would you like to explain why?” Of all of the guards, this one seemed least likely to be part of a plot but one never knew.

The young man paled. “Nothing important. It was just something silly- a bet. I checked with the guards on the walls to make sure I wouldn’t be a distraction. I didn’t mean any harm.”

Imai raised her eyebrows. “And what was this bet?”

The response was quiet and rushed. “I was trying to prove that the Fire Lord can climb the palace walls.”

Was she feeling relief or despair? Imai couldn’t exactly tell. It felt like an incoming headache. “You sat out in the gardens until after midnight to see if the Fire Lord would climb out his window.” Her voice was flat, so it took Ryu a moment to realize she wanted a response. He nodded. She did not sigh. She didn’t drop her head in her hands and groan in frustration either. Someone had to be professional. She professionally frowned down at her desk. She could hear Ryu shift slightly. Silence- especially judgmental silence- was a very useful tool. Also there was a schedule on her desk and it gave her an idea.

“You know what, if you’re so eager to keep watch on the Fire Lord’s window, you can do that. With the heightened security for the next few weeks, I was planning to set someone to patrol the gardens at night. You’ve just earned that role.” Maybe his enthusiasm for Fire Lord-watching would mean Ryu would actually catch the kid next time he snuck out.

The private’s jaw dropped. “Yes, Captain Imai.”

“Alright then. You’ll start your new role tomorrow. Dismissed.” He fled. Imai smiled and made a note on her schedule.

Well, at least that was one problem fixed.

Chapter Text

Yuma wove through clusters of people, feeling a post-meditation calm that was in sharp contrast to the surrounding activity. After a night of overthinking her conversation with Hiro and the possible sources and outcomes of disloyalty in the guard, she’d needed to sit for almost an hour before her anxious thoughts trailed away into peace and the steady candle flame matched her breath. Now that her pulse was steady and her mind clearer, she was going to hold onto that clarity. Even if the morning was extremely chaotic.

Around her, the halls were louder than normal, full of conversation and movement. Reserves finding their rooms, old friends catching up, palace servants making sure that everyone had what they needed. It looked a little like a reunion and a little like preparing for a siege. Some people were flicking tiny flames over their fingers. Others were checking weapons. Unlike the main body of the Palace Guards, the Reserves had a few squads of non-benders, exceptionally skilled with blades or projectiles. With all the extra people, it was going to be difficult to find any quiet for the next month even if Captain Imai’s threat never materialized.

Like everywhere else, the mess hall was full of people. Yuma pitied the cooks, who now had to feed almost a hundred extra people. The palace kept extra food on hand, but the strain of cooking at that scale showed in the limited options. Or maybe that was just the picked over remains of breakfast. Extra meditation meant a late breakfast of reheated jook and overly strong tea.

Ryu and Arai weren’t sitting at any of the packed tables, but she found them bickering in the slightly more peaceful courtyard along with a few others who had taken their breakfasts to the extra space of the outdoors.

“...and now I’m stuck on this special duty with you while everyone else in our squad will be asleep like normal people.” Arai sounded exasperated. His tone didn’t change when he noticed Yuma’s arrival and pointed accusingly at her, “I blame you for this too.”

“For what?” Yuma asked as she carefully lowered herself to the ground without spilling anything. She set her tea down to heat the jook between her hands.

Ryu winced as he answered, “Captain Imai assigned me to guard the gardens at night since I’m so invested in the Fire Lord’s movements.”

“And as his regular shift partner, I get to join him,” said Arai. He rubbed his forehead with a groan. “Your bet was fun and all but why did it have to mess up my sleep?”

Yuma swallowed her spoonful of jook and shrugged apologetically. “I’m still on meeting duty.” There would be more guards in the room, but otherwise her council-watching would stay the same.

“We could switch?” Arai eyed her hopefully. “You are the other participant in the bet, after all. It’s only fair.” Yuma made a face behind her mug. Council meetings were bad and all, but night shifts… Well, actually the garden at night would probably be pretty peaceful.

“You did say you’d watch with me next time…” Ryu offered, unhelpfully. 

Yuma considered it as she continued her breakfast. Normally, switching shifts wasn’t a problem, especially since their two squads were at similar security levels. She’d switched with Ryu before with very little explanation. But normally the palace wasn’t on high alert. “Fine. We can ask after I eat,” she said. Their squad leaders knew them both well. Chances were high that they’d get permission.

“Thank you, Yuma,” Arai said fervently. “I would be eternally in your debt - if this wasn’t your fault in the first place.”

“You’ll have to guard council meetings, so it might be an even trade.” The more she thought about, the better this sounded. Plus she could go back to sleep. Meditation didn’t erase a lack of sleep. Yuma was still tired from her late night of overthinking. 

Extra sleep, and no overly-tense council meeting to sit through. She’d take it.

Keiko regretted volunteering to cover another council meeting. Yes, it would be useful. Yes, she knew it was an important source of information. Yes, it was only a few hours. But the atmosphere was already uncomfortable. The extra guards at the corners of the room only made it worse. They were a silent reminder that the palace was preparing for tensions to erupt. 

The various council members took their seats, some sending wary looks at the increased security. Keiko glanced over the agenda. The topic was the colonies again, starting with a presentation from the Minister of Industry on what each colony contributed to Fire Nation. It was going to be boring and would lead into a lot of angry debate if Fire Lord Zuko insisted on actually considering the colonists’ opinions.

Keiko watched the room as the Fire Lord opened the meeting and invited the Minister of Industry to speak. General Okada’s face stood out from the bored expressions of the rest of the table. It was almost... gleefully expectant. She glanced reflexively at General Arata. His expression was smooth, but his body was tense, waiting. Something uneasy flipped in her stomach.

“Actually, Your Majesty, I’d like to take this time to address a different matter of extreme importance,” said Minister Oba. Keiko’s brush stalled. The lamps flared briefly. She watched the Fire Lord’s brow furrow as he gestured for the minister to continue. 

“Your Majesty. Council members. I’m sure we can all agree that we’re in a time of great change.” The Minister paused to allow people to nod, unnecessarily dramatic in Keiko’s opinion. “The war is ending. The Avatar has returned. For the first time in a hundred years, the Fire Nation is making peace with the other nations. And our new Fire Lord shows signs of growing into a wise and just ruler, blessed by Agni’s light. But you are young, Your Majesty.” His voice oozed remorse as he focused on the Fire Lord. Very dramatic , Keiko noted in the margins of her transcript. “And your ideas have been shaped by your uncle. A man who forsook his duty at Ba Sing Se in his grief, abandoned his Nation and role as heir, and joined a group of conspiracists to support the Avatar at the expense of his own people.” He shook his head mournfully. The Fire Lord’s sneeze somewhat ruined the effect.

The Minister of Industry turned back to address the rest of the council. “While Fire Lord Zuko may grow to represent the glory of Agni’s nation, he needs guidance from those who understand the needs and strength of our people rather than those who would tear it down. Given this delicate situation and our turbulent times, I call for the council to appoint a regent to the Fire Lord based on the law as established in the era of Fire Lord Yosor.”

The rest of the council shifted in the silence that followed that declaration, taking in the Minister of Industry’s words. 

The Fire Lord had grown increasingly rigid and pale throughout the speech until his scar stood out red on white as he gave the obvious response. “Minister, the law clearly states that a regent is only necessary if the ascending Fire Lord is below the age of sixteen, unless I, as Fire Lord, choose to appoint someone to the role.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Minister Oba replied smoothly, “But due to the painful era in which it was established, the law was amended to contain a secondary clause stating that-”  He pulled an old, yellow scroll from the papers and notes in front of him, and started reading. “In times of turmoil such as famine, plague, or war, if the heir to the crown be above the age of sixteen but not of the age of wisdom at twenty, the council may vote to determine whether a regent is needed to provide a steadying hand in the crisis.” He handed the paper to the Minister of Justice on his right, who frowned and scanned it. “I’m sure you will agree that we are in a time of crisis. The only reason this is not a time of war is because of your own declaration of peace, Your Majesty. And peace is difficult to maintain.”

Keiko stared. The entire room was silent. General Arata may not have actually been smiling, but his whole body emanated smugness. The Fire Lord twitched, then took a deep breath and bit out a “continue.” He may have been angry, or just suppressing another sneeze. 

The Minister of Industry took the opportunity to lay out the process - a vote, with two-thirds of the council voting for a regent to make it official - and to heavily imply his fitness for the role. Keiko wrote furiously to keep up, mind spinning. 

Someone had gone to the archives. Someone had to dig through old, long-forgotten scrolls to find the original. And Keiko hadn’t noticed. She’d been too caught up in current events to read the archivists’ reports. Everyone knew that a regent would be appointed if the Fire Lord was younger than sixteen. He wasn’t. There’d been no need to research the original law or its amendments.

As Minister Oba trailed off, the Minister of Justice passed the scroll on, rumbling, “I fail to see why this vote is necessary. Fire Lord Zuko has ruled for seven months without displaying the level of immaturity that would require such an intervention. And with the Peace Conference so soon, a new regent may destabilize the situation rather than improve it.”

“More destabilizing than sending a youth to negotiate with men who want nothing more than to tear this Nation to pieces in the name of peace?” General Okada shot back, briefly glancing at the scroll in turn before handing it over.

“He’s not going alone, obviously.” The Northern Admiral’s disdain couldn’t be more obvious. “This vote is a distraction and a joke.”

“I agree that the Fire Lord shows signs of a gifted leader, and clearly he’s been blessed with strength from Agni,” the Minister of Finance began, somewhat cautiously. “But the number of reforms you’re proposing, Your Majesty... I’m not sure the treasury can support them. A regent could show you the proper pace for sustainable change.”

The conversation swelled. Voices overlapped in arguments for or against a regent while the Fire Lord watched stiffly and tried to get a word in edgewise. Keiko fought to keep up and to stay focused on the moment - who was talking, positive, negative, alliances - not everything she’d missed in her notes and observations that pointed to this move. Not the fact that she had failed to look at the archivist’s research report. Not the frustration with her mistakes that was rising in her stomach.

On the positive side, more people were expressing what they actually thought of the Fire Lord, Keiko realized bitterly. It was just what she’d wished for yesterday. Fire Lord Zuko had stopped even trying to speak, just watching as one man after another pronounced judgment on his proposals, choices, and general fitness for leadership.

“A regent is unnecessary.” The Minister of Justice’s voice rose above the conversations. “Advisors would be more useful without diminishing the Fire Lord’s authority, and there are clearly advisory positions that the Fire Lord hasn’t filled yet because his father also left such roles empty for his reign.”

“Even the act of leaving such openings shows the Fire Lord’s need for education,” The Minister of Industry countered reasonably. “Council members, I’m not proposing that we choose a regent now. Merely that we vote in agreement that one is needed.”

“I don’t need a regent,” Fire Lord Zuko finally interjected, biting out each syllable. “Council members, I know I’m young and I’m still learning. But a group of children ended the war and most of you only see the ways peace could break even though we’ve been talking for months . Maybe the Fire Nation needs someone young to lead to make things different. A regent would- Nothing would change.” He made a face. From her position behind him, Keiko could see his fist clenching and unclenching in his sleeve. “And my uncle isn’t the Fire Lord. I am.”

Keiko watched the council’s response. Most looked thoughtful. The Minister of Justice nodded approvingly. But General Arata scoffed and the Minister of Industry smiled and said “Let’s vote and see what the council thinks.”

The sum was negative again. “That can’t be right,” Sokka muttered, glaring at the page of notes he’d been scribbling on alongside the airship blueprints. The pile of Southern Water Tribe proposals he was supposed to be looking over sat untouched on his right.

“It looks fine to me,” Toph said from behind him where she was sitting on the floor.

“But it doesn’t- Ugh! Why, Toph? Why do you keep doing that?” Toph snickered as he flailed.

“You keep falling for it,” she shrugged. She was playing with a handful of stone, molding it into different shapes including what looked like a reasonable model of Appa. Sokka eyed the new hole in the floor. Hopefully Toph would put it back when she was done. Otherwise he’d trip. A lot. 

“Anyway, why are you staring at a piece of paper? There are so many better things to do here! New guards to scare, secret passageways to find - actually, I found most of those - lavabending, plots to uncover…” She trailed off before adding, “a couple of guards are taking bets on Sparky. I kind of want to track them down again.”

Sokka was already staring at his math again while he kneaded his stiff leg with his fist. The new warships were a lot like the old ones. The main difference - other than the missing cannons and spots for people to rain fire down on the countryside - was that the large dragon’s head at the warship’s nose had been replaced with a painting of a golden sunburst. The overall effect was much less “we’re going to ram you with our pointy flying ships” which was good, but Sokka’s instincts and his rough math were telling him that it wasn’t going to fly very well. 

A pebble hit the back of his head. “C’mon, Snoozles, leave it alone.” Another one bounced off his shoulder and Toph’s earlier words caught up with his brain.

“Wait, what plots? And stop that!” He ducked and the third pebble hit the wall over his desk. Toph smirked again, but thankfully stopped flinging rocks his way. Then she cocked her head and her face grew serious.

“I think we’re about to find out.”

With a knock to announce her presence, Ty Lee poked her head into Sokka’s room. She seemed less bouncy than normal. “Hey guys. Can you come with me? There’s a meeting.”

Ty Lee led them to somebody’s office without answering any of Sokka’s questions. Toph was uncharacteristically quiet beside him, while servants whisked past them with quick sidelong glances and guards eyed them from their posts along the walls. Sokka could have sworn there were more guards than yesterday. If that wasn’t a clear sign that Something Was Up, the serious faces on the group gathered in their destination made it obvious.

“What happened?” Sokka exclaimed as they entered the crowded room, taking in the people around him. Suki was there, looking worried. Zuko looked like someone had insulted his uncle. Surprisingly, Sokka noticed one of the women from the night before, standing next to a tall, skinny man who looked like an older, less-naive King Kuei with a topknot. There were a few other war-like Fire Nation people that he didn’t know. None of them looked happy.

Toph stomped directly over to where Zuko sat and grabbed his hand. “Who do I need to hit?” 

Zuko’s responding smile was small and tight as he squeezed Toph’s hand in return. “You can't just hit my council with rocks,” he said, which explained exactly nothing for Sokka. 

"I want to. They're idiots," Toph replied.

Sokka turned to Suki for an actual explanation, but instead the not-a-scribe - Kiki? Kaiyo? - started talking. “At the council meeting today, the Minister of Industry tried to use a 500 year-old law to get the council to appoint a regent for the Fire Lord. The council voted against it, barely.”

“Barely?” Sokka asked.

“They needed eleven votes. They got ten,” answered Zuko bitterly. "My father decided to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground and the council applauded, but apparently half of them think my proposals aren't sustainable." His hand gripped Toph's.

Sokka pushed on for something that would make this make sense. “But you’re the Fire Lord. How can they just put someone else in charge?”

“It’s a law for if the Fire Lord is too young to rule alone,” Zuko explained. “I’m seventeen, so it shouldn’t apply.”

“History says Fire Lord Yosor’s heir was… wild when he was young,” The Kuei lookalike started. “There’s actually a play-”

“The Muse of Fire,” Zuko muttered, eyes wide. 

Toph rolled her eyes and poked him. “Nerd.” 

“Yes, anyway. Given that there was a plague and the Fire Nation was on the edge of civil war, it’s not entirely surprising that Fire Lord Yosor added an amendment to protect the Nation from his son’s thoughtlessness. Thankfully, the young man grew into an impressive leader before he was crowned...”

“But the vote failed, so why does this all matter?” Toph interrupted impatiently.

Zuko’s Guard Captain - at least Sokka was pretty sure that’s who she was - leaned over her desk. “Since the vote didn’t work, we think someone may attempt more direct methods to force the Fire Lord to accept a regent before the peace conference.” 

Sokka winced. The peace conference was going to be complicated enough without this. Aang had said most of the Earth Kingdom generals wanted the Fire Nation to disband their military completely and accept oversight from the other nations. Zuko wasn’t going to agree to that, but Sokka figured that another Fire Nation person might just restart the war instead of arguing for a better balance.

The Guard Captain continued. “As international guests and the Fire Lord’s friends, you’re both potential targets. If you notice anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, look for any of the palace guard - especially me or Lieutenant Hiro,” she gestured at the solid guard standing at attention next to her. He was only a few inches taller than Sokka, but his shoulders were almost twice as broad. He met Sokka’s eyes and nodded in acknowledgment, face impassive.

“I’d assign you both a Kyoshi guard, but we’re stretching our limits guarding Zuko right now,” Suki said apologetically.

“If you want an escort from the Palace Guard-” Hiro, the Lieutenant guy, began. Toph cut him off.

“We’ll be fine.” She waved a dismissive hand in the guard’s direction. “I’ve been wanting to drop some people in the dirt.”

Sokka nodded. “Yeah, thanks for the offer but we can take care of ourselves.” They’d done fine during the war. Plus the idea of being followed around by someone in a Fire Nation uniform still made him twitchy.

The Guard Captain started rubbing her temples. “In that case, we'll let you go." She looked up at Zuko. "Please get some rest, Your Majesty. Lieutenant Hiro, Secretary Ito, we should talk about what potential attacks might look like.”

Sokka followed Toph and Zuko out of the room, thinking hard. Suki and Ty Lee trailed behind them. He’d been worried about assassins and overwork, not political attacks. 

"Why won't they just accept that I'm in charge?" Zuko said, still angry.

“Wanna do some lavabending tonight to get your mind off things?” Toph suggested. She pulled the piece of rock from Sokka's floor out of her pocket and started molding it again.

“I can’t. I still have work to do,” Zuko responded, rubbing his forehead. He grunted when Toph elbowed him. “Toph…”

“That had better not be Sparky-speak for ‘I’m going to try to fix this alone,’ or I will hunt you down,” she said.

“I swear, as soon as I know who exactly to go after, I’ll let you know,” he grumbled. “I’m not going to hunt anyone down without you.”

“That’s right, you’re not.” Toph smirked. Zuko smiled.

“Hey! I want in on this too,” Sokka jumped in, walking a little faster to catch up with them. He could think about politics later. “No hunting without me. I’m the best hunter in the Gaang.”

Suki scoffed from behind him. “None of you should be hunting anyone. Maybe let the actual guards handle things this time?”

“Nah,” Toph drawled. “I’m missing the Earth Rumble. I need to find someone to beat up. The guards can try to keep up, but I’m not waiting around for them.” 

Yuma and Ryu slowly circled the gardens. Night duty was quiet. Peaceful. Very different from the chaos of waking up to discover that there’d been a failed vote to declare the Fire Lord in need of a regent. Yuma was extremely thankful that she’d gotten to sleep through that council meeting. The Fire Lord was a kid. Clearly he needed help and support. But naming a regent seemed like the wrong solution. He was learning extremely quickly for someone who’d spent the majority of his time as Crown Prince banished and far away from any royal tutors and teachers. He just needed some people he could trust on the council, which would be hard if they kept trying to force him into things like naming a regent…

Both guards were quiet as they walked past the dark pond. Yuma was thinking, and Ryu was- “Stop that,” she hissed.

“Stop what?” Ryu asked innocently, eyes still drifting up and to his left.

“Stop staring at the window. We’re supposed to be actually guarding. Not trying to find your proof.” Bets were for off-duty hours.

“But this way I’ll know if anyone tries to sneak into the Fire Lord’s chambers,” Ryu protested.

Yuma rolled her eyes. “The goal is to catch people before they get there. Not as they climb in the window.”

“So you keep an eye on the garden and my eyes will be the last line of defense,” Ryu said, as if that made sense.

“If attackers are going to come through the gardens, they have to come over the wall first. If anything you should stare that way.” She paused beneath one of the trees, squinting into the darkness. Not having to wear the face plate helped visibility, but it was almost midnight. The light from palace windows and from the outer wall barely reached the gardens. Bushes, trees, and flower patches were vague blobs and shadows in the moonlight. “I just-” 

Ryu’s elbow cut her off as he silently pointed at the palace wall. It took a moment for Yuma to pick out a shadow smoothly climbing across the palace wall to disappear over a window ledge above and to the right of the Fire Lord’s room. “You can’t be serious.” 

“I was right,” Ryu whispered in shocked jubilation. 

Leaning over her notes in the lamplight, Keiko groaned. Nothing made sense. It probably wouldn’t start making sense tonight. She’d kept working, copying the notes from today’s vote and comparing them to her earlier notes, as if spending her evening on work could make up for her mistakes. It had mostly resulted in increasingly sarcastic and unlikely theories scribbled on her scratch paper alongside her clean copy of the meeting’s events. Now she was frustrated with herself both for not predicting the regent proposal and for working unnecessarily late.

She’d been so focused on the overt antagonism of the two generals that she hadn’t noticed the importance of the Minister of Industry’s quiet watchfulness or how he tried to subtly direct the discussion. He hadn’t joined in the extreme judgments or even really supported any of General Arata’s statements. It was like the regency vote was a separate movement, except for Arata’s knowing smirk throughout Minister Oba’s speech and then his anger when the results were obvious. Which was weird because-

“Are you still working ?” Keiko jolted at the unexpected voice, thankfully pulling the brush away mid-stroke rather than leaving a line across the page. She’d forgotten to close the office door. Sokka stood behind her, wincing. “Oops. Sorry.” He looked a lot like she did when she’d focused on a problem for too long. Hair messy. Eyes tired. Fingers smudged with ink. Another ink smudge on his forehead. It was probably what she looked like right now.

“Uh, do you need something?” she asked, thrown off by his presence. Staying late meant she was supposed to be alone, able to stew in silence like she had for the past few hours. Secretary Ito might still be working, but he never interrupted her this late. Why was the Water Tribesman in the library? Especially after Captain Imai’s warning.

“Isn’t this the library? I thought your office was the other room.” He looked confused too. “The door was still open. I was looking for something about engineering.” 

Keiko realized belatedly that he was carrying the blueprints from yesterday. “The science and engineering section is on the other side of the library, probably five shelves down if you follow this aisle, but most of the blueprints and such are stored in the archives. Why?”

And apparently that was enough to unleash the flood. Sokka came all the way into the room and unrolled the blueprint on Tashiro’s empty desk, laying his own notes on top. “Because I don’t see how this is flightworthy. They took off the dragon that used to be in the front, see?” He pointed at the smooth nose of the airship. Keiko nodded. She faintly remembered the warships having an extended dragon prow, a lot like the navy cruisers. “But it doesn’t look like there was any adjustment for how the weight is distributed. There’s this mass here. I’m pretty sure it was a counterbalance. Now it’s worse than useless.”

Keiko squinted at the papers, trying to make sense of what he was saying. It was too late for this. She worked with people, not math. “So it’s too heavy in the back?” she finally asked.

“Exactly,” Sokka exclaimed. “I mean, I might be wrong. That’s why I was looking for a way to check my math. I mostly make things and then test them and I don’t do stuff on this scale, but if you have a giant weight on one end of a ship and it’s balanced, and then you take away the weight…” He sketched something vaguely airship-like tilted at a weird, uphill angle. “It shouldn’t work.”

“That’s weird,” Keiko said, rubbing away the beginnings of a headache. “I don’t really know who you can ask about it. The palace isn’t exactly full of engineers. The old war minister was the one who designed these, but he was replaced after he lost an Agni Kai against the Fire Lord...” She trailed off as something occurred to her. “Ami said Minister Oba said these were in production.”

“Who?” 

“The Minister of Industry. The one who proposed electing a regent.” It was hard to think clearly, but this seemed important.

“But there’s no way these could fly - at least not well. It’s like someone just took one of the old warship designs and cut out the obviously military parts without thinking about physics…” Sokka’s shoulders dropped. “They aren’t making these. They’re still making warships.”

“Oh,” which meant Minister Oba didn’t think the peace would last and didn’t mind lying to Fire Lord Zuko about it. And the two generals had clearly known about the Minister of Industry’s proposal before he started, so they were part of whatever was going on. “They were assuming someone - Minister Oba - would be regent,” she realized. 

But the vote had failed, which meant they were definitely going to have to try something else, like Captain Imai had suggested. But why hold the vote if they didn’t know it would pass? Had something else changed? Keiko’s tired brain was making jumps that were definitely not logical but seemed to point in a bad direction. “Did you see any guards on your way here?”

“Yeah, there are lots of them. Because of the vote or something, right?”

Keiko pinched the bridge of her nose. “I think we might be in trouble.”

Zuko’s nose was still congested. This made it difficult to keep his breath silent while secretly listening in on a conversation. But it was weird that some of the palace guards were having this midnight meeting so far away from the living quarters in the first place. He had to check it. With the way things were going this was definitely some sort of plot. Even if more than half the council thought he was as big as failure as his father had always said, he wasn't going to let anyone steal the throne out from under him.

He’d happened to overhear the exchange between Lieutenant Hiro and one of the other guards (he thought her name was Eka - there were so many names to remember), when the Admiral of the Northern Navy had cornered him after the council meeting.

(“You’re doing well, young man.” The Admiral’s voice had been friendly. Zuko may have needed that after hours of hearing people discuss all the ways he wasn’t measuring up, but it was hard to keep from snapping at him. “Your father left you a mess to clean up and you’re working on that. You just need to learn to start telling people what you need. Delegate. Some of us do want to help.”)

Zuko refocused on the present when the two guards entered the dark room, both carrying flames. A third figure followed them in. 

“Is everything in place?” the figure asked. Zuko recognized General Arata’s voice. That was a bad sign. He should have been in his villa in Caldera City, asleep.

“Of course, sir. The 2nd division is encircling the palace as we speak, and Fire Sage Saito is at hand.”

“Then it’s time to fetch the Fire Lord.”

Above the ceiling screen, Zuko stopped breathing. This wasn’t just a meeting. This was a coup. And he had to sneeze. Toph was going to be so mad.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, sneezing is a process. First, there’s the sense of danger - a tickle in the nose that warns of an impending explosion. Then the sensation fades, leaving the relief of a crisis avoided. And finally, a moment or five later, when one’s guard is down, the sneeze arrives, with no time for either preparation or politeness.

Zuko was aware of this process, but eavesdropping on the start of a coup was taking up most of his attention. So when the itch in his nose subsided all he felt was relief at both avoiding detection and his ability to focus on General Okada’s orders regarding Sokka and Toph. 

“We need them alive and uninjured, but unable to bend or fight. Otherwise we’ll be lucky if that girl doesn’t pull the palace down around our ears…”

The General followed the guards out of the room, still speaking. Zuko relaxed as their voices drifted into the distance, sliding toward the ventilation shaft that kept the room from turning into a sauna.

And then the sneeze came. Loud and unmistakable and followed by a shout whose words Zuko didn’t hear because he was scrambling through the vent.

Two openings down was a room with a window. It was a tighter fit than when he was thirteen, but he could do it. Not as quickly as guards could check empty rooms, though, and he dropped to the floor, rolled, and blocked a jet of fire with a sweep of his hand. Bracing himself with his left hand, Zuko swept his leg in an arc. The guard in the doorway split the incoming flames, but by then Zuko was out the window, scrambling up the wall to the next level to disappear before the guards that flooded into the room realized he never hit the ground.

On the other side of the palace, Ryu was practically bouncing on his feet out of excitement. “So where do you think he was going?” He kept glancing toward the window the Fire Lord had disappeared through twenty minutes ago. Yuma rolled her eyes. The Fire Lord could have gone anywhere.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “But you should probably keep watching the palace until he comes back.” If anything did happen, it would be useful to know where the Fire Lord wasn’t at least. She kept scanning the dark garden.

Everything was just as quiet as before Fire Lord Zuko snuck out of his rooms, but for Yuma the overall effect had shifted from peaceful toward tense. She almost expected assassins to appear out of the darkness, looking for the missing Fire Lord. Every sound dragged on her nerves - the plop of a fish in the pond, rushes shifting in the breeze, the quiet groan of stone moving near the outer wall. Which stone shouldn’t do. She dropped into a firebending stance, ready to face the attacker, while Ryu turned away from the palace in confusion.

“You know, I get that you guys don’t want random earthbenders running around, but putting metal in foundations is just annoying.” The earthbender that stepped into view, stretching her hands, was much shorter and more familiar than any assassin.

“Toph?” Yuma relaxed back to standing. “Uh, shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Nah. I can sleep later. I don’t have morning meetings,” the literal child responded. “Are you two out here for the bet, or for work?”

“We’re supposed to be guarding,” Yuma started. 

Ryu interrupted her triumphantly. “I won the bet! He went out the window like a ghost. And Yuma saw him too so it’s official.”

“Sparky left?” Yuma couldn’t see Toph’s face very clearly in the dark, but she didn’t sound happy. “Ugh, he told me he wasn’t going anywhere tonight. I came here to drop him on the ground if he tried.” She stomped and the ground trembled.

“...Is that legal?” Ryu asked hesitantly. He’d stopped bouncing.

“It is if he deserves it.” Toph crossed her arms with a huff.

“So are you going to find him?” Yuma asked, still scanning the garden for non-Toph intruders. Nothing else was moving in the garden, but still, “We should probably get back to work.”

“I can tell you if anyone’s coming,” Toph said, probably referring to the magic foot powers half the guard said she had. “And it’d be kind of tough to track him down at this point. When he sneaks out, Sparky barely touches the ground. It’s hard to sense.”

Yuma focused on Toph. “Do you know where he might go, then?” Why wasn’t he sleeping? Why wasn’t Toph sleeping? It was night. Yuma thought that was when people slept when they didn’t have to work because of other people’s bets based on unfounded but correct beliefs.

A light appeared in the Fire Lord’s window. 

“Maybe he went back in through the door?” Ryu offered.

“What?” Toph asked, tilting her head.

“There’s a light in the Fire Lord’s room,” Yuma explained. A silhouette crossed the window. Then another. Yuma could see the shape of a helmet. Not the Fire Lord then. Her uneasiness bloomed into worry. “I think something’s wrong.”

Keiko dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, willing her mind to focus. 

“Wait, so you think the new guards that came in are going to try to take over the palace or something? Like tonight?” Sokka sounded skeptical. She could hear him starting to pace. The idea sounded less reasonable to her at this point too.

“I don’t know? Maybe not tonight, but soon…” Tomorrow? They wouldn’t wait long. After today’s vote, the Minister of Industry’s every move would be watched. He’d be lucky if the Fire Lord didn’t challenge him to an Agni Kai or find some other excuse to remove him from the council. Fire Lord Zuko had avoided those tactics so far, but at some point... Fire Lord Ozai would have imprisoned the generals for treason weeks ago. 

“Excuse me, have you seen-” Keiko dropped her hands to see a guard standing in the doorway. They bowed stiffly toward Sokka. She really should have closed that door.  “Lord Sokka,” they began again, louder, “there’s been an attack on the Fire Lord. You need to come with me.”

“An attack?” Sokka glanced at Keiko and then back to the guard. “Uh… Why don’t you go ahead? I need to finish something up here. I’ll be right behind you.” The guard didn’t move. Keiko’s stomach started twisting.

Light streamed from a doorway as a squad of guards entered the gardens. Yuma moved to meet them, Ryu a step behind her. Toph stayed in the shadows. Akeno led the group, even though Yuma knew he’d been on their normal council duty that afternoon. Apparently this was just the type of night when no one slept.

“Have either of you seen the Fire Lord?” Akeno asked briskly. Six other guards stood at attention behind him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Yuma saw Ryu glance at her. Uneasily, she started, “He left his rooms about half an hour ago.” 

Akeno nodded. “Do you know where he went? There’s been an attack. We need-” His words faltered as the earth moved.

“We need to leave now, sir.” the guard said, shifting. “I can’t let you go alone. It’s not safe.” Not that they would say what wasn’t safe. Keiko couldn’t see their expression behind the face plate, but they were facing Sokka more than her. The helmet couldn’t be good for peripheral vision, right? She slowly reached behind her toward her desk, feeling around until her hand settled on one of the weights she used to hold scrolls open.

Sokka was saying something - asking about the emergency. Keiko kept her focus on the guard. Maybe, if she could throw this right… In the corner of her eye, Sokka stiffened, then ducked.

The guard started forward as Keiko hurled the paperweight at their helmet. It hit the wall off to their left instead, in a true reflection of her throwing skill. The guard still jerked at the sound, spinning first toward the noise then back toward Keiko, with a stance that was going to leave the room in flames. Keiko had already dodged to the side when Sokka’s boomerang clanged against a helmet. The guard crumpled and Sokka sent the boomerang twirling down the aisle. There was another clang, then the sound of a falling body. 

Yuma and Ryu stared in shock at the squad in front of them. Seven firebenders buried up to their shoulders in dirt, like a new bed of overly large flowers. A garden of guards, Yuma thought hysterically.

“Toph, what-” Yuma started.

“He’s lying,” Toph said from behind them.

“Of course not.” Akeno protested, shoulders wiggling as he struggled. “Lady Toph, let us up. There are assassins. We’ll keep you safe.”

“There aren’t any assassins.” Toph countered, approaching to glare down in his direction. “And there wasn’t an attack. What do you think you’re trying to do?” Akeno set his jaw.

“What was that?” Keiko asked in a panicked whisper, checking the guard’s pulse. She’d just thrown a rock at one of the Palace Guard. And Sokka had hit them over the head and there was maybe a coup. It was a lot. Sokka ran over to the second guard, checking their pockets.

“They shot something at me,” he hissed back, before pulling out a small pouch and opening it. “Huh. Darts. I’m taking these.” He pocketed the pouch and grabbed a hollow tube off the ground to stick in his belt.

“Let’s go.” Toph started moving back toward her hole in the wall.

Yuma didn’t follow. “With you? You just sank my squad partner into the ground! I need a little more than ‘he’s lying’ before I follow you somewhere.”

“Uh… Yuma…” Ryu was edging after Toph while still watching the Fire Lord’s window. Yuma glanced up. There were more figures there, standing silhouetted against the light.

“We should go now. Before they wake up or someone else comes.” Keiko edged around the limp form in front of the doorway to join Sokka.

Sokka was still going through the guard’s pockets. “Just checking for weapons. No sword, but this guy has shuriken. Are you any good with shuriken?” 

Keiko raised her eyebrows. Had he seen her throw? “No.” With a shrug, Sokka stood.

“What are they doing?” Yuma wondered.

“I think Toph might be right.” Ryu said, shifting his feet.

“SHE’S DOWN HERE!” yelled one of the half-buried guards behind Akeno. Clearly the earth wasn’t packed tightly enough to affect his breathing. Yuma took a step back. 

“They aren’t actually going to-” she started. A burst of flame shot from the window, catching on a tree to her left and illuminating the gardens in a sudden wash of orange light.

A clatter sounded from near the library entrance, followed by a voice calling, “Jun? Kenshin?”

“Well, that way’s out,” Sokka muttered, stopping.

“We can cut through the archives,” Keiko said, trying to sound confident as she turned toward the rear of the library instead. Her hands were shaking. She could swear there were footsteps behind them. 

Sokka’s whisper echoed hopefully behind her. “Any chance you’re a firebender?”

“No.” She took a deep breath. They rounded the corner, revealing the stairs leading to the archives. A shout sounded from near her office. Keiko cursed and ran. “This is not my job.”

“Come on!” Ryu grabbed her hand and dragged her after Toph. In the light of the fire, something small streaked past Toph’s shoulder as they sprinted toward the wall.

“Toph!” An additional wash of flame appeared from the wall, cutting them off for a moment before Ryu split it with a sweep of his hand. The earthbender turned and, with a drag of clenched fists, pulled out a chunk of the wall overhanging her opening while Yuma paused to shoot a jet of flame toward the figures on the wall.

In the moment of distraction, she dove after Ryu into the shelter of the overhang and ducked past Toph into a low, sloping tunnel. “What… just happened?” Yuma gasped. Toph stomped and the moonlight disappeared.

Captain Imai woke from confused dreams to a knock on her door and a questioning voice. “Captain?” She blinked. The last time this had happened, there had been assassins and a missing Fire Lord.

Adrenaline chased the sleep from her thoughts. “Where’s the Fire Lord?” she asked sharply, sliding out of bed to pull on her armor. 

The voice outside answered hesitantly. “He’s missing, Captain.”

Not again.

Imai pulled the door open, already walking as she asked for details. “Did you check the kitchens?” Maybe this was just another tea excursion. She hadn’t told Hiro about the Fire Lord’s midnight habits. More importantly, “what’s the threat?” Lieutenant Hiro, himself, stood at her door along with four other guards. They followed while he strode alongside her toward the heart of the palace. It was not an ideal use of resources in the case of an attack, a corner of Imai’s mind observed.

“No threat. He just wasn’t there when the Kyoshi Warriors on guard checked. They found me.” Hiro gave her a considering look. “We haven’t checked the kitchens though.”

“He likes tea,” Imai said absently. She wasn’t fully awake yet, but her mind was caught on something. “One of the Kyoshi Warriors found you?” They never did that. She was almost certain that the Fire Lord’s young bodyguards knew about his late-night excursions. But they’d never approached her about it.

“Her name was Meilin, I think- She said she heard a noise from his majesty’s room. Went in to check and he wasn’t there.” Hiro was watching her as he walked. He wasn’t focused on any other threats. The other two guards were silent behind them. Internally, Imai swore.

Something was wrong.

Yuma straightened and took a deep breath. Exiting Toph’s earthbent tunnel did nothing to calm her angrily racing thoughts, but the space and added light of the permanent passages were a relief. Yuma may not have been claustrophobic but she appreciated breathing room. And the ability to stand up straight. Ryu’d been bent almost double on the downward walk. He unfolded after her with a sigh that sent shadows dancing along the walls from the flickering flame in his hand.

“So… what now?” Ryu asked. Yuma muttered a curse. The Palace Guard had drilled for lots of different situations. This was not one of them. Drills weren’t exactly helpful when your opponent did them with you. And that hadn’t just been one treacherous guard. Between Akeno’s squad, the guards on the wall, and the one’s in the Fire Lord’s rooms, there were at least twenty people involved. And if there were twenty, there were more.

(And how dare they? After six years of silently watching Ozai burn everything in his path, peace proposals were the defining line?)

On the bright side, the Fire Lord apparently did have some of the skills Ryu had bet on. And they had Toph. The earthbender was already halfway down the tunnel, well outside of the circle of light that she didn’t need. “Sparky and I made a plan. If something happens, we go to the lava cavern to plan. If the other person doesn’t come quickly enough, leave a message and move on.”

“You have a plan for if everyone started attacking you?” Ryu exclaimed, jogging after her. Yuma followed. Protecting the Fire Lord was their job. If Toph knew where he might go, it was a good first step. 

“You don’t?” Toph responded. “Aren’t you like the Fire Nation’s best guards?”

“We have plans for if anyone else attacks,” Ryu said, reasonably.

“What’s our next step if he isn’t there?” Yuma asked. The Fire Lord would have to actually move through the palace to get to the tunnels. Even with wall-climbing skills, it would be hard if half the guard was looking for him. At least one of them should probably stay with Toph to protect her, while the other...

“Then we find him.” Toph smirked in the semi-dark. “And take down anyone who gets in our way.” Or the twelve year-old could take charge. That would be great.

Technically, the situation could be worse: Sokka couldn’t hear any guards behind them, they had some idea of who was involved, and he’d stolen some possibly poisonous darts. There were still a lot of questions though. To start with, where was Zuko? And Toph? And Suki? All of his friends could take care of themselves, but the last time they’d split up for a fight, Zuko had taken a lightning bolt to the chest and Suki, Toph, and Sokka had almost taken the fast track from an airship to the ground. He’d feel much better if they could fix this together, whatever that looked like. 

Plus it would be nice to have a master firebender and master earthbender to supplement his boomerang skills and Keiko’s Fire Nation palace knowledge. Sokka had kind of assumed that every Fire Nation child learned how to fight as soon as they could walk, but apparently not everyone was Mai or Ty Lee... He needed an extra creative plan. And a backup option or four.

Keiko wove around shelves toward a row of open doors on the left edge of the archives. Sokka trailed after her, distracted from drafting plans by yet another endless collection of scrolls. No wonder Zhao had no problem with burning the Fire Nation section of Wan Shi Tong’s library - the Fire Nation probably already had copies of everything there. There were enough scrolls here for all four nations. Maybe even waterbending scrolls...

Focus, Sokka. Crisis first. He’d have to remember to ask for Katara when this was over. Assuming everything worked out and tomorrow didn’t start with a new Fire Lord.

He hoped his friends were safe.

Keiko slipped into one of the rooms and pulled the door shut behind him when he followed. A lamp flickered, illuminating a small, slightly musty space with a flat table and various tools for cutting and scraping. “It’s a restoration room,” she said, before he could ask, dropping onto the stool next to the table, “for repairing scrolls. I think we can hide here for a while.”

Perfect. That gave them time to make a plan. “So what do you think will be the least-guarded way back into the palace?” Sokka asked. “Preferably one that puts us near Zuko or the Kyoshi Warriors though those are probably being watched pretty closely…” 

“You want to go back to the palace?” Surprised at Keiko’s skeptical tone, he paused. 

“I thought we were here to plan. You know, how to find people we trust and figure out what’s going on without getting caught.”

Frustration soaked through Keiko’s voice as she gestured back toward the library. “For all we know, the entire Guard is looking for you - for both of us. Palace protocol says to shelter in place unless there’s an obvious opportunity to help the Fire Lord. That way you don’t turn into a hostage and I don’t get in anyone’s way.”

Sokka scoffed. “Nope. No way. I’m not waiting down here while my friends fight off the Palace Guard.”

“You don’t even know where they are!”

“Well, he’s not here,” Toph declared before the lava chamber was even fully in view. The open space was lit in reds and oranges by the magma bubbling threateningly in front of them. 

“So how long are you supposed to wait?” Yuma asked, already sweating in the heat. War hero or not, she felt guilty for even entertaining the idea of letting a child go back to fight in an active conflict, but Toph had forcefully rejected any suggestion of hiding. Maybe she could convince the girl to wait with the lava while Yuma or Ryu scouted ahead...

Toph cracked her knuckles and started shifting rocks. “Not long. I don’t want to miss everything. And don’t you dare try leaving me behind.” 

Resigned, Yuma nodded and turned to Ryu. “If the target is the Fire Lord, the main options I see are to find him, find allies, or just focus on eliminating the threats we run into,” she said, keeping an eye on the earthbender and the very large rocks she was moving.

“In terms of allies, we could find the Kyoshi Warriors,” Ryu suggested, also watching Toph. “Captain Imai is probably the one who knows the most about which guards might actually be loyal.” 

A few days ago, Yuma had panicked because she’d thought Akeno was questioning her loyalty for Captain Imai. Except he had clearly chosen to give his allegiance to someone else so for all she knew, he’d been trying to recruit her. By appealing to her family’s security. As if the Palace Guard’s oath to the Fire Lord only had value when his choices led to their own benefit. 

And that was… something that she was going to deal with later. She took a deep breath, mindful of her inner flame. The lava bubbled in the background, sending flickers of yellow across the red-tinged space. With another crash, Toph brought a spear of rock jutting up behind Ryu. It was a good thing they didn’t have to fight her, given the size of the formations she was moving.

“Captain Imai should be the easiest to find,” Yuma decided, raising her voice over the crash of stone on stone. She turned toward the earthbender and the newly restructured portion of the cavern. “What are you doing?”

Adding one more stone to a teetering stack of boulders, Toph objected. “We need to find Zuko. Snoozles too.” She stopped bending, cocking her head. The rocks stilled in a precarious balance. “And I’m leaving a message.” It was a lot of rocks for a message.

“I agree with Yuma,” Ryu said, while Yuma tried to guess how the different formations translated to any sort of communication. She wasn’t getting very far. “We know the Fire Lord is good at moving unnoticed, so he’s probably safe for the moment. And given the timing - Snoozles? - was probably already taken somewhere. So we should find someone who knows the Palace Guard and might have a better idea of what’s happening.”

“Fine,” Toph huffed. “We can go find your captain. But if I sense a hint of Zuko or Sokka, we’re switching directions. And I’m definitely taking out any other guards we see.”

“Sounds good to me,” Yuma muttered.

“And what do you plan on doing about the guards?” Keiko asked. Resting her head in her hands and staring at the swirls in the wooden table helped with the looming headache caused by Sokka’s various counter-coup ideas. It was late, she was running on adrenaline fumes, and her present ally seemed to think returning to the palace to fight the entire Palace Guard with a boomerang was a good idea. She should have gone to bed at a normal time.

“When we find one alone, I’ll hit them with my boomerang and ask what’s going on.” Sokka said confidently, waving said boomerang. “Probably not in that or-” The door jerked open. Keiko ducked sideways behind the table, overbalanced, and tumbled onto the floor as Sokka raised his boomerang, ready to throw it at-

“Zuko!”

“Sokka!” the Fire Lord hissed. 

“I heard something!” said a third, slightly more distant voice, followed by the crash of boots.

Keiko scrambled up before Sokka could help her, meeting the Fire Lord’s eyes. He ran a hand over his exasperated face before glancing back into the archives. “They’re coming.” He grabbed Sokka’s arm and pulled. “Come on.”

“Can’t we just close the door?” Keiko whispered as she followed them. Thankfully the chair to the floor wasn’t a long distance. Embarrassment would have to wait until later.

“The others are open.” The Fire Lord responded without looking. Keiko looked back and grimaced at the row of open doors. Maybe embarrassment could start now. 

Beyond the door, shifting shadows at the end of one of the aisles further down indicated the guards’ approach even better than the drumming of their footsteps so she sped up after the two young men, heart pounding.

The Fire Lord was fast when he wasn’t wearing his full formal robes. He led them out of the archives, down a side passage and around the corner before stopping at one of the flickering wall sconces. The pursuit remained out of sight, but Keiko could still hear them. Two quick twists of the Fire Lord’s wrists sent small jets of flame into the horn-like flourishes in the fixture. It uncurled with a quiet click and a stone panel retracted to reveal a doorway. They all ducked through into a small chamber and the door closed with a slight nudge from the Fire Lord. Keiko leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath.

“Are all the walls here hollow?” Sokka whisper-gasped.

The Fire Lord shrugged, breath still thoroughly under control. “My father added a lot of these rooms. Grandfather too, I guess. There are chambers and passages all over the palace.” This particular secret room was stacked with crates and a row of shelves along the back wall.

“Well that seems paranoid but useful.” Sokka muttered.

All three stilled at the faint clatter of movement on the other side of the door. It faded quickly.

“As long as we’re quiet, they can’t hear us,” Zuko said, moving away from the door to sit on the floor. “Azula and I tested it. We should wait here until we’re sure they’re gone.”

“Great! That gives us time to make a new plan,” Sokka whispered cheerfully as he dropped to sit cross-legged on the ground. Keiko followed, leaning against the wall, even if it was only going to be for a few minutes. The Fire Lord was here, safe in a reasonably secure location even if he’d lost his Kyoshi Warriors somehow. That made things simpler, if harder for her. 

“So first, what’s happening?” Sokka continued. “And how did you know where we were? And where’s Toph? And Suki?” 

Zuko’s first response was to tap his head against the wall with a quiet groan. Then a cough. “There’s a coup - they want to make me name a regent. General Okada and most of the guards are involved. I don’t know about Toph or Suki. Some guards said you were in the library so I came here.” Sokka’s eyebrows rose. 

Keiko felt like she was missing a few steps. Or most of them. Someone woke the Fire Lord up and warned him about the coup and… he went to the library? “What happened to your Kyoshi Warrior guards, Your Majesty?” 

The Fire Lord raised a hand to rub at the back of his neck and awkwardly glanced at Sokka before replying, “Uh, they’re probably still outside my room.” 

Sokka dropped his face into his palm with a despairing, “Zuko, I thought you told Toph...”

“It was just a weird meeting. I didn’t know they were planning this!” the Fire Lord protested.

“Wait, what?” Keiko asked, thoroughly confused.

“I didn’t exactly use the door to leave,” the Fire Lord explained without explaining anything.

“Zuko likes to climb out windows,” Sokka added, finally clarifying some things and raising a number of new questions. “Or jump. Toph likes to make her own doors. Keeping track of the two of you is impossible.” He jabbed a finger at his friend.

Wait. Meetings and climbing in and out of windows... “You’re the one who’s been leaving scrolls on my desk?” Keiko realized. No wonder those reports had had details about the council.

“You’ve been leaving notes for Keiko?” Sokka echoed. “What about?”

The Fire Lord pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s not important right now.” 

The ruler of the Fire Nation had snuck into her office through the window on multiple locations with reports on topics including conversations between people who were clearly under the impression that the Fire Lord wasn’t present. Her office wasn’t on the ground floor. Neither was his bedroom.

“We’ll come back to it. How do they think this is going to work, anyway?” Sokka mused. “What happens when Aang shows up and goes all Avatar-y on them?”

“I don’t know.” Zuko huffed, crossing his arms. “They didn’t exactly explain the whole plan to each other while I was listening.”

“That’s too bad.”

Keiko’s thoughts whirled as they bickered. So the Fire Lord snuck around the palace and listened in on potentially treasonous conversations. (When did this start? Did he train in the palace? Or did he start during his banishment?) It didn’t change much about the current moment though. He was safe for now. He had his friend to protect him. And someone needed to go warn people about the coup so they could retake the palace. Logically that would be the person who couldn’t defend the Fire Lord and wasn’t a potential valuable international hostage, even if the idea of leaving the secret storage room terrified her.

Their pursuers were gone by now and it would be better to go quickly. She waited for a break in Sokka’s rant about self-preservation to ask, “Your Majesty, do you know where I should look for your loyal guards?” Both young men just looked confused. “So I can tell them you’re safe and they can take back the palace?” 

It probably meant finding Captain Imai. Or the Kyoshi Warriors, assuming that they hadn’t been attacked or killed. The guards hadn’t tried to kill Sokka, but that didn’t mean everyone else was safe. (It didn’t mean Keiko was safe.)

“Uh… You don’t have to do that,” Fire Lord Zuko said, voice flat.

“Actually, it would be helpful...” Sokka started.

“No, that’s not-” The Fire Lord tugged on his hair. His topknot tilted precariously. “I’m not staying here. We’re going to meet up with Toph. And then we’re going back to the palace to fix this. So.” The Fire Lord met Keiko’s eyes. “You can help if you want. But you don’t have to - I’m not ordering anything.”

Keiko stared. She didn’t know what to do. “But you’re the Fire Lord? Shouldn’t you stay where it’s safe?”

“Wait, is that what Ozai would do?” Sokka asked, wrinkling his nose. “Hide while other people fought for him?”

“The Fire Nation’s supposed to protect the Fire Lord,” Keiko said. The current Fire Lord winced as she continued, “and he leads the nation to health and prosperity.”

“My father thought his safety was the most important,” Fire Lord Zuko explained to Sokka. He turned back to Keiko. “If you want to help, you could warn the Home Guard. General Okada said the second division is approaching Capital City.” He raised his voice over Sokka’s concerned ‘ what’ to add “I can tell you how to get out of the palace without running into anyone.”

“Do you know where you’re going?” Ryu asked Toph, echoing Yuma’s thoughts. The guards had all been shown a map of the underground tunnels before the eclipse and told to memorize them. She remembered approximately half of it. Protecting the Fire Lord during attacks usually meant staying aboveground. She knew the tunnels they used to move between the wings of the palace. The rest were superfluous.

Toph didn’t bother to answer the question. “Your captain’s office is close to where I found you the other day, right?”

Yuma thought about it. “It’s actually around the corner and up a flight of stairs from there. Closer to the body of the palace.” Hopefully Captain Imai was actually there.

“Close enough,” Toph decided as they approached the end of the passage. Yuma eyed the bronze fixture on what had to be a door, looking for the inevitable mouths for a firebender’s flames. Usually these doors were easier to open from the inside.

With a stomp of Toph’s foot and sweep of her arms, the stone of the door slid away revealing a metal panel that screeched as Toph crumpled it to the side. “Um…” Yuma stared. All the palace’s metal anti-earthbending defenses suddenly seemed much less impenetrable.

“You could’ve let us open that.” Ryu protested. “We can actually close it afterward.”

“Gotta remind people I can metalbend. This way they’ll be scared.” Toph said with a sharp smile. “Anyway, no one’s in this hallway right now, and don’t you want to find your captain?” She stopped and tilted her head for a moment, listening, before turning toward the stairwell.

Yuma glanced back at the remains of the door. No one could say Toph was subtle.

At the top of the stairs, Toph grabbed Ryu’s armor to stop him before he opened the door. Yuma paused behind them. “There’s some people moving in her office, but it smells like fire.” And fire meant a fight

Sokka’s ears strained for sounds of pursuit, but the tunnels were still. The search was hopefully limited to passages that were closer to the main body of the palace. Less than a year ago, he’d been racing through these tunnels to help Aang defeat the Fire Lord. Now he was with the Fire Lord and they needed to fight the people who wanted to hurt him… Life was weird sometimes.

At least Katara was safe. And Aang. As awesome as his little sister was, and as much as he would’ve appreciated her skills, Sokka didn’t want her or Aang to have to keep fighting. Ideally, none of them would have to fight, but at least Toph mostly liked it. 

And then there was Zuko. Guessing that they were safe enough for the moment, Sokka caught up to him, ignoring his aching leg. “So… uh, how are you doing with this whole coup-thing, buddy?” 

“I’m fine,” Zuko muttered, clenching his fists.

“Really?” Sokka asked skeptically. “Cause it kind of sounded like you don’t think people should fight for you...”

“I just...” Zuko didn’t speak for a moment as they kept moving. “I’m not good at this. Being Fire Lord. You know I never say the right thing. And I’ve already messed up enough that the council wants to put someone else in charge. But somehow there are people that think I’m Agni’s Chosen and I should hide while my people maybe die- And it’d be because of my mistakes.”

Sokka hummed. “This isn’t because of a mistake you made. I bet most of those guys would want to dethrone anyone who ended the war without taking over the world. And some people think you’re worth protecting. That’s a good thing! You’ve got time to show them what a good Fire Lord looks like.” Like not hiding during a crisis. That... wouldn’t go over well in the Southern Water Tribe. Fire Lord and Chief were different roles, but some things should be universal.

They were both quiet for a few minutes before Sokka wondered, “What I don’t get is, why haven’t you just replaced all of them? Like appoint a whole new, non-crazy council?” He wasn’t sure who the non-crazy people were, other than Piandao and Jeong Jeong, and really Jeong Jeong was kind of crazy and probably shouldn’t be in charge of much, but there had to be someone, right?

Zuko shrugged, eyes forward. “Uncle’s been helping me find potential people for each role but… My father replaced everyone he disagreed with. Just sent them to prison or the colonies. That’s not… I don’t think that’s what a good Fire Lord does.”

Sokka made a face. “Uh, I’m pretty sure there’s a huge difference between firing people because they disagree with you and firing people because they want to keep fighting a war you ended and are also maybe trying to kill you.”

“They’re not trying to kill me,” Zuko shot back, before pinching the bridge of his nose. He stopped as they reached the glowing cavern with its river of lava. 

“Toph was here.” 

That was just stating the obvious. Sokka had only been in the space once (running through it on the day of the invasion didn’t count) and even he could tell that a lot of rocks had moved recently. It was quiet, so Toph was gone now though. Zuko scanned the new formations. “She‘s safe. She’s with people. They went back into the palace to fight about half an hour ago.”

“That’s what all this says?” Sokka asked, looking around. There was one new spear of rock that looked like it would tip over at a touch.

Zuko pointed at a boulder on his right that had two small stones next to it and five small rocks on top. Or four and a half - one of the rocks was split cleanly down the middle. “She was going to move this if she came. Rocks on top mean time, if she knew it. Rocks to the side mean people.”

“And what’s the rest of this about?” Sokka waved at the new rock formations.

“Dramatic effect?” Zuko shrugged.

“Do you think she’s going to go for dramatic effect in the palace?” 

Zuko cringed at the thought. “We should probably hurry.” Sokka would just add that to the list: end the coup attempt fast to save the Fire Nation (and Zuko) from Zuko’s crazy council and to save the palace from Toph. 

Just keep breathing, Keiko reminded herself for the fourteen millionth time as she approached the staff residential rooms. She had a goal. With the Fire Lord’s directions, it felt like an achievable one. And a necessary one given Sokka’s reminder that the second division might have air support. Airships would negate most of the Caldera’s natural defenses. She just needed to make one stop before finding the Fire Lord’s secret tunnel.

Keiko slowly stuck her head out of the passage entrance to get a glimpse of the hall before jerking it back. There was a guard. Just one, near the end of the hallway, but there were probably more within calling distance. She wasn’t sure which door belonged to Pastry Chef Naoko, but hopefully Aunt Mariko would know. As one of the Palace Stewards, responsible for organizing banquets and balls, Aunt Mariko knew most of the kitchen staff. Her door was just across the hall anyway, which also made it the easiest destination. After waiting for five slow breaths, Keiko checked the hall again. The guard was gone. She darted across to pull open Aunt Mariko’s door and slip quietly into the room.

“Keiko?” her aunt whispered from where she was already sitting up in bed. “What spirit possessed you to leave your room tonight?” She looked frightened - eyes wide, shoulders tense, and hands gripping her blanket - not like someone who’d been peacefully asleep.

“Are you alright, Aunt?” Keiko responded. “It’s late. I’m sorry to bother you. I need to find Chef Naoko.”

“Come, sit down. You shouldn’t be out. The guard’s have come for five people in our hall alone.” Aunt Mariko climbed out of bed to give Keiko a hug and lead her to a seat on the mattress.

The guards were taking people. Keiko couldn’t- She knew- “My parents? Ami?” 

“I’m not sure.” Aunt Mariko kept an arm wrapped around her. It was comfortingly familiar after the rest of the night. “Hopefully they’re all still asleep upstairs. Like you should be. Your mother would be horrified if she knew you were wandering around the palace during a purge.” Keiko winced. 

“It’s not a purge,” she said, leaning against her aunt. “There’s a coup. They must be taking hostages.” Hostages for the Fire Lord or the staff, it didn’t really matter. A burning feeling rose in her eyes to go with the tightness in her chest and she closed them to stop the tears. It would be easy to stay here. Probably safer. But she’d told the Fire Lord she’d go, even though he didn’t expect it. Things would just get worse if she did nothing. 

She sat up straight. “The Fire Lord and his friends are going to fight, but I need to take a warning to the Home Guard and I wanted to ask Chef Naoko about the way to the Northern Admiral’s home.”

Her aunt was silent for a minute. “I knew you should have stayed a scribe.” Keiko breathed a laugh. Nothing that had happened tonight had been because of her intelligence gathering. Aunt Mariko continued, business-like now that she had a direction. “Naoko’s room is five doors down and across the hall. I’m not the best judge of sound, but I think she should still be there. Do you have a way out?” At Keiko’s nod, she gave her niece’s shoulder one more squeeze and stood, sweeping her hair up and back. “Alright then, what do you need?”

Near the throne room, Sokka stared at Zuko who stared at the clearly frightened row of staff members hemmed in by a squad of the palace guard. “So… hostages?” he whispered. 

Zuko glared. “We need a new plan.”

Chapter Text

Chef Naoko’s room was empty. 

Keiko stood in the dark, staring at the shadow that was the crumpled blanket on the chef’s empty bed, and tried to rearrange her plans. Chef Naoko was a hostage. Or just elsewhere. Keiko didn’t have time to try to warn the Admiral and the Home Guard herself, so no time to get back-up for the Fire Lord—she’d have to get to the Home Guard to warn them about the possible incoming army and hope that Sokka and the Fire Lord would stay uncaptured and find their own help. 

This was assuming that she hadn’t wasted too much time on a plan that didn’t even work and warships weren’t already landing in the city. 

She could try to wake someone else, but she didn’t remember which mansion in the Capital City housed the northern admiral and the odds of a random staff member knowing were low. Aunt Mariko had left her room just after Keiko to start sneaking the rest of the staff to the safety of the tunnels, so Keiko couldn’t go back to her for help or advice. 

Keiko was in intelligence analysis and new at it. A few months ago, she’d been a scribe with some extra analysis abilities and a bunch of random connections from growing up in the palace. She worked best with a combination of conversation and quiet time to think. Not on zero hours of sleep in the middle of a crisis, when instincts were screaming at her to get out of the way and hide. Her thoughts felt disjointed, jumping between ideas without connecting, and she closed her eyes to relieve the burning from too many hours awake and too much stress. She’d made enough mistakes for one night. All she wanted to do was finish what the Fire Lord asked, and sleep somewhere far away from guards and danger and coups.

The entrance to the Fire Lord’s secret palace exit was in the tunnel that led from the kitchens to the royal wing. It wasn’t far. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be many guards between her and the kitchens. At the least, she wouldn’t have to hide from patrols once she left the palace. 

Keiko took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and slipped back into the hallway.

“Never thought we’d do this again.” Sokka scanned the shelves of uniforms, looking for one that might fit. He was taller than last year, but the Palace Guard was clearly composed of giants and the uniforms were less forgiving than the ones for the guards at Boiling Rock. Something about the sleeves. Or the shoulder pads.

Someday, Sokka would be tall.

But for this particular disguise-and-rescue mission, he needed- “Aha!” He pulled out a long-sleeved robe that looked only slightly too large. The corresponding armor was hanging on a rack to the side. “Now we just need to find one for you.” And then dig through the boots for reasonable pairs.

“I’m not wearing that,” Zuko said flatly behind him. 

Sokka spun, robe flapping. “You’re super recognizable. Don’t you want people to not immediately know you’re the Fire Lord they’re chasing?”

Zuko huffed and crossed his arms, ignoring the looming shelves full of uniforms and equipment. “It won’t be a problem if they don’t see me.”

“Like we’ll be that lucky. You can’t stay in the rafters the whole time.”

“Not happening, Sokka.” Zuko’s jaw was set. 

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Fine. Suit yourself.” They had more important problems. 

Zuko looked ready to attack the next thing that moved - fists clenched and shoulders tense in a way that they hadn’t been when he and Sokka had first emerged from the tunnels. It was probably the hostages. Sokka felt a little sick at the idea of them too, and they weren’t his people the way they were Zuko’s.

Zuko was kind of responsible for a whole nation now—that was thousands of people to protect. Sokka had watched over his village even though Gran Gran was actually in charge, and he’d been terrified of anything happening to Aang, or Katara, or Toph under his watch… But Zuko was Fire Lord. He would be hurt if someone attacked a village in the middle of nowhere that he’d never visited, and now some of his people in the palace were in danger because of him.

Sokka sighed and started pulling on the uniform, facing a dusty wall. Zuko looked away. “We’ll get them out, Zuko. Everyone will be fine.” He hoped.

“You don’t know that,” Zuko muttered. And then after a breath, he continued, “I wanted to know who to fight. I knew- it was obvious the council didn’t approve of me. But no one would say anything actually threatening. And waiting... I thought if I sent Uncle away—made myself a target—they’d do something and I could fight back.”

Sokka turned around, adjusting the over-armor. There was something poking into his shoulder and it felt lopsided and uncomfortable. “That’s not a bad plan, for you.” Better than most of Zuko’s plans.

Zuko smirked briefly, then went back to glaring at the wall. “Mai helped. And Suki and Toph. But now I don’t even know what happened to them, or the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors or Captain Imai, or any guards who don’t want- aren’t helping, and the staff, and- and it’s my fault.” The tumbling words stopped and he rubbed a hand over his eyes. 

“Well, we know Toph’s okay.” Sokka winced and with a final useless attempt to get the shoulders to lie flat, gave up on the armor. He felt ridiculous. “Wait, where is Mai? Do we need to find her too?” 

Zuko looked up sharply and huffed a laugh that confirmed how awful Sokka’s uniform attempt was. “Mai’s fine.” He stepped forward and tugged the armor and under-armor until it lay more or less flat. Sokka relaxed gratefully. He could actually move with it like that. “She’s visiting her cousin.” But Zuko wasn’t meeting his eyes and something about his tone was off. Sokka squinted suspiciously until he added, “She was bored.”

“Ok then.” That wasn’t an answer. He’d ask again later.

When Zuko stepped back to survey his work, Sokka straightened, trying to look guard-like for a moment before slumping. “Zuko… We’ll figure this out.” And oh, he hoped Suki was safe. And Ty Lee and everyone else. “We have to do the next thing. Find the Kyoshi Warriors—or some guards that are loyal to you—so we can get the hostages. And then we’ll deal with the rest. 

“Anyway we were the first people to break out of the Fire Nation’s fanciest prison ever, so I think we can handle a coup,” he added. Zuko only snorted. 

Sokka put a hand on the frame and glanced back at his friend. “Ready?”

Zuko nodded. “Ready.”

Fighting with an earthbender as an ally was different . During training there’d been weeks devoted to recognizing earthbending assassins by stance, responding to projectiles or shifting foundations, and learning appropriate attacks to hopefully shatter an earthbent wall. 

And yet it was surprisingly easy for Yuma to slide into a rhythm alongside Toph, shooting flame darts around a stone shield, dodging as the shield split into sections that were propelled toward their opponents, dispersing an approaching flame before it could reach the blind earthbender—Yuma was almost enjoying herself.

And then it was over, the last guard crumpling as a stone glanced off their helmet while they dispersed a lash of flame from Ryu. Yuma rushed over to straighten them, and restraints slid over limp wrists with a quick shift of Toph’s foot, and Yuma remembered why they were fighting. And where.

In the aftermath, Captain Imai’s office was slightly scorched, though surprisingly intact. The biggest scars were scorch marks on the panels and a few new holes in the floor to create the rock cuffs for their new captives, but those were presumably fixable. Toph had clearly avoided splintering the wood panels by bending from the wall. 

Theoretically the panels existed to hinder earthbending, but at this point Yuma doubted any of the defenses were Toph-proof. 

The majority of their opponents were unconscious, but the two who had been waiting beside the door were still aware. It had been easy for Toph to encase their feet and hands in stone before they realized that line of sight was meaningless to the blind girl’s feet. There was no sign of Captain Imai. 

Yuma took a steadying breath before moving. They couldn’t be the only ones fighting. “Ryu, check the desk.” Toph was already approaching the conscious guards. Yuma followed her. 

There probably wasn’t anything useful in Captain Imai’s desk, but the normally meticulous order had been replaced by a pile of half-open scrolls and papers. If the traitorous guards had been looking at specific briefings, she wanted to know.

“Are you two really fighting against your people?” The guard on the left sneered preemptively. His companion glanced at him, mouth thin. Yuma could hear papers crinkling in Ryu’s grip behind her.

“You aren’t fighting for the Fire Nation,” Yuma responded flatly. He looked vaguely familiar. Katsu, she thought. One of the reserves. She’d seen him playing cards in the courtyard, laughing loudly when he won a hand.

Not that he was laughing now, instead snorting as he pulled against the stone wrapped around his hands. “Your Fire Lord is just following his uncle’s orders. The uncle who just handed back our greatest victory. My brother died outside of Ba Sing Se. And now they want to give everything else away to some conspiracy group touting balance.

“A power grab isn’t going to fix anything,” Yuma shot back.

“Listen, firebreath,” Toph joined in, cracking her knuckles. “No one’s giving anything away like that. Now I’ve got questions and you’re gonna answer them. Where is Zuko?” 

“What? You don’t want to hear-”

“No one knows - we were here to see if he would come looking for help from Captain Imai.” The interjection came from the guard on the right.

“Jun, you idiot. Shut up,” Katsu growled, glaring across the gap. The other guard didn’t look at him. 

“Then where’s Captain Imai?” Ryu asked from behind them where he was sifting through the stone fragments on the floor. He picked up a few of the smaller ones before standing. “And the rest of the Guard?”

It didn’t take much intimidation from Toph to inspire Jun to spill everything. Not that it was a hopeful everything—Captain Imai locked away, along with the Kyoshi Warriors, half the Guard drugged and unaware of the danger (and why had they been drinking when the palace was on alert?), and a potential incoming army. But. At least the Fire Lord was safe. So far. Hiding somewhere, hopefully. They just needed to find him and get him out of the palace before getting help from the Home Guard. And convince everyone that he wasn’t being controlled by his uncle and a conspiracy group.

And then fight a civil war, probably. Without the Fire Lord, the rogue guards and ministers would lose most of their credibility, but given the numbers it would be hard to reclaim the palace. The Home Guard would drive them out eventually, but- but it would be more fighting.

“Does everyone feel that way about Uncle and the White Lotus?” Toph’s question broke through Yuma’s spiraling thoughts as they left the office. 

“A lot of people do,” Ryu said. The rumors that had rushed through the Guard after Sozin’s Comet and the Battle of Ba Sing Se had been confused and probably impossible, but most of them agreed that Iroh was leading a new group that wanted to control all the nations with the Avatar as their enforcer. After all, world domination ran in the family, even if the others were more overt about it. Having Zuko take on the role of Fire Lord instead did little to convince people otherwise.

Toph wrinkled her nose. “I told Uncle they needed to be clearer about that.”

“That’s obviously not how they operate.” Captain Imai had a headache. It was only tangentially related to the experience of being chi-blocked. The direct cause stood in front of her, trying one more time to convince her of the validity of the coup. It was ridiculous.

“So the Fire Lord just intentionally sent his uncle to meet up with his fellow conspiracists?” Lieutenant Hiro asked incredulously. Captain Imai thumped the back of her head against the wall, thankful that her neck worked. There were pins and needles running up and down her arms and legs, and she could twitch her fingers if she focused, but it wasn’t enough yet. When she could move, the door would be complicated, but she would figure something out. First, she needed the lieutenant to leave and go back to his self-righteous attempt to overthrow the government. 

“The old man is fooling you,” Hiro continued when she didn’t respond. “This is our last chance to separate Fire Lord Zuko from his and his group's influence before the conference commits the Nation to an unsustainable course.”

“Did you pay any attention to the reports from the day of Sozin’s Comet?” Imai bit out. 

“When General Iroh and the White Lotus stayed in the safety of the Earth Kingdom while children attacked Fire Nation royalty for them?” Hiro sneered. ‘I’m familiar.”

“When the White Lotus had no plans to attack the Phoenix King or the Princess even if those children didn’t appear.” Not the actions of a group trying to concentrate power, even to hand it off to others. The White Lotus sent six children to fight Princess Azula and a Comet-enhanced Phoenix King with his airship fleet while two dozen adult master benders took on the task of freeing Ba Sing Se. In many ways it was an awful strategy, but the group had intentionally stayed as far from a move to claim power in the Fire Nation as possible. Not to mention that Imai couldn’t see any attempt at international manipulation involving King Bumi resulting in anything other than a quick and obvious catastrophe…

If only walking away were an option. Hiro wouldn’t listen to her. Closing her eyes was as close as Imai could get to not hearing his responding circular arguments. 

“If you’re so intent on misreading the situation,” he eventually determined, probably realizing that he had other things he should be doing, “I’ll be back after we’ve found the Fire Lord and installed his new regent. You mentioned he visits the kitchens, right?”

“I’m sure he’ll be right where you expect,” Imai muttered as Lieutenant Hiro finally left. If he was supposed to lead the Guard when the regency took effect, his time management skills would need significant improvement. Her annoyance faded with his footsteps and regret took its place. They’d started a coup - one staffed by her decision to call the Reserves to the Palace. The Fire Lord was in danger because of her. After weeks of talking about loyalty and carefully watching the ranks of the Guard, to be the one-

“Ugh, I thought he’d never leave.”

Imai’s eyes blinked upen as she jerked to a stand. Oh, her legs did work again. Mostly That was good. She swayed slightly, catching herself with an arm on the wall. And there was a young woman outside the cell. 

Make that multiple young women. And-

“Secretary, do you have the lockpicks?” The bright voice belonged to Ty Lee. The Kyoshi Warriors were outside the room. 

“Of course.” Secretary Ito’s face appeared at the door. “Hello, Captain. Ty Lee will have you out in a moment.”

Imai raised an eyebrow. “You brought lockpicks?” 

“Well, there was an altercation outside my office so I did have a bit of warning,” Secretary Ito confessed as the lock clicked and Ty Lee gave a quiet cry of triumph.

“Apparently Sokka and Undersecretary Keiko knocked out a couple guards before disappearing.” And that was Suki pulling the door open. Imai emerged to find a cluster of out-of-uniform Kyoshi Warriors standing behind Suki and Secretary Ito. 

Ty Lee smiled brightly from her other side, looking only slightly less cheerful than when she’d first started visiting the Palace to play with the young princess and her brother. “It’s a lot easier to get these doors open with actual picks. I just had my hairpin earlier.” 

“We should keep moving,” Suki said, leading the way away from the interrogation cells and toward the heart of the palace.

“So what do we know?” Captain Imai asked, falling in next to her. It was time to take back the Palace and find the Fire Lord.

The halls were empty. This made it easier to slip unseen down to the tunnel beneath the Palace walls, but Keiko’s unease grew with every corner because obviously there had to be guards at some point. And she wasn’t exactly trained in stealth. The entire staff knew the importance of fading into the background in the presence of nobles and powerful people. But most of the nobles didn’t notice the staff unless they were in the way. Attention was significantly more difficult to avoid in the midst of a coup occurring between midnight and sunrise, when guards were on alert for any movement. Theoretically. Wherever they’d all gone.

Despite the urge to jump at every shadow, she’d made it most of the way. There was just one more hallway and a stairwell before the tunnel. Yes, the hall did have four empty doorways where someone might be lurking, and an intersection that a guard could come through at any point, but Keiko was almost out of the palace. And a glance confirmed that this hall was just as empty as the others. 

Was the coup over ?

That wasn’t a comforting thought. It brought images of the Fire Lord on his knees in the throne room, generals looming, as a counterpoint to the imagined scenes of guards suddenly appearing in Keiko’s path and lashing out with fire.   

Keiko pushed both scenarios away, but waited an extra minute just in case a guard was about to turn the corner before starting down the hall, trying to ignore the uncertainty curdling in her stomach. 

Maybe their group could have benefitted from a more stealthy approach, Yuma admitted to herself as Toph sent stone flying at their new assailants. Less noise, or less of a trail... They’d barely left the guard captain’s office before Toph had hissed a warning and a whole squad appeared, flames ready. And then twenty minutes later there was another one.

Thankfully Ryu was one of the best in the Guard at firebending in close quarters. And Toph seemed to be enjoying herself, as evidenced by the growing smirk Yuma could see out of the corner of her eye.

Well, mostly enjoying herself. “What is even the point of these?” A grimace replaced the smirk as Toph tore up a section of the steel grid that lay beneath the floor tiles.

“To slow down earthbenders mostly,” Yuma replied, watching the metal wrap around an unconscious guard’s legs. “Clearly they don’t work.”

She had to pivot away to deflect a fire jet, but Toph’s snort was still audible. “They’re just annoying .”

Sokka could see why Zuko thought no one would catch him. The dude was practically a ghost. Not having super epic stealth powers, Sokka just walked down the hall trying not to be seen and to look normal on the off-chance he was spotted. Zuko, on the other hand, would disappear silently ahead, often in the shadows of the rafters in the larger halls that had them, before reappearing to warn Sokka of an upcoming patrol or to direct him down a new corridor. His voice was getting rougher, and a few times he paused to cough when he appeared, but it didn’t seem to affect his silence in stealth mode.

As they got closer to their destination, he started sticking closer until they finally reached a quiet hall. “The interrogation rooms are down the hall and just around this corner. According to the guard, that’s where they should be.”

Sokka nodded. Two people wouldn’t be enough to break up a hostage situation, but hopefully with Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors- “Ok, you do your sneaky thing. I’ll go when the torches flair. The guards will notice me when I show up, and then you can surprise them from behind so they don’t have time to shout about the Fire Lord or something.” 

Zuko’s agreement was just a short nod before he melted into the darkness. 

He was pretty sure they were in the same wing as the kitchens. Maybe they could stop for water or tea for Zuko’s throat, if there was time. He’d suggest it after, Sokka decided, settling in to wait for the signal to break his girlfriend out of a cell. Again. 

“You guys aren’t half bad at this,” Toph declared, nudging Ryu’s arm as they left the scene of the fight, attackers unconscious and restrained with stone or metal.

“Thanks,” Yuma said without rolling her eyes. Guards weren’t trained to royal firebending levels, but still… “It is our job. You know-” 

She cut off when the earthbender stopped. “There’s another group ahead,” Toph muttered. 

Yuma winced. Another fight already... If whoever was in charge was sending this many people after Toph-

Well, either they were the only ones fighting, or there were a lot more enemies than Yuma had estimated.

“We should switch floors after this. Go up,” she decided. Up would take them away from the palace’s interrogation cells, which were an obvious next destination. It was also away from the royal chambers or any of the meeting spaces, where the coup was probably centered. Hopefully that would earn them a little breathing room, if Toph didn’t leave a clear trail.

Ryu agreed. “This should only take a minute.” He stepped forward as Toph took a step back.

“There are more behind us.” She grinned dangerously. “I’ll take care of them.” And then she was running back the way they’d come.

“Toph, wait!” Yuma cursed. That was not a plan.

“Did you lose your earthbender?” And that voice should have stayed half-buried in the gardens. She turned to see Akeno, uniform streaked with mud. “That’s unfortunate.”

The kitchens were dark as Keiko passed, only a faint glimmer of red from the stoves catching in her eye in the gaping blackness. She still paused at the edge of the entrance, before darting across. Her mind was making shapes out of shadows. It almost looked like-

Something stung her arm. And despite the smoothness of the floor, she stumbled. 

Her legs didn’t seem to be working right. Her arms didn’t either, fumbling uselessly as she fell. And then she was lying on cool stone with a view of a dart sticking out of her sleeve and she couldn’t move. Already racing, her heart picked up speed at the sound of a movement and footsteps from the kitchens.

“You’re not the Fire Lord.” A disappointed sigh accompanied the words.

The plan had not included Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors breaking out before their arrival. In retrospect, it was an obvious mistake. A group of guards checking on the (now-absent) prisoners right as Sokka had this revelation was just icing on the complication cake.

Thankfully, Zuko had ducked into the shadows before they rounded the corner.

“So I was just checking on the prisoners—except they’re gone! You’d better go tell someone about that…” Sokka babbled, extremely aware of the two chi-blocked guards in the otherwise empty cell behind him. The leader of the squad in front of him frowned. Wherever Zuko was watching, he probably wasn’t impressed either.

“You one of Akeno’s people?” The guard asked, skeptically.

“Yes,” Sokka decided, because that was a leading question if he’d heard one. “The name’s Wang. Wang Fire.” The quiet sound he heard might have been a palm hitting a face. 

“How long did it take to dig you out?” Ryu asked conversationally, fidgeting with the stones he’d picked up in Captain Imai’s office. Yuma narrowed her eyes, stepping forward. There were only four guards behind Akeno. Two had weapons, so probably nonbenders. Five on two without Toph would be difficult, but… doable. 

“Not long,” Akeno said, confident now that Toph wasn’t in sight. Yuma adjusted her stance in response to Ryu’s body language, keeping his frame in the corner of her eye. “You know,” Akeno continued, “if you surrender now, I can take you to wait out the rest of the night with Arai. He didn’t want to socialize with the rest of us - I guess he was planning on surprising you.”

Yuma snarled, but Akeno didn’t have time to notice because before his sentence ended Ryu had doused the lamps and they both launched into movement. Yuma wouldn’t let herself feel or think as she jumped to the side, sending a bright dart of fire towards Akeno’s location and another toward the swordsman who’d been flanking him. 

There was a clatter as one of Ryu's rocks hit metal. “The earthbender!” A panicked shout echoed ahead of them accompanied by a wild wave of flame. Yuma dropped to roll underneath it rather than reveal her position. There was just enough light as she came up to take in the two collapsed forms and a mass of movement. Three on two would be easy. She stalked forward, fire in hand.

“So why were you running around at this time of night?” The person asked, leaning over Keiko. It was a guard, of course. Another one stood behind him. They couldn’t know she knew about the coup—or that she.d been with the Fire Lord—so there was no reason for Keiko’s mind to jump to threats or torture or all the dark possibilities. It did anyway. Apparently paralysis strengthened terror.

“Getting tea,” she managed in response. Her mouth worked better than her limbs, but words were still hard. Her mind was racing though - panicked and rushed and jumping from torture to lists of poisons that she’d read about for that one credible threat months ago—so not a sedative, just paralysis. Shirshu venom, probably. 

A dart. They’d shot darts at Sokka in the library and he’d taken the pouch. 

That wouldn’t be much help for Keiko at this point.

“There’s no Wang Fire with Akeno.”

Sokka shrugged with an attempt at nonchalance. “I joined late. The pitch was compelling.”

These guards had abandoned the faceplates, so their judgmental skepticism was obvious. Or maybe it was just Sokka’s nerves. Now would be a good time for Zuko to sweep in and take out the group before they noticed what was happening. Sokka would start, but he’d given Zuko his boomerang for disguise purposes.

“You’re going to have to wait with the others.” Or actually...

“Others?” Sokka stalled, trying to subtly signal Zuko to wait as two of the guards moved behind him to check on their friends in the locked cell. Suki wasn’t here, but if they wanted to lead him to these others…

The lead guard gestured for Sokka to move forward. “You can walk, or Eka here can stick you with a dart and we can carry you.” Next to him, another guard waved a familiar stick thing. It looked a lot like the one in Sokka’s belt, the one he’d grabbed at the beginning of this mess along with a pouch of darts.

So maybe there were two silver linings to this mess, Sokka decided as he let the group lead him away, assuming Zuko would follow. A silver sandwich , if you will.

“Toph’s gone.”

Yuma’s stomach dropped through her feet to the center of the earth as she caught up to Ryu. “What?” 

Akeno was unconscious, with the rest of his squad. Yuma had tried to think of a way to restrain them, but without Toph there weren’t many options and they were in a hurry so with a final check that everyone was unconscious—not dead—she’d given up, following Ryu to another groaning, trapped group of guards. Toph had pulled up the metal rods beneath the tile to pin them in place, but there was no other sign of the earthbender.

“It’s a full squad, they couldn’t-” But maybe there’d been another group. Maybe they had some weapon Toph couldn’t sense.

They’d lost the Fire Lord’s friend in the middle of a coup. "We have to find her."

This was not going well.

Chapter Text

“You lost Toph!”

Yuma groaned at Ryu’s accusation. Backtracking to look for any new signs of earthbending took longer without Toph to warn them of incoming troops. “I didn’t lose her. There’s a full squad restrained back there. She’s just gone.” 

So far the debris from their earlier fights were undisturbed, and still no Toph or extra guards or anyone. Rather than finding Fire Lord Zuko, they’d lost his friend in the middle of a coup. Captain Imai would not be happy. The Fire Lord would not be happy. Yuma turned to eye the nearest stairs. “Do you think she left this level?” Yuma had suggested going up before they’d split.

“Maybe…” The skepticism of the drawn out word rang in the empty space. And then it was replaced by the sound of steps on the stairs and a high, strained voice echoing up the stairs. 

“Shouldn’t we be warning someone about the escaped prisoners? I can totally get back on my own. Akeno’s probably looking for me...” 

Yuma and Ryu ducked to either side of the doorway, listening. Thankfully the sound faded as the group exited on a different floor. 

“That didn’t sound like any guard I know…” Ryu mused. And if Toph had gone up- in silent agreement they both followed the group up the stairs as quietly as possible. 

If Toph had been in the gardens, like Secretary Ito suggested, she was definitely in the palace now. The crumpled formerly secret door made that pretty clear. The group of groaning, restrained guards they stumbled upon a few minutes later in the battered remains of a hallway just made it clearer. Captain Imai pitied the people who would have to clean up the damage. Suki’s smile was small compared to Ty Lee’s bright grin, but they were clearly unsurprised.

Secretary Ito gestured at the walls where overlapping scorch marks inspired a distant sense of pity for whoever would have to clean in the aftermath. “There’s at least one firebender with her.” 

“I don’t know where the Fire Lord is-” Keiko cut herself off. She couldn’t quite move yet, but apparently the floor could. It felt like an earthquake.

“Wow. This seems even  less fair close up,” a belligerent young voice interjected. The guard dropped out of Keiko’s line of sight with a clatter of metal against stone. More noises followed - the sounds of rocks moving and people falling - but all Keiko could see when she turned her head were trapped people and deformed rock.

“Are you okay?” A barefoot figure stepped into her line of sight. The only earthbender in the palace, obviously. Toph.

Keiko almost sighed in relief. “I’ll be fine. I just can't move. They had shirshu darts.”

Since she was still stuck on the ground, Toph loomed over her as she asked, “So I could tell you were lying. Where is Zuko?”

“But really- hey!“ Sokka’s protests were finally cut off by a hard shove into a large, dim room. The door slammed behind him.

There were far fewer than the fifty fully awake, totally pro-Zuko guards he’d been hoping for, but still enough to be helpful. Otherwise, the situation wasn’t too bad. 

“Uh, hi everyone.” He waved weakly at the small cluster of tired-looking people in front of him. “So I have a bag of shirshu darts. Do you think we can take out the guards before Zuko shows up to break us out?”

Ryu eyed the guarded door through which the short, presumably-imposter guard had disappeared, then pulled back around the corner. “This would be a lot easier with Toph.”

“We’ll find her after,” Yuma responded. It was probably the wrong choice, but if Toph had been caught, they’d have backup. And then they could take out the threats and save the Fire Lord.

Assuming this went smoothly, of course.

“What do you know about Toph?”

Smoothness was a myth. Yuma jerked around, arms coming up in a defensive stance before she realized just whose voice she’d heard.

“Your Majesty?” 

Fire Lord Zuko stood in the shadows, as if there wasn’t a manhunt for him sweeping through the palace, poised to strike. “Where is she?”

“Uh… we don’t know,” Ryu explained in a rushed whisper. “She was with us. Or we were with her. And she was fine, but we split up-” Fire Lord Zuko relaxed as Ryu rushed through the story, allowing Yuma to take in his dust-streaked clothes and messy hair.

“Were you in the ceiling?” she blurted out, even though that wasn’t the important thing. “We need to get you to a safe location.” The protocol for finding the Fire Lord in a hostile palace left little extra room for rescue missions.

“No, we’re getting Sokka and whoever else out of that room.” Fire Lord Zuko’s decision was more vehement than Toph’s had been back by the lava.

“Oh, that’s who that was.” Ryu said, before adding “Yuma’s right though-”

“I said no-” A crash cut off his response. The Fire Lord disappeared into the shadows like a ghost, and Yuma tried to focus on the current, dangerous situation rather than the neverending gloating she was going to hear from Ryu when this was all over. He was already grinning as he spun back toward their target.

Said target was now a broken door, scattered limp guards, and a cluster of unarmored, familiar guards led by an unfamiliar smiling young man who was much shorter than everyone around him. The Fire Lord dropped down in front of him.

“Zuko! Look, shirshu darts!”

“You can’t even walk yet. And we don’t need help. I’ve taken out a bunch of guards already. And since you know where Sparky was going, we can meet up.” Toph did not agree with Keiko’s “get help” plan. Given that Keiko was currently propped up in an earthbent chair that Toph was dragging along, she didn’t have much say in the matter. 

Keiko could shift her fingers and toes, but coordinated motion still eluded her. Running around Capital City was certainly out of her reach at the moment.

At least she’d gotten Toph to grab the guard’s blowgun and darts. They might be useful. Keiko’s aim with a blowgun couldn’t be worse than with her arm.

“But the army-”

“Zuko was probably just trying to get you somewhere safe. That division isn’t going to be a problem,” Toph said. Keiko wished she had that much confidence. “If you’re worried about the hostages, I can probably unbalance all the guards before they even know what’s happening. And-” She paused, Keiko’s chair stopping beside her, and then grinned. “And we’ll have plenty of help!”

Arai peeled off from the crowd toward Yuma and Ryu while the Water Tribe boy regaled the Fire Lord with a dramatic retelling of their breakout. “I take it the bet’s been resolved?” 

Yuma shrugged, trying to ignore Ryu’s grin. “Why aren’t you passed out with everyone else?”

Arai’s smile turned rueful. “Akeno was never really someone I wanted to drink with. And then Genji passed out after only two drinks and I realized something was off. Not that it helped.”

“So how many non-drugged guards do you think we can wake up, Arai?” Sokka asked, pulling them into the important conversation. Other than his height, the young man almost looked normal in the uniform. Yuma was reluctantly impressed. 

Arai made a face. “It depends on how long you want to spend trying to wake people up. There are about five more that I know of, but I wasn’t keeping track of everyone.”

“They have hostages,” the Fire Lord said, “We need to go soon.” Arai nodded, and took two of the guards who’d been locked in with him to start waking the others.

“Your Majesty, we need to get you somewhere safe,” Yuma protested.

“Suki!”

The shout just barely preceded a charging earthbender dragging a… chair? A chair with a person in it. Captain Imai squinted in confusion. She thought Undersecretary Keiko had been with Sokka.

“Toph!” Suki’s response was excitedly hopeful. “You’re okay!” 

“Of course I am,” Toph said, “They’d need a lot more guards to take me out.”

“Ooh, did you get chi blocked?” Ty Lee asked, poking at Keiko’s shoulder.

“No, shirshu darts,” Keiko replied. Secretary Ito moved up to check on her, worry evident on his face. “I think I can almost move now though.” 

“Eh, don’t worry about it yet,” Toph said with a wave. “What are you all up to?”

Sokka - did he have a title? Yuma would find out when the crisis was over - stroked his chin. “Fifteen people probably isn’t enough for a full frontal attack on the throne room without hurting the hostages…”

“I’ll go in first,” Zuko offered. Yuma gaped, appalled, as he continued, “see if I can get Minister Oba to free everyone. Or distract them. Then-”

“No!”

“That’s a dumb plan.” Yuma’s horrified objection and Sokka’s dismissal overlapped to cut off Fire Lord Zuko’s frankly ridiculous suggestion.

On the sidelines, Ryu’s face brightened. “I have an idea.”

“So the Fire Lord might be waiting at your rendezvous point?” Captain Imai asked hopefully.

Keiko grimaced. “He and Sokka were going to go after the leaders after.” Imai's hopes dropped.

Suki rolled her eyes. “Of course they were.”

Ty Lee nodded. “Zuko doesn’t usually wait.”

“Or have self-preservation instincts,” Suki muttered.

Imai closed her eyes and swallowed her exasperation. “He went to the throne room?” 

“Probably.”

This was an idiotic plan. Arai knew it. Yuma knew it. Ryu’s changing expression in response to the Fire Lord’s amendments to his suggestion showed he was finally on his way to knowing it. The only ones who seemed unaware of the plan’s myriad issues were the Fire Lord and the Water Tribe teenager.

It was too late to try another argument. Yuma’s protests, Arai’s eyebrows, and Ryu’s drawn out “um…” had all fallen on deaf ears, and now Yuma and Ryu were escorting Sokka into the throne room, while five of Arai’s non-drugged guards followed them. 

Yuma adjusted her grip on Sokka’s arm and tried not to let her nerves show. 

There were more than thirty guards scattered around the throne room. Some loomed over a group of kneeling people who had to be the hostages. Others clustered around the three entrances, on alert for an attack. The closest group shifted, whispering, at the sight of the Fire Lord’s Water Tribe friend being led past them, toward the platform where the leaders of the coup had gathered next to the throne. There was a scribe at the desk, staring. From her sleeping robe Yuma doubted she was there willingly.

General Okada noticed them first, freezing in the middle of what had looked like angry pacing. “Finally.” It looked like he’d been running his hands through his hair, and his mustache was a chewed-upon mess. Minister Oba and General Arata looked up from where they’d been consulting a Fire Sage. Lieutenant Hiro snapped to attention. 

“Sir. We found the Water Tribe boy,” Yuma announced as the trio stopped in front of the stage. 

Beside her, Sokka glared at its occupants. “You know this is going to mess up the ceasefire, right? Attacking a Water Tribesman and the Avatar’s friend. Best friend, even. It’s not a good look.”

Minister Oba’s gaze swept over the makeshift squad and their prisoner, taking in the signs of struggle that Sokka had insisted would be necessary to make the ruse believable. From the way the minister’s eyes lingered on the small rips and the dent in one man’s helmet, he was right. Finally, he spoke, but not to Sokka. “Thank you, guardsmen, but please, release him. We don’t want to restrain our allies. Especially not the Fire Lord’s non-bending friend.” Yuma dropped her hold and stepped away. On Sokka’s other side, Ryu did the same. She hoped her hands weren’t visibly shaking.

“Obviously the world knew I’d be too much of a threat if I could bend,” Sokka said, dismissing the minister’s condescension. “So what’s all this about? I was just doing some late-night research when your guards started shooting things at me.” 

“We were hoping you could join us for a ceremony with your friend, the Fire Lord, this morning” Minister Oba said pleasantly.

Sokka smiled in response and made a show of looking around. Yuma kept her eyes forward, resisting the urge to look too. “I’d love to. But it doesn’t look like he’s here.” 

General Okada snarled at him, stomping forward, “Where is he, you backwater child?”

Sokka kept his posture loose, relaxed, and tried not to let his heart pound out of his chest. “No idea. That seems like something you should’ve figured out before starting this process.” The general’s face was turning purple. He could do this. It was just talking. Talking was Sokka’s specialty, just like sneaking around unseen was Zuko’s. He just had to talk enough to infuriate them and keep their attention without actually provoking firebolts.

The problem with fire bending - or all bending - was that it was a ranged attack. And the problem with the throne room was that it was huge . Sokka knew this. He’d been there before. He’d planned an attack on this palace before. But his previous attack plans had focused on taking out a single target on the throne, rather than multiple groups including one group with hostages that was way too far from the entrance for Zuko’s loyal guards to attack before the entire room was aware of their presence. Even if they took out the four guards surrounding the hostages, there were still other people within fire dart range.

This wouldn’t have been an issue at home. 

However, if someone hypothetically drew everyone’s attention to the front of the room, and someone else hypothetically knew how to creep through the shadowed rafters of the throne room’s high ceiling until they were in position above the hostages and their guards… 

Zuko launching himself from one of the columns was silent. The crash of the two guards he tackled on the way down was not.

Not that Sokka saw the move. He was too busy grabbing his boomerang from one of his helpful escorts. One of the others shot a shirshu dart and Sokka’s eyes followed it to see the collapse of the only guard reaching for a scrambling hostage while the Fire Lord took out the fourth of that cluster with a careful burst of flame and a kick. 

Relieved, Sokka whirled to fling his boomerang at Minister Oba, who was staring slack-jawed in the direction of Zuko and his chaos. Sokka had to throw himself to the side before it returned to avoid a jet of fire from a furious General Okada and when he came upright again the Minister was fighting Ryu, so it couldn’t have been more than a glancing impact. Yuma and the rest of his escort were engaging General Arata and another guard. 

The glint of his boomerang in the firelight caught Sokka’s eye. It was embedded in a pillar slightly too far away to easily grab, but he didn’t have a sword. “Always bring a sword,” he muttered, ducking behind the nearest column. Even for midnight trips to the library.

The sounds of fighting echoed throughout the room, so Arai and the rest of the loyal guards had probably joined in, and he could see Zuko charging toward the throne with a glare. With a deep breath, he dove toward the other pillar and boomerang, avoiding a blast to wrench his favorite weapon free and turn back- 

There was a shout. Ryu had dropped, a burn cutting across his leg. And to the side, Minister Oba was gripping a woman by the arm, fire jet angled toward her throat. Sokka froze, stomach roiling.

“Your Majesty,” the Minister’s voice rolled out above the fighting. Zuko had frozen, face white, focused on the fire at the woman’s neck. “This unpleasantness has to stop.”

There had to be a way out. Sokka’s eyes jumped between the standing combatants. Yuma, left arm limp, with two other guards in a standoff with General Arata. General Okada, eyes fixed on Sokka. The Fire Sage was cowering behind the throne. The fighting in the rest of the room was stilling.

“You want me. Let Ami go,” Zuko bit out, stalking forward. Sokka started, taking another look at the woman. It was Ami, Keiko’s scribe friend from the other night. She looked rumpled and frightened. Sokka felt sick. He was the plan guy. There were enough people, they just needed another distraction.

“Your Majesty, no,” Yuma cautioned, eyes flickering toward Zuko and back to General Arata. On the ground, Ryu shifted, ready to get back to his feet.

“Appoint me your regent before Fire Sage Saito and Agni, and I will,” Minister Oba offered. “Otherwise…” He trailed off, shifting the angle of his flame in obvious threat. 

Behind him, the wall burst open.

The wood panelling splintered at the force of earthbent stone as Toph stomped into the room, crowing “What’s up, people?” 

Keiko followed at the rear of the group that streamed into the throne room, gripping her shirshu blow darts and trying to ignore the nervous pounding in her head as she took in the chaos. 

Captain Imai was lunging forward to get between the Fire Lord and the stream of fire General Okada had shot to take advantage of his distraction. The Kyoshi Warriors had streamed in around her, fans out, splitting up to take on the remaining guards scattered around the room, while Toph turned at the Fire Lord’s shout of “Toph! Hostages!”. Out of the corner of Keiko’s eye, a barrier rose, sheltering the rest of the would-be hostages from the increasing conflict.

There was too much going on - noise and movement and smoke - and in the midst of it all, Minister Oba regained his feet, blood running from a cut on his forehead, and pulled Ami up after him. Keiko’s heart stopped.

The Minister met the Fire Lord’s eyes, and relit his fist. 

And froze, before collapsing limply to the ground with a dart sticking out of his sleeve. Ami stared at his body for one frozen moment before darting away from the battle. The blowgun dropped from Keiko’s fingers, and the Fire Lord surged forward to join the fight against the vastly outnumbered General Arata, Captain Imai at his side. Keiko sagged against the remains of the wall.

Her aim was better a blowgun than her arm. Thank the spirits. She was never doing this again.

The sound of fighting had finally stopped. Sokka grabbed Suki in a tight hug before looking over the aftermath. “You’re okay.” He’d hoped, but after last time… Everyone in the Gaang had almost died so many times, at some point they’d run out of chances. 

Suki held on wordlessly for a moment, letting go just in time for Toph to punch him in the arm.

“That’s for starting without us, by the way.”

Zuko stood nearby, rubbing his own arm, wincing. “Sorry, Toph.” His eyes slid over to the splintered wood surrounding the new gaping hole in the wall. “Did you have to destroy the wall?” 

Toph rolled her eyes. “I was saving your life. Plus you needed a back door.”

Zuko raised his eyebrows and pointedly shifted his weight toward the actual back door on the other side of the throne. Toph smirked. “A better back door.”

Sokka scanned the room. Captain Imai was hovering behind Zuko as Loyal guards cuffed General Arata, who was slightly the worse for wear. Minister Oba’s hands were already cuffed and someone had helpfully propped him against the wall since he still couldn’t move. General Okada-

“Where did the other general go?” he blurted. Suki stiffened. Captain Imai’s head snapped around and she cursed.

Sokka sprinted out of the throne room, toward the palace entrance, Suki beside him. Others followed. Okada wasn’t the worst of the group, but if he got away after everything-

Okada hadn’t gotten away. Not that Sokka noticed at first as he stumbled to a stop. The giant airship between the palace and the outer wall in the gray dawn took up all his attention and the figure pinned to the wall at the top of the stairs barely registered.

“You almost missed one, Zuko,” a woman drawled in monotone.

“Mai! You’re here!” Ty Lee’s voice drowned out Sokka’s spluttering as she shot forward to hug her friend.

Mai loosely returned the hug, with an “Ugh, hi,” and the flash of a smile before looking back toward Zuko. “The division decided not to support the coup. Oh, and they’ll surrender their illegal airships” There was a slight emphasis on not , made more obvious by the fact that the rest of the statement sounded like she was talking about the weather.

“That’s where you were?” Sokka’s spluttering continued. Suki patted his arm, and he took a second to be offended by her lack of surprise.

Zuko stepped down to meet Mai with a short kiss and a long, tight hug. His quiet “thank you” hung in the air for a moment before Mai pulled away, blushing slightly.

“You knew this was going to happen?” Sokka squawked. His friends winced. Captain Imai went rigid beside him, probably coming to the same realization.

“We expected something. Not this exactly. Or tonight. Zuko was supposed to tell you,” Suki said. Sokka spluttered more.

“I… got sick?” Zuko winced apologetically next to Mai. “You were only here for a couple days!”

Captain Imai relaxed enough to step to the side. She still exuded judgment. Sokka guessed a long lecture on sharing plans loomed in Zuko’s near future. “Please come back inside, Your Majesty.”

Keiko never wanted to be part of a battle again, even if no one had died and she had actually been somewhat helpful. 

As a scribe, she’d written proclamations describing glorious victories and the elation felt by Fire Nation soldiers in the aftermath. She mostly felt numb. There were clear things to do—check on Ami, help the hostages, let someone know where the rest of the staff had gone (and make sure they didn’t get burned by whatever defenses Aunt Mariko had most certainly arranged)—but Keiko couldn’t quite bring herself to move from where she’d slumped against the wall.

A light touch on her shoulder drew her back to reality and she looked up at Secretary Ito as he asked, “Are you alright, Keiko?”

She blinked, and pushed herself to stand upright again. “Yes, sir. It’s just been a long night.” 

“Yes,” he nodded. “It was certainly an intense experience.”

“I-” she tried to get the words out, to apologize for not realizing sooner. The secretary turned sharply, watching her. “I didn’t see it—in my observations or the notes.”

“Neither did I. Or Captain Imai. In fact, I think we’ll spend months working through the errors that led to tonight.” He paused, considering his words. “The Office of Information is only one level in the Fire Lord’s defenses precisely because everyone makes mistakes. The Guard is there to catch what we don’t, and we exist to make sure they aren’t overwhelmed by constant attacks. And as we’ve all seen, in extreme need the Fire Lord knows how to take care of himself.” 

Keiko watched Ami emerge from behind the throne as she listened. Skimming over the chaos, Ami’s eyes caught on Keiko and she started picking her way toward them. The secretary watched her quietly for a moment before adding, “You did well, Keiko.”

She nodded. “Thank you, Secretary.”

“I will need a report on the night from your perspective at the end of the day. And your help analyzing the statements we get from the perpetrators,” He smiled. “This type of thing makes for a lot of extra work.”

She smiled in return. “Of course, sir. I’ll look forward to it.” And it was almost true - after tonight, paperwork would be a relief. With a final nod, he stepped away and Keiko moved to meet her friend and search for her family.

Ryu’s leg was getting bandaged by the time Yuma joined him. The burn was mild, thankfully, and he’d only twisted his ankle trying to avoid the fire. Yuma’s arm was still prickling painfully after the chi-blocking blow, but starting to respond to broad movements. Arai joined them a moment later, bruised but fine.

Yuma looked over to the entrance where Captain Imai stood protectively near Fire Lord Zuko, and sighed tiredly. “You get to tell her that we let the Fire Lord infiltrate the throne room, Ryu.”

Ryu groaned next to her, and not because of his injuries. “But I’m hurt. And you lost the bet.”

Arai shook his head. “The bet was for shifts. Plus it was your plan in the first place.”

“And since we’re not injured the two of us will be spending the next few hours sweeping the palace for stragglers,” Yuma added. There were less than thirty guards awake to secure the palace at the moment, and that was counting the Kyoshi Warriors. They needed to send for the Home Guard. And check on the drugged guards, and the staff, and… It would be a long morning.

“At least she can’t make me run laps for now,” Ryu pouted, staring at his ankle. Yuma laughed.

As they returned to the throne room, the perpetrators were being led away, and at least one palace physician must have been a hostage because someone had started triaging burns and other wounds. The palace wasn’t secure yet, but Captain Imai took in the decreasing chaos around her and let the tension in her chest ease slightly.

Near the throne, most of the group scattered to help with the clean up. Toph veered off toward Yuma and Ryu while Sokka dragged Suki toward where Undersecretary Keiko was talking with a few of the hostages.

Imai eyed the Fire Lord, who was doing his own thorough survey of the room with a blank expression. “Your Majesty, we need to get you somewhere secure and debrief.” The night was over and he was safe but—

Mai had left the palace weeks ago. How long had they known about the incoming division? How much had they known? And why not tell her?

“Of course, Captain,” Fire Lord Zuko replied, scrubbing a hand over his face. 

“And if you wish to appoint someone else as Guard Captain...” 

“What? No!” He stared at her in shock. Next to him, Mai watched the exchange intently. “That’s not-” He stopped and Imai took the moment to cut in. 

“Your Majesty, you need a captain you trust.”

“But I do trust you. I just-” He paused, expression pinched.

“Zuko’s still learning that he can tell people about his plans,” Mai interjected, “And not just apologize afterward.” 

The Fire Lord slumped and nodded. “I would be honored if you remained in the position, Captain. If you want to. And I’ll warn you next time before I accidentally set off a coup,” he added the last bit ruefully, sliding straight from Fire Lord mode into an embarrassed teenager. 

Thinking of a prince disappearing on the day of the eclipse, Imai sighed. No one had heard of that plan either, of course. But she had the chance to build his trust- “I will ask about those plans, Your Majesty,” she decided, “ And your nighttime excursions.” Because clearly those weren’t stopping anytime soon either. 

Zuko smiled, and his obvious relief made Imai’s grow. “Thank you.” 

Deeming the conversation over, Mai pulled Zuko back toward the exits. “Can we go sleep somewhere now, please?”

“Yeah, it’s way past my bedtime,” Sokka yawned as he and Suki returned, Toph close behind them, and the group turned to leave the throne room. “I really hope the peace talks are boring after all this. No more property damage. No more drama.”

Toph scoffed, “Like that’ll happen, Snoozles. We’re going to Omashu . Bumi’s in charge there.”

The Fire Lord laughed, Sokka cringed, and they followed Imai away from the chaos.

The night was over and the Fire Lord was safe.

Chapter Text

Keiko blinked blearily at the transcript she was annotating. One attempted full night of sleep did not make up for spending the previous night running around the palace. Especially not when the days were full of interviewing witnesses and being interviewed as a witness in order to pull together all the threads of the plot and track down any co-conspirators. Each interview required a summary, each meeting required a briefing, and she had to write her own version of the night’s events. 

Coup attempts generated a ridiculous amount of paperwork. Keiko wanted to never write again.

Ami had been complaining about it too over a rushed lunch—the scribes were almost overwhelmed with copies of public statements, internal briefings, and official letters. Not that it stopped them from gossiping about the night of the coup attempt. They could talk and write at the same time, and while they wrote down the official version of the night’s proceedings in court calligraphy, everyone had their own details to add. The story grew as it was told, until the Fire Lord was practically flying through the night sky to rain wrath down upon the offenders.

Keiko’s eyes slipped closed. Just for a moment.

“Do you want to learn self defense?” 

The question startled her almost as much as the sudden appearance of a Kyoshi Warrior next to her desk. “Sokka thought it might be helpful next time there’s an attack.”

The words took a moment to proceed through Keiko’s half-awake brain, which was more focused on stabilizing the ink bowl she’d jostled. Next time. She didn’t want there to be a next time. She was still recovering from this time. 

But if there was... 

“Uh, yes. Yes, I’d like that.” She’d seen the Kyoshi Warriors fight. Learning to do any of that would be amazing. “Can Ami come too?” 

“Of course. Does an hour after sunrise work for you?” Keiko nodded and the Warrior smiled. “I’ll see you then.”

As she disappeared back into the library, Tashiro stared after her, brush dripping ink onto his notes. “What was that ?”

“Um…” Checking in with Ami right away suddenly seemed like a good idea. She could catch up on the newest rumors, confirm the next council meeting, mention the self-defense lessons… “Suki, I think?” Avoiding this conversation would also be nice. Keiko grabbed a few sheets of paper that were probably tangentially related to what Ami was doing. “I’ll be back.”

“And I could control the timing by sending Uncle away,” Fire Lord Zuko continued. He was doing an impressive job of meeting her eyes while explaining his discoveries and choices leading up to the attempted coup, which meant Captain Imai couldn’t hide her face in her hands or do anything but listen with a hopefully expressionless face and desperately wish that her sovereign’s risk management style wasn’t to make himself the biggest target.

The Palace Guard was in shambles. Imai had temporarily filled the large gaps with members of the Home Guard, coordinating with their captain, but she’d already sent letters requesting recommendations from the more trustworthy lieutenants in some of the army’s demobilizing divisions. The next month or so would be full of interviews and arranging training and rearranging squads. It would be at least six weeks before the current remaining Palace Guard members could stop serving double shifts. And all that while she helped Ito with his investigation, which was already adding stacks of papers to her precarious to-read pile, and debriefing with each remaining member of the Guard. Not to mention preparing the Fire Lord’s protection during the Peace Conference.

It was a nightmare, though admittedly a better nightmare than the one in which Fire Lord Zuko lost the throne while they all remained unaware of the threat. Even with the mountain of work in her lap, Captain Imai could tell her shoulders were a little less tense, less waiting for a spark to catch. The explosion had happened. They had survived. Now for the clean-up.

“What do you think I should have done? How do I keep it from getting this bad if this happens again?” The questions dropped into the brief pause that had followed the Fire Lord’s story. When he’d requested the meeting, Imai had expected an explanation, maybe. Justifications. Not a request for guidance.

“Next time—” She paused. What she wanted to do was lecture him again about danger and how valuable his life was, but when she’d exasperatedly expressed that thought to Secretary Ito, he’d pointed out that similar lectures hadn’t worked before and probably wouldn’t suddenly start now. 

At least he was talking now. He’d requested this meeting. He’d explained what he’d overheard and the choices he made and even though they were concerning choices, she could see the logic. And at least he’d given some of the intel he’d been secretly gathering to one of Ito’s staff, even if it had been anonymously. Maybe next time he would warn them directly before he intentionally triggered the looming crisis.

She switched to the question she’d decided to ask instead. “Next time you overhear anything like this, is there anyone else in the Guard that you’d trust enough to share your suspicions with them? And include them in your investigation?” It was worth knowing, and making sure he admitted he trusted anyone outside of his close circle of friends. Plus she would know who to include in the group sent to accompany him when he traveled to Omashu.

Zuko frowned. “Well…”

“And then the Fire Lord swept down from the ceiling—” Yuma sighed internally. As normal, the drama of Ryu’s storytelling increased with every retelling, and the visiting members of the Home Guard provided an extremely willing audience. One of the younger ones had even been caught attempting to climb the Palace wall. She’d last seen him scrubbing away some of the particularly troublesome scorch marks.

(Yuma would never admit that she’d snuck into the empty throne room to try to figure out how the Fire Lord had moved along the ceiling. Or even how he’d gotten into the room. It still didn’t seem physically possible.

She’d tried asking Toph when the earthbender interrupted her on duty, but had only gotten a vague hand-waving response about how fuzzy the rafters were for Toph’s senses and how Zuko usually won at hide-and-seek. That was its own level of concerning.)

“Now, when you have a night shift, always keep your eyes open. You might see him creeping through the shadows, on secret business that only he knows–”

“You mean on his tea trips,” someone interrupted. Not one of the guards—it was one of the kitchen staff, carrying a large stack of empty platters past their table.

Ryu stopped and stared, abruptly pulled out of storytelling mode. “What?”

“The Fire Lord goes to the kitchens for tea most nights,” The boy paused as he explained the obvious, “He’s been doing it for months—everyone knows. He always cleans up after himself, but Gorou is very particular about how his teapots are arranged.” 

Yuma couldn’t help but snort at Ryu’s dumbfounded stare after the retreating kitchen boy, before jostling him. “Come on, we’re on duty in ten minutes.”

Ryu closed his mouth as he gathered his things. “He goes to the kitchens… do you think—”

“No,” Yuma cut him off and walked away, leaving him to scramble after her.

“But if we know where he’s going, I bet we could—”

“ We’re not trying anything. And no bets.”

By the time the council gathered, the halls were clear. Toph had helped undo most of the damage she’d caused, though there was a curtain in place of a secret door that proved too intricate for a quick metalbending fix and the paneling around the new door in the throne room would take more time to fix. The scorch marks had been scrubbed from the walls. 

The remaining signs of the coup attempt were minor and indirect. Many of the guards standing throughout the palace wore the uniforms of the Home Guard rather than the Palace Guard. The staff was sleep-deprived and gossiping—those who were in the throne room eager to describe the way the Fire Lord dropped down out of nowhere while others were as impatient to recount the story of how one of the Palace Stewards trapped half a squad in a closet. 

Unlike the whispers echoing through the rest of the palace, the council chamber was silent. More than one pair of eyes stuttered over the empty seats, as if open staring were an admission of complicity. The admiral of the Northern Navy stroked his mustache as he stared into space. Their gossip had happened earlier, far from the listening walls of the Palace. 

(Much of it had been overheard, of course, and at least the sense of their reactions would make their way to Secretary Ito—after all, people talked in every household, especially about something as obviously gossip-worthy as a coup attempt.)

A scribe sat at the front of the room, as silent as everyone else, waiting for the same thing. Finally, footsteps sounded from the hall. No one moved as the Fire Lord entered and took his place. Those who had voted in favor of a regency two days ago searched his face warily, hoping for signs of a reprieve that his father would not have granted.

The Fire Lord intently looked over each member of the council. When he started speaking, his words sounded rehearsed, as if he’d scripted them out beforehand. “I’m sure you know that three members of this council attempted a coup two nights ago. Their goal was to forcibly enact the regency that failed to pass during the previous council meeting. They have been arrested and are awaiting trial. The Palace Guard and Secretary of Information are investigating the extent of the conspiracy. Because of the vote, that investigation includes all members of this council. You will only be removed from your position if you are found to be complicit.”

Eyes glanced to the side in initial relief before the Fire Lord continued speaking, voice hardening. “As justification, the conspirators claimed that they were doing what was best for the Fire Nation because I was under the influence of people with foreign ties, not least including General Iroh.

“They were wrong,” he declared. “I am the Fire Lord. Not Avatar Aang. Not my uncle. My decisions are my own. General Iroh has been helping me readjust to palace life, but has had no say in any policy matters.” The recitation of facts was gone, replaced by assured statements. Any former member of Prince Zuko’s crew would have recognized the climbing tide of anger.

“And while they claim to support the Fire Nation’s best interests, the ringleaders were quick to hold innocent citizens hostage to achieve their goals.” Another pause, followed by bitten off words. “Disagreeing with my propositions is one thing, but threatening bystanders is not acceptable. As a nation, we are done throwing away lives so those of you who’ve been profiting from the war can continue piling gold in storerooms. Anyone who believes otherwise should retire from court.” 

Gold eyes blazed across the table in challenge, one squinted and set in a scar gained—as some of the council was uncomfortably remembering—in the aftermath of a passionate declaration of the value of a division’s lives. “The rest of us can work to rebuild a nation and world where everyone can live in peace and happiness.”

He paused, before transitioning to outlining the investigation procedure and the concurrent next steps in preparing for the Peace Conference to a skeptical but more receptive audience.

I think I want to stay here for a while, even after the Peace Conference. You and Aang should come before the conference—there are secret rooms all over the Palace and Zuko thinks one of the old Fire Lords hoarded stolen Water Tribe stuff in one of them. Maybe even waterbending scrolls. Toph is helping me explore, when we have time, but...

Sokka was just finishing his letter to Katara when Zuko dropped a stack of papers onto his desk. Despite Zuko’s best attempts, a scroll rolled off the top and bounced lightly off the desk only to be caught just before it hit the ground. Sokka raised an eyebrow at all of it. “Why is this all on my desk?”

Zuko flushed. “I picked them up after the council meeting. Secretary Ito’s building a financial summary of the coup in order to figure out how much outside money they must have had.” He gave up on balancing the scroll on top of the stack and just set it next to the other papers and scrolls. “Since you were the one who figured out about the war balloons, he thought—”

Sokka carefully pulled out the top open sheet. “I don’t know anything about how much things cost in the Fire Nation. Except food, which is definitely cheaper than in Ba Sing Se but more likely to burn your mouth off.” He scanned the list of numbers, eyes bulging when they reached a particularly large one. “Shirshu darts cost how much?”

“Oh, that’s mine.” Zuko snatched the paper out of his hands and added it to the part of the stack he was reclaiming. “And you don’t need to know how much things cost, just if the list of materials they claimed to need for the airships is realistic so we know if they took money out of that budget for other things.”

“Uh sure. I can do that. But how many darts did they buy?” Unless he really didn’t understand money in the Fire Nation, that number had been extremely high.

“Tame shirshus are rare, so everything shirshu-related is expensive,” Zuko shrugged. “There’s a reason I only hired June and Nyla once while I was chasing you.”

“I thought it was ‘cause we could fly,” Sokka muttered, taking one of the papers left on his desk.

Zuko snorted. “Well, that too. Anyway, the darts and bribes were probably the biggest costs.”

“But why ?” Sokka asked. “Why not save the money and just knock people over the head? Or chi block?”

“Darts are a long distance option and I think they were worried about—”

Toph stomped into the room, cutting Zuko off, though Sokka guessed that her presence mostly finished Zuko’s explanation. “Zuko, you were going to drop off Sokka’s papers and bring him back with you, not get stuck here.”

“How much do you think shirshu venom costs, Toph?” Sokka asked curiously.

“Two gold pieces per vial, back home,” Toph said. “Now come on, you both need a break.”

“Fine,” Sokka replied, standing to lock away the papers Zuko had given him. Keiko had stumbled her way through a disjointed but passionate lecture on information security when he’d handed her his attempt at a summary of the coup attempt. Then she’d gotten distracted by his handwriting. “But no lavabending today. I’m not ready to go back in that cave and watch you two fail at moving things.”

“I’m not actually trying to move the lava yet,” Toph waved off his concerns. “And that’s fine. We just need to go somewhere where Zuko’s guards can’t hear us.”

“What do you mean you’re not— we’ve spent hours in that cave! What have you been doing?” Sokka threw his arms wide in irritation as Zuko spluttered a “why are we avoiding my guards” in the background.

“Listening, obviously,” Toph responded to Sokka. “I need to know how the lava wants to be before I can bend it.” She spun around to walk backwards, and grinned. “And Ryu and Yuma have night duty watching Zuko’s window again next week. I have plans. Wanna help?” Her smile and her bouncing backwards step promised chaos and shenanigans.

Zuko groaned. “This is going to involve me doing something crazy, isn’t it?”

Toph’s smile got sharper. “Of course.”

“Fine.” The agreement was flat, but Sokka could see the smirk at the edge of his expression and it was enough to make him laugh.

“Let’s go.”