Chapter Text
Fire Lord Daily Briefing, Year 6, Day 188
Ten days ago, healers on Shuhon Island reported a handful of cases of young children and mothers with unexplained rashes, followed by chest tightness and flu-like symptoms. From symptom onset to severe disease is approximately eight days. There have been no deaths. Local healers are concerned due to the combination of inflammatory and respiratory symptoms, though talk of mass casualties among the locals is unfounded at this time. Infected individuals are expected to fully recover. Local environmental toxin exposure is likely the culprit — staff under Health Minister Xie are mobilizing a team to the island to investigate. No cases have been reported elsewhere on the archipelago. Containment is expected within the next week.
Case count: 17
Fire Lord Daily Briefing, Year 6, Day 192
The previously reported illness among mothers and children on Shuhon Island has now been documented among other members of households with known exposure, indicating likely person-to-person transmission. An interview with Patient Zero in this investigation, a mother who works part-time as a housemaid at a farm on the southern tip of the island, has not immediately yielded an exposure source. The original presumption of environmental toxin exposure is now called into question. Xie’s investigators are still conducting contact tracing interviews to see if an animal or spirit source could be the culprit for the unexplained illnesses. There have been six cases of unknown genesis. All cases are local to Shuhon Island.
Case count: 39
Death count: 4
“Four deaths?” Zuko says out loud, without even realizing. Mai looks up from her morning tea and sees the concern on her husband’s face. He starts frantically sorting through last week’s briefing scrolls.
“Whatever idiot wrote that report last week didn’t know what he was talking about,” he says. “How can we go from expecting people to recover to four dead!?”
“You know I don’t know what you’re talking about, right? Briefing scrolls are usually so boring. What has you so upset?”
“Either Xie has been hiding something from me or he’s completely incompetent, or both. There’s some weird disease that’s been spreading on Shuhon Island for two weeks, four people are dead, and no one flagged it for me. They don’t know why.” Zuko sighs and Mai walks over to him, placing a hand on his back as he hunches over his desk.
“Maybe you’re overreacting — they could have it under control,” Mai says as she reads the first report over his shoulder. “Who is the governor there, still Chin? He probably didn’t want to bother you. Everyone gets a cold around the winter solstice.”
“Clearly they don’t. I’ve got to go.” He gives her a quick kiss on the cheek before running off to yell at his entire cabinet.
***
Morning Cabinet Minutes, Year 6, Day 192
Topic: Shuhon Island Illness Response
Followups/Fire Lord Zuko Requests:
- Records on the first illnesses, the dates of when the reports were elevated to the cabinet and what the communication between Governor Chin and the Capital has been since first symptoms were reported 14 days ago. Health Minister Xie to follow up.
- A report on the characteristics of disease progression and deaths due to this illness and demographics of the deceased. Also a projection of case counts and deaths for the next two weeks, if current trends continue. Health Minister Xie to follow up.
- Staffing surge to the health workers already on the island, to assist with healing and contract tracing. Homeland Affairs and Health ministers to follow up.
- Flyer distribution to the residents of Shuhon Island on what symptoms to look out for and how to report suspected cases to deputy health ministers, plus commonsense ways to prevent illness. Tone should be informative but casual. Flyers sharing basic health promotion measures to be posted on neighboring islands, with a call to action to report suspected illness to your deputy health minister. Communications Minister to follow up.
- All imports and exports to Shuhon Island will be paused today. Movement to and from the island should be limited to necessary travel only, and all travelers should be screened and recorded. Homeland Affairs Minister Jia to follow up.
- Black Ribbon Hawks to be sent to Chief Hakoda, Chief Arnook and King Kuei to be highly suspicious of cases of rash and respiratory illness among mothers and children, with a request to send reports of such illness with urgency back to the Fire Nation. International Affairs Minister to follow up.
- In addition, Fire Lord Zuko will request King Kuei assign a special ambassador to the western former colonies to monitor for disease and requests a meeting with the King in the next week. The Fire Lord will write this message and deliver to the falconer personally.
- Black Ribbon Hawk to be sent to Avatar Aang and Master Katara with a situational awareness report, requesting their presence urgently to assist with ruling out a spirit origin of disease and aiding local healers. Chief of Staff Ning to follow up.
***
Mai is in her loungewear and reading a book by the time Zuko joins her in their quarters late that evening. Zuko is exhausted, having spent all day on the response to the Shuhon situation. He can’t shake the feeling that it’s already too little, too late. He sits down next to her, then drops his head into her lap. She pulls out his top knot and combs her fingers through his hair. He melts to her touch, the wrinkles between his brow disappearing.
“One of the people who died — it was a mother who was our age. She was healthy before this,” Zuko says as he looks up at Mai. “She had a three-month-old infant. As far as we know, the baby is still alive. But he is being fed by a neighbor who already has three kids and doesn’t have time to nurse him. His rash is getting worse. Why would that mother risk her health, or the health of her own kids? This is going to be bad.”
Zuko closes his eyes again and takes deep breaths in and out. The candles in the room flare and recede with his breath. Mai watches his chest rise and fall along with the light in the room.
“Do you realize you’re bending the candles?” Mai asks. Zuko opens his eyes.
“No. I didn’t mean to, actually. I guess I’m just upset. Well, I know I’m upset, and angry, and scared. Everything we’ve done to keep peace, I just have a bad feeling that this has the potential to mess that up. No one is going to trust us if this gets out of hand. What if this spreads to the Earth Kingdom? Kuei is incompetent and I don’t trust him to be on top of this, especially not on the western coast. What is this going to do to our progress with the colony treaties?” He sits up and faces her. “I should have asked more questions last week when I saw the first report. Maybe those people wouldn’t be dead now.”
“There’s no way to know that. I know you’re doing all you can now.” She pauses. “Maybe we should go there tomorrow. You can talk to the locals to make sure the information you’re getting is right. And I know the people will feel reassured when they see that we’re taking this seriously.”
“I sent a hawk asking Aang and Katara to come. They should go.”
“But how long will it take them to get here from the South Pole? We could at least get there tomorrow afternoon and —”
“Mai — I don’t want to argue with you, too. We are not going tomorrow. I’m waiting on reports from half the cabinet, I sent hawks to the other leaders, I’m going to be dealing with a disaster with the trade organizations — I can’t.” He stands up and walks over to the window. The night air is crisp and tastes like snow.
“Maybe I could go then? I could comfort the children, maybe even talk to Chin. Just reassure people that the Capital knows what’s going on —”
“But we don’t know what’s going on! I don’t know what’s going on. Xie sure doesn’t know. And if Chin knows, he’s lied and covered this up until it got out of hand. I’m going to throw that piece of garbage in the Boiling Rock for treason. He —”
“Zuko — please stop. You’re getting ahead of yourself. There’s nothing more you can do tonight. We’ll wait for Aang and Katara. And hopefully you get more answers. Now I’m done with politics. Come over here and keep me warm,” she says with a smirk.
***
Fire Lord Daily Briefing, Year 6, Day 193
Regarding the Shuhon situation: Cases are increasing among mothers with infants, farm workers and the elderly. Cases are clustered around people with known exposure to the agricultural industry, but given the high percentage of farming support staff for wooly pig farms on the southern tip of the island, a causal relationship has not yet been confirmed. Due to an abnormally large amount of rainfall in the spring, feed crops have not been able to cure, leading to sicker, less nourished wooly pigs. The wooly pigs enter the food source first on this island; often workers in the agricultural industry are the first to consume its products. Thanks to increased scrutiny and disease surveillance, cases among other farm workers are being identified, though they are often much less severe and less likely to lead to death. Today’s case count reflects a backfill of a week of data collection and should be interpreted with caution. It does not accurately represent the current spread of disease.
Case count: 147
Death count: 6
***
Zuko can’t sleep, and the sun won’t rise for another two hours. He gets out of bed when he hears a page deliver his morning briefing scroll to his private quarters. He goes to retrieve it and slips back into bed.
“Who wrote this shit?” he thinks to himself. He doesn’t need a treatise on the wooly pig industry. Are the pigs making people sick or not? Is the feed making people sick? Or is eating the pigs making people sick? Or are people making people sick, and the pigs have nothing to do with it? No one knows, do they? He has to ask Ning to remind him who is drafting these reports, because they are not useful. Who is more likely to die, and how many of those cases are there? Are we doing anything now to prevent more cases? What have we tried that’s worked?
“Hey, put out the fire and go to sleep,” Mai says, annoyed that she’s been woken up by Firebending for late-night scroll reading. “You can read that in the morning.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry,” he says, curling up next to his wife. “It’s just, really not good. No one knows what’s going on.”
“We’ll figure it out. Now get some rest.”
***
When Zuko wakes up, he can feel that the sun is already high in the sky. Mai is out of bed. She’s talking to someone, probably Ning. He walks into the drawing room and is surprised to see Aang and Katara seated on a couch. They must have been flying all night to get here so quickly. Ning is sitting at a table with Mai, reviewing a map.
“Zuko!” Aang exclaims as he bounds over to him, enveloping him in a hug. “Mai said you were up all night so we thought we’d let you sleep in. We came as soon as we could. Ning was just getting us up to speed.”
“Thank you, Aang. You don’t know how glad I am to see you both,” he says, looking over at Katara. She looks tired. “Maybe Ning can get me up to speed, too.”
“Fire Lord Zuko, good morning.” Ning stands and bows. “Since last night, I was able to get more information about the cases. From the briefing you saw early this morning, there have been an additional 12 cases, bringing the total to 159. Of those, 16 are women who are less than eight months postpartum. Eight are children, nine are over the age of 75 and the remaining 113 are a combination of farm workers and family members of women and the elderly. The family member category — the ones who got sick from someone else in the household — that’s really confusing the health surveyors on the island.” He pauses to shuffle some notes in front of him. “Most of the people who are sick work on farms. That’s the evidence that had the local team leaning toward farm exposure. But, the postpartum women don’t all have farm exposure, and they’re the ones who have it the worst. The elderly don’t either. So it’s odd that the cases of household spread can’t be tracked back to a farm worker.”
“Women who just gave birth and the elderly are just more vulnerable to illness.” Katara says. “Maybe they don’t need to be exposed as long, or as directly, to both get sick and pass the illness to others?”
“But what have they been exposed to? And I thought environmental toxin was ruled out yesterday. What changed?” Zuko asked.
“Well, since the disease is spreading between household members, it can’t be just a toxin,” Ning says.
“So it’s the wooly pigs then? Do humans get pig diseases?” The thought never occurred to Zuko before. The looks around the table show that no one knows.
“If we go now, we’ll still have a few hours of sunlight to talk to people in the infirmary and survey the farms.” Katara says. “The moon will be almost full tonight, so I definitely want to try healing as many people as I can. If I can.”
“I’ll go with Katara,” Mai offers. “I wanted to go today anyway. I’ll have a ship prepared.”
“Wait — before anyone goes — how do we know that you won’t bring the disease back here?” Zuko asks. “My fear, besides even more death and illness on Shuhon, is if this gets out to the rest of the world. And you could bring it back to the Capital, back to the South Pole! We need more information. I already sent a bunch of our healers, plus four ships of Fire Nation military and civilians from across the country that now could be in danger of getting sick or dying. It’s their job to report back, and to quarantine when they return.”
“But Katara is a healer, and I’m the Fire Lady! We’re not just some civilian or low-ranking military personnel. Zuko, our people need us. They need to see us!”
“And you asked for us to come,” Katara says, looking first at Zuko and then at Aang.
“I know,” Zuko says. I’m now thinking I may need Aang’s help here more. I requested a meeting with Kuei and I bet it's going to be tense. I’ll have to ask him for support, and possibly to adjust the timeline on some of our treaty terms as we’re dealing with this situation.”
“I’d be happy to mediate that conversation,” Aang says. “King Kuei must understand the destabilizing effect this could have on the Fire Nation, especially if it spreads. The world needs the stability of the Fire Nation if there’s any hope for lasting peace.”
Zuko’s face drops. None of his advisers have said it so plainly to him. He knows it’s true.
Katara turns her attention to Zuko’s Chief of Staff. “Ning, you said earlier that two more people died yesterday. Do you know how many people today are as sick as those people were two days ago?”
Ning looks at Zuko first, who nods, and then begins looking through his paperwork. “The Health Minister did make a chart approximating severe illness,” he says as he runs his finger across a row on that chart. He then pauses and takes a deep breath. “I could be reading this wrong, but it looks like almost all the women, children and elderly.”
“They’re all severely sick!? They’re going to die!?” Zuko is aghast.
“I can’t believe that estimate wouldn’t be a top line in the briefing documents. How could that be?” Ning goes back through all the papers he brought with him, trying to find an explanation.
“I think this changes things,” Aang says, and Zuko nods. “I don’t want Katara to get sick either, but I think she may be our best chance of saving those people.”
“The healers on the island were supposed to send a hawk this morning detailing their success with current methods of care. If I may, let me see if that’s arrived,” Ning says and excuses himself.
Mai walks out of the room and speaks to one of the guards who nods and quickly runs off. “I’m getting my ship ready. We’ll leave within the hour. I have a few things to pack here, but it won’t take me long. I think we should bring as much food and water from here as we can. Maybe it will ease tensions from the halt on imports. Katara, would you mind helping the crew fill the water barrels?”
“Of course, that’s a good idea. I’ll just get my things from Appa’s saddle and meet you there.” She turns to Aang and envelops him in a tight hug.
“Actually, I’ll help with the water,” Aang says. “Katara, maybe you can rest on the ship so you can save your energy for healing. You didn’t sleep all night.”
She reluctantly agrees. “OK, but make sure to say goodbye to me before we leave.” They walk off hand in hand to the dock.
***
Zuko stands in the doorway of Mai’s dressing chamber and watches her getting ready at her vanity. She’s dressed in her most formal Fire Lady robes and is pinning a royal hairpiece into a topknot and struggling. It’s not her usual style. Her hair comes down in waves from being set in matching buns the night before. His wife is so beautiful, and strong, he thinks.
“You know you’ll be the highest ranking person on the island,” he says to her.
“Of course I know. That’s why I brought out these itchy robes. I packed clothes to visit the farms, too, but I can’t show up like that,” she says as she lines her top eyelid with kohl. “I should take your hawk with us too, so I can send you back a confidential briefing. The more I’m thinking about it, you can’t just realize over a hundred people are sick overnight. Something isn’t adding up.”
“I know. I pushed the cabinet meeting back to after you leave. I need to set up the response plan and make sure everyone understands the mission. Ning told me that the rumblings among the cabinet are that this is going to screw up our spring projections for textile and meat production.”
“Well, if there are no farmers, and then no children, that will screw up more than just the spring projections,” she says dryly as she adds the slightest bit of rouge to her cheeks and lips.
His brow furrows at the thought. “We just have to stop sick people from dying. And healthy people from getting sick. The rest … I guess we’ll figure it out as we go.”
Mai gets up, walks over to Zuko and wraps him in a tight hug. He hugs her back, kissing the top of her head. She looks up at him and cups his cheek in her hand. “I understand the mission, my Lord,” she says, trying to cut the tension.
He scoffs at her. “You better get going. Let me know everything. Especially if I should fire that idiot Chin.”
***
The trip from the Fire Nation Capital to Shuhon Island is usually only a couple of hours, but due to the halt on imports and exports from the island, the shipping routes are all backed up. Even flying the royal family insignia can’t save Mai’s ship from being stuck in traffic.
The two women lean on the starboard side of the ship, waiting for the other ships to pull up their anchors and let them through. The delay is maddening, Mai thinks. On the other hand, maybe this delay means they won’t have to spend as much time on formalities with Governor Chin. Mai remembers him from wartime — he and her father were both jockeying for the posting at Omashu and Chin never forgot that he wasn’t appointed governor there. His bitterness about it confounds her, especially since he would have been thrown off the side of the mountain by King Bumi if he was there. Even after all these years, it hurts to remember that they were on the wrong side of the war.
“You look deep in thought,” Katara says to her.
“I guess I do kind of drift off when I think about the world before the war ended. My father and this governor that we’re going to meet — let’s just say they weren’t exactly friends. I know he isn’t thrilled with my new position either. He thinks somehow my father orchestrated my marriage for political power.”
“There’s something about being at sea that makes you contemplative,” Katara muses. I thought maybe it was just a Waterbender thing, feeling the push and pull of water that isn’t in your control. It makes you remember what your place in this world is.” She pauses and looks toward the coast. “It was around this time seven years ago that I found Aang in that iceberg. In some ways, it feels like just yesterday. But also, so much has changed.”
The sun dips below the horizon as Mai’s ship docks at the north tip of the island, at the port entrance to Fire Fountain City. Governor Chin is waiting to greet them as Mai and Katara disembark.
“Fire Lady Mai! What an honor to have you visit at this trying time. It seems like only yesterday you were being carried around on Ukano’s shoulders. Now look at you! Anyway, I set up a briefing room for you here. Both our highest ranking doctor and most trusted agricultural expert are looking forward to debriefing you.”
“The honor is mine,” she deadpans. “I’ve brought my dear friend and master healer, Katara. I know we have much to discuss, but we want to visit the sick as soon as possible. Perhaps we can meet with the staff tomorrow, after we’ve assessed the sick as well.”
“My healing abilities are especially strong at night,” Katara interjects. “So really, it would be best for everyone if we met with the sick now.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary.” Chin says. “We really wanted to get the Fire Lady up to speed here. And we wanted you to visit the farms as well, to reassure the farmers about the viability of their flocks.”
“We’ll be meeting with the sick tonight, Governor. Thank you for your hospitality.” Mai quickly turns away from him and directly addresses one of the guards who is accompanying Chin. “Possible to escort us to your infirmary?”
“Yes, Fire Lady,” he says and bows. “I’ll fetch an ostrich horse for you both. It’s a shorter trip that way.”
***
Fire Lord Zuko takes his seat at the head of the table and motions for Aang to join him. All of the Cabinet members are present, plus Ning.
“I know everyone in this room is as concerned about the Shuhon situation as I am,” Zuko starts. “For your awareness, the Fire Lady and Master Katara are on their way to Shuhon and will be sending me direct reports on what they find. Hopefully Katara will be able to help the healers as well. Our purpose here today is to make sure we have a clear path for next steps in our response. I’m disappointed in the intelligence I’ve been given so far about the situation on the ground.” He looks over to his Health and Homeland Affairs ministers, who slump a bit in their chairs.
“Number one: I want to know the source of this illness with as much certainty as possible. Number two: I want to know how to contain it to make sure it doesn’t spread elsewhere in the Fire Nation, or the world. Number three: I want to know how we can heal people on the island. Number four: I want to make sure that the people who are not sick on the island have a source for food and water. Number five: I want to make sure that the farmers who have been impacted by this don’t lose their livelihood. Then lastly, we can talk about the impact on the Fire Nation treasury to make this happen.”
Zuko then looks over to Health Minister Xie. “You can get us started today,” he says and crosses his arms.
Xie takes a deep breath. “Thank you, Fire Lord. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, the intelligence coming back from Shuhon has been inconsistent. The health surveyors seem to be split on the source of illness, though it seems more likely than not that it’s coming from the wooly pigs. No other potential sources have been found, and some farmers have reported what they assumed was a typical seasonal illness spreading among the pigs. Though we guess many farmers don’t want to admit their flock is sick.”
“Are the farmers who have sick pigs sick themselves? Have farmers ever gotten sick from their flock?” Aang asks.
“I don’t have that information at this time,” Xie responds and makes a note.
“And the people who got sick but haven’t been on a farm — what about them?”
“That’s what has confounded everyone,” Xie says. “If we knew the answer to that question, I think the source would have been confirmed at this point.”
“What about treatment?” Zuko looks over to Ning. “It seems as though we may have a mass casualty situation on our hands. My briefings going forward need to be clear on how many of the sick are severely sick and not expected to recover.”
“Understood,” Xie says.
Zuko looks over to Ning. “Did that briefing on healing methods come back yet?”
“No,” he says. “I haven’t received any hawks today.”
“Gao,” Zuko addresses his Homeland Affairs minister. “Have you received any new information from Governor Chin?”
“I have, Fire Lord, but first I wanted to let you know that the governors on the surrounding islands are on high alert and no other illnesses have been reported outside of Shuhon. The quarantine seems to be working.”
Zuko nods and Gao continues. “Governor Chin’s latest message is focused on his concerns about the economic impacts of the blockade and concerns from the farmers about the viability of their flocks. If I may, reading between the lines here, he must be receiving recommendations to cull the pigs, maybe from the health workers. He seems to be advocating against that implicitly, by sharing numbers on how dependent the island’s economy is on the spring livestock and wool harvest.”
“Well, maybe we should start there. Do we have evidence that culling the herds will stop the illness from spreading? Xie, do you have any information on this?”
“I’m anticipating another report this evening,” he says. “But at this time, no. I don’t have that information.”
“So let’s say we can confirm, with reasonable certainty, that culling the pigs will stop the illness spreading to people,” Zuko continues. “How many heads would we lose? And how much does each pig go for when it’s sold?”
“Chin says each pig sold for meat is about 500 gold pieces. The sows are more, up to 1,000, depending on how reliably they farrow and how many piglets they usually have. And that’s not counting the wool sales, which are a bit more varied. The small farmers on Shuhon have anywhere from three to 20 pigs, but most have around eight or nine. The farmers live all year off the revenue from the spring harvest — and often use it to invest in expanding their farms.”
Agricultural Minister Yu interjects. “There are at least 1,800 wooly pigs on Shuhon, and probably 1,000 moo-sows. But the wooly pigs are more valuable because of the textiles. If we cull the flocks, it will take at least four or five years for them to rebound. We’d have to import more wooly pigs at a premium price, mostly from the central Earth Kingdom. And we probably won’t be able to get anywhere near 1,800 this year.”
Zuko takes a deep breath and pinches the bridge of his nose. “We’re getting off track,” he says. “What’s the population of Shuhon Island? Anyone.” He looks across the table to blank stares. “Xie? No guess? Even a rough approximation?”
“If I had to guess,” Xie pauses, “maybe 10 to 15 thousand?”
“Finance Minister Wong, what would be the economic impact of a few thousand of those people dying, particularly the women and children?”
Wong is taken aback by the question. “Well, I don’t know where to start. We’d lose the tax revenue, but then also the earning potential of those people. Their families will be pushed into poverty. The population will also be skewed and at some point, there won’t be young people coming of age to take over for the elderly. It would have a long-term impact that we wouldn’t begin to understand for many years. It’s incalculable.”
“Well, it seems the cost of wooly pigs is very calculable.” Zuko looks over to Aang. “If the pigs are making people sick, and culling the pigs will stop the illness spreading, there is no question that we have to cull the pigs.” He then looks back over to Wong. “I want you to draw up a compensation plan for the farmers. Pay them some percentage over market rate for each pig, plus what they would get from wool sales for a year.”
“Yes, Fire Lord,” he says.
“And next, we need to have all the intelligence from the health workers. Unless they come up with any other possible explanation in the next few days, or there’s proof that the pigs aren’t spreading the illness, we’re culling the pigs.”
***
Mai and Katara walk into the makeshift healing tent that has been set up on the southern tip of the island, the epicenter of the outbreak. The icy winter air rushes in as they close the tent flap behind them. Katara gasps. Mai tries hard to remain composed, but is shocked by what she sees. They were expecting around 30 to 40 people to be acutely sick and symptomatic, but there are at least 60 people in this tent. The guard who brought them here told them there’s another one down the road.
A nurse, who can’t be more than 16, rushes to a patient right in front of Mai and Katara. She notices the women but doesn’t acknowledge them. She sits next to her patient, a man probably in his late 80s, and lifts his head up. He’s wheezing and his body is covered in red patches. His arms are scratched raw and a little bloody — it must be unbearably itchy, Mai thinks.
Katara walks over to them and wastes no time on formalities. “Hi — I’m a healer. Maybe I can help.” The old man looks at her suspiciously and gasps when she bends water out of her pouch.
“No! Don’t touch me!” he says with more force that she would have thought he had in him. “Filthy peasant …” he wheezes. “You’d only make things worse.”
Mai intercedes and locks her arm in Katara’s. “Master Katara, there are plenty of people here who would be grateful for your help. Let’s go.” She gives a stern look to the man, then moves her gaze to the young nurse, who looks embarrassed as she comes to the slow realization of who these two women are who just walked in.
“I’m sorry,” Mai whispers to her.
“You don’t have to apologize. Honestly, I should have expected that. I shouldn't be surprised that the elderly here might not be fond of Waterbenders.” She takes a moment to compose herself. “That must be the head nurse. I should have started there anyway.”
Mai walks a pace ahead of Katara and gets the attention of the head nurse at the back of the tent, who immediately bows.
“Fire Lady Mai, my name is Nurse Hua. It is such an honor to have you visit our infirmary. I never would have expected you to come. How may I be of service?”
“Thank you, Nurse Hua. The Fire Lord and I are gravely concerned about the situation here and above all else, want to make sure we do everything in our power to heal the sick on this island. Accompanying me is a master healer from the Southern Water Tribe, Katara. I trust that you will get her up to speed and triage the most critical cases to her. Our mission here is to prevent —”
Mai stops the word “death” from exiting her lips. She is now intensely aware of how sick most of the people in this tent appear to be. All of their eyes are now on her. She clears her throat. “Our mission is to prevent as much suffering and pain as we can.” It’s a lie.
Katara takes a step forward and bows slightly, forming her hands into the Fire Nation greeting. “Nurse Hua, it is a pleasure to meet you. I promise to do all I can to help.”
Nurse Hua starts to speak again, but is interrupted by some commotion behind them.
“My baby! Please breathe! Don’t take him from me!”
The young nurse runs over to Katara with an infant in her hands. His skin is purple from the rash and a lack of oxygen. “Can you save him?” she pleads.
“Put him down, quickly!” Katara commands as she bends water out of her pouch. The nurse moves supplies off a table and puts the infant down. Katara places glowing blue water on the baby’s chest and then moves up to his throat. He’s not breathing. Katara is beginning to panic. She pulls all the water from the room toward the infant, emptying cups and basins, knocking over supplies and terrifying everyone in the room. The baby is now encased in a glowing blue orb of water. Only his nose and mouth aren’t submerged.
“Come on, little guy. You have to breathe,” she whispers. She moves her hands up and down, from the top of his head to his feet, trying to get his chi paths in line and his lungs working again. After three passes, it’s clear that he’s gone. Katara doesn’t stop. Tears stream down her checks. “Breathe, sweet boy. Please breathe.”
Seven passes. Eight. Nine. Mai looks at her friend but she doesn’t return the gaze. She places her hand on Katara’s wrist and the water drops, pooling beneath the table. Mai picks up the drenched body and wraps it in a blanket she finds nearby. Katara then bends the water away into a nearby basin.
Mai walks over to the mother, who is sobbing and very weak, unable to even sit up in her cot or move very much. The woman can hardly breathe herself. She’s covered in the same patchy rash as the rest of them.
“I’m so sorry,” Mai says, as calmly as she can. She kneels next to the cot and hands the woman the lifeless infant. The mother takes his body and holds him to her chest, barely able to take deep enough breaths to scream out in pain.
Katara slumps next to Mai on the floor next to the cot. “I tried. I really, really tried. I’m sorry.” The mother looks at her, pained, says nothing and closes her eyes. Katara can tell she’s trying to regulate her own breathing. Nurse Hua comes over to take the baby from her. The mother doesn’t even resist.
Katara stands up, bends some water to her hands from her pouch and places them on the woman’s throat. She can feel the inflammation lessening as the woman takes a deep breath. Good. After the woman’s breaths become more stable, Katara moves to the next cot.
Mai scans the room for Nurse Hua but doesn’t see her. Where could she have taken that baby? She leaves the tent and starts walking around it. The air feels still and heavy; it will probably snow soon. Behind the tent, Hua is talking with two Fire Nation soldiers. One is holding a shovel in one hand and bending a flame for light in the other, while the second solider is holding the lifeless body of the infant.
Mai approaches them. As she gets closer, she realizes that they are standing next to a large grave. She’s overcome by the scent of decomposing flesh.
“How many!?” she demands. “There are more than six dead. How many? How many have died?”
“I’m sorry, Fire Lady. I haven’t had a chance to file my report. I’ve just been trying to help them.”
Mai glares at her, waiting for an answer to her question.
“This baby is our 28th casualty at this location. I’m not sure about the other infirmary.”
Mai gasps. “Nurse Hua, your new orders are to complete your reports and file them, with as much detail as you can add from patient interviews. They are informing key decisions on this response and no one has the correct information, from the Governor to the Fire Lord. Katara can handle the sick for now. And you two —” she says, looking at the soldiers, “You’re going to help in the tent tonight. I’ll see you inside.”
She turns around, with the intention of storming off, but pauses. Turning back around to face them, she says, “I know you’re trying your best. I didn’t mean that to sound accusatory. I can’t imagine…”
Nurse Hua’s stoic demeanor melts away and she is overcome by emotion. She starts sobbing, with loud, deep breaths. “Nothing we’ve tried is working. They’re all dying.” Her face falls into her hands. Mai takes her hands and pulls her into a tight hug. She’s shaking, and not just from the cold.
“We need more help here. Please work on the reports. I know it sounds silly to file paperwork at a moment like this, but we need people to know what is happening.” Mai looks over to the soldiers. “When you’re finished, come inside and take off your armor. You will be helping the Water Tribe healer.”
Mai and Hua walk back together, arm in arm. The two soldiers finish interring the body.
At some point in the chain of command, something isn’t working. Zuko is going to get an earful.
***
Zuko — things here are far worse than you could imagine. There are two infirmary tents on the island. Katara and I only visited one. There were over 60 people there, all very sick. I am guessing almost every one of them will die. There are women with infants and the elderly, but also some middle-aged men and women too. I held four dead infants last night. There is an open mass grave behind the tent that now holds over 30 bodies. Katara was up all night trying to heal them. She was only able to make them a bit more comfortable, and now that I think about it, probably just draw out the inevitable. The head nurse has been so overwhelmed that she hasn’t had time to write up her reports! And none of those health workers you sent three days ago made their way to the tents. I think they’re all hiding behind their desks at Chin’s outpost in the city. Maybe they are too afraid to come. I had to conscript two soldiers who were digging graves to help the sick. The head nurse just sent out a backlog of reports this morning — let’s see how long it takes you to hear about this in your daily briefing. The information we received at the Capital was incredibly out of date.
The sun is coming up now. We’ve been up all night. This has been by far the worst day of my life. But the most important as Fire Lady. The nurses are so grateful that their story is going right to you. Send the hawk back quickly. I’m going to try to get some rest, then Katara and I are going back to the tent. Maybe we will visit the second one today.
Chin seemed very concerned about making sure I meet with the agriculture experts and reassure the farmers about their flocks. At this point, I don’t want to leave the humans to visit the pigs. Are there talks about culling the herds? If the wooly pigs are the cause, I guess that would make sense…
Katara sends her love to Aang.
I love you. I miss you.
— Mai
***
Fire Lord Daily Briefing, Year 6, Day 194
Health workers on the island have still not definitively identified the mechanism of the outbreak, though the causal link between the wooly pigs and human illness is hard to deny. Reports from the nurses providing direct care have been sporadic and the reason is unknown. Patient histories are still being collected. The ships in the Shuhon Island bay are still in limbo. A decision is needed regarding if imports will be redirected back to the source or another location.
Case count: 387
Death count: 26
***
My beautiful wife,
Thank you for being there and sending this information to me. Surprise — I didn’t hear any of that in today’s briefing, but the official case count is now 387 and deaths are 26. I’m just going to have to assume the real numbers are at least double that.
Please let the nurses and everyone in the infirmary know that I am doing everything I can here to come up with a plan and their health is my top concern. I am thinking about all of them. Every moment of the day.
The cabinet meeting yesterday was abysmal — Xie is useless. I don’t know if he just doesn’t care or if he’s incompetent. Maybe he and Chin are friends? I don’t think I will be getting accurate health reports through him.
I know you want to stay with the sick, but maybe you should meet with Chin and his health workers. Find out what the surge staff are doing and what they know. Leave Katara with the sick. I need to know who is screwing this up and if they’re doing it on purpose.
Don’t tell anyone yet, but unless I hear that some other source for illness was identified soon, I’m ordering all the pigs to be culled. It’s going to cost the Fire Nation at least a million gold pieces, but we’ll figure it out. Right?
Why I am writing you a briefing letter and giving you orders? Mai, I miss you so much. I couldn’t sleep at all last night without you. I can’t wait to hold you again.
I love you. Stay safe. Write back soon.
— Zuko
***
Aang walks in to the Fire Lord’s quarters from the guest room as Zuko is rolling up his note to Mai.
“Aang, you have to read this letter Mai sent from Shuhon. And then read this daily briefing. I’m guessing the information we’re getting here is at least four or five days old.”
He quickly reads through Mai’s letter. Tears start to form in his eyes. “I really thought Katara would be able to help them.”
“If she is relieving suffering, I think she is helping,” Zuko says. It sounds hollow. He hoped she would be able to fix this, too. “I’m about to send Hawky II back, but if you want to write Katara a quick note, I can slip it in.”
Aang chuckles. “I can’t believe you stuck with ‘Hawky II’ for his name. OK, give me a minute.”
Zuko gestures to the paper and ink stone at his desk and takes a few steps away to allow Aang space to write a private note. Aang quickly writes a few words and blows on the paper to dry the ink.
“Do you remember the last time we were in the Fire Nation together for the Winter Solstice?” Aang asks.
“Uh, maybe two years ago? I think you led a meditation in the gardens?” Zuko isn’t sure where Aang is going with this.
“Oh, right. But that’s not what I was thinking of. I’m thinking longer ago.”
The memories begin flooding back. Chasing the Avatar, sneaking into the Fire Nation, the destruction of Roku’s temple.
“It’s honestly not a time I like to remember,” he says. “But I know what you’re talking about.”
“I was thinking,” Aang pauses. “Maybe we could contact Roku together, so you could talk to him. He knows a lot about the history of the Fire Nation! No one else can see him when I contact his spirit form. But during the solstice, he took a physical form. Maybe he knows if something like this has happened before.”
“But the temple’s gone. What are we going to do? Just sit on top of the volcano and hope Roku finds us there?”
“Well, yeah. That, plus a little meditating and feeling the spiritual energy of the site should do it. And worst case scenario, if you can’t talk to Roku, I can. Or I could go into the spirit world to see if any of the spirits know about this. I still think Roku’s our best bet, though.”
“Sure, but the solstice is still three days away. I don’t think we have three days to wait. But — Roku’s not the only one who knows about the history of the Fire Nation.” Zuko walks to the door of his chambers and calls for an aide, then whispers something to him.
***
Mai wakes from a fitful sleep by a screech — it’s the messenger hawk. “Back so soon?” she says to the Hawk. She pulls the note out of the hawk’s holder, reads it and sighs. Chin is it, she thinks. She’s still exhausted and must have only slept for about three hours. Katara is still sound asleep. She writes Katara a brief note before dressing again in her Fire Lady robes and leaving the barracks that were set up for the nurses.
A soldier greets her as she exits. He’s young and looks vaguely familiar. “Good morning, Fire Lady. Governor Chin has asked me to escort you to his office in the city.”
“How convenient,” she muses. “Thank you — I was hoping to speak with him today.” The soldier walks over to his ostrich horse, hops up and offers his hand to help Mai onto the saddle. They take off without another word.
In the daylight Mai notices all the small farms that cover the landscape. Culling all the pigs, on all these farms, surely would be catastrophic to the people here. Mai sighs. It’s an impossible situation, especially since it doesn’t seem like anyone is any closer to finding the source of the illness.
“Are you from Shuhon?” Mai asks the soldier.
“No, Fire Lady. I actually grew up in the Capital. But I’ve been stationed here for three years, since I enlisted.” He looks back at her, over his shoulder. “I could try to answer any questions you have.”
“The people who live here, outside of the city. Do they all raise pigs?”
“Most of them do, I think. I’ve spent most of my time patrolling the city, though. Breaking up petty crime rings, underground gambling, that kind of thing. I’m only out on this end of the island during the spring, usually. Governor Chin likes to make sure the farmers who travel to the city to trade once a year don’t run into any trouble.”
“I see.” She pauses to choose her words carefully. “What do you think of Chin? He has been the governor for over a decade.”
The soldier understands the insinuation. “I think Chin has been loyal to the people here, above the, uh, change in administration. As long as things look good on paper, he can keep his head down and govern without much input from the Capital.” The soldier slows down and looks at Mai over his shoulder intently. “He knows he is in the minority when it comes to Ozai appointees.”
Mai nods. “And how do the people feel about him?”
“I think it depends — most people don’t feel anything at all towards him. They just want to live their lives. But some of the merchants have been upset with him. I’m not really sure why.”
***
Fire Lord Zuko:
I am writing in response to your message regarding the health situation in your nation and your request for a meeting. I regret I am unable to meet with you regarding this matter at this time.
On behalf of the Earth Kingdom, I can say we are saddened to hear of illness and death in your nation. I have alerted the villages on the western side of the content to be on the lookout regarding signs of the disease you have described.
Although we are working together to maintain the peace and rebuild trust between our nations, I feel it is necessary to remind you that the Fire Nation has been directly responsible for the deaths of at least 25 million Earth Kingdom citizens over the course of the last century.
I trust that this domestic issue will not interfere with the ongoing talks and transfer of power to sovereign government among the colonies still under Fire Nation jurisdiction.
I look forward to meeting with you in the spring for our next scheduled treaty discussion and hopefully we can finalize the outstanding details of the reparations agreement that has been on your desk since autumn.
Very truly yours,
Earth King Kuei
***
Zuko, I am sorry to hear about the illness spreading in the Fire Nation. Let me know what I can do to help. Have you written to Arnook? Maybe some of the healers in the North would be able to travel and help Katara. Keep me updated. May the spirits watch over and protect your people. — Hakoda