Dark Puck - Blood Ties

Between the time it took for the message to find the Avatar, and the time it took Aang to get to the capital in response, it was nearly a month before he arrived.  When he did, the first person he spotted was Kouji, out exercising Qiang for the first time since the attempted coup.  “Aang!” called the younger man, waving.

“Hey!” the Avatar called, waving back. “How’re you doing? I’m sorry I didn’t get here for a visit sooner…”

“Much better!”  The wind almost made the words intelligible, and so Kouji wheeled Qiang up above Appa and leapt off, landing lightly on the saddle.

“…I heard you got hurt during the coup. Are you supposed to be doing that?”

Kouji shrugged.  “It was months ago.  I’m much better now.”

“All right, if you’re sure. How’s everyone else doing?”

“We’re all in various stages of recovery.  Ichiro hasn’t been home yet, Leilani’s… well, she’s not very happy, but Katara and the twins are fine.”

“How come Leilani’s not happy?” Aang asked. How much does it have to do with that letter she sent me? How bad are things here?

“A number of reasons,” Kouji admitted.  “Doctor Chang is retiring, Minami is pregnant…”

“Wow. A lot’s been going on here. I really should’ve stopped by sooner…”

Kouji shrugged.  “You were busy.”

“Yeah, I know. How’s Zuko doing?”

Kouji abruptly stood.  “I should land on Qiang.  Or else I really will catch it.”  He circled his arm, indicating the dragon should fly below Appa.

She did as he directed, and Aang got a very odd and uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. If it’s so bad that Kouji won’t even answer…

Kouji nodded to him and leapt over the edge, landing on Qiang and bringing her in to land.

Aang followed on Appa.

When they landed, Kouji asked, “Have you met the twins yet?”

“No, I haven’t,” the Avatar admitted, grinning.

Kouji grinned back.  “They ought to be with Yui now.  Come on.”

“Okay,” he replied and followed Kouji again. Somewhere along the way, he said, “Oh, you never answered about Zuko. How’s he doing?”

Kouji gave no sign that he’d heard the question, instead changing the subject and telling Aang about Mikoto’s latest achievement with firebending.

Something is definitely going wrong here, he thought, then pushed that to the back of his mind as they approached the nursery.

Yui was alone with the twins; Katara was attending to some of the duties she had as Firelady.  She brightened on seeing the boys.  “Kouji!  Avatar Aang!”

“Hi, Yui!” Aang said, brightly.

One of the twins looked up, staring at him curiously.

Yui smiled.  “Aang, these are Aiko and Yuki.  Aiko’s the wakeful one.”

“Hey, there!” he said, a little softer, but no less brightly, kneeling to look Aiko right in the eye. “I’m very pleased to meet you.”

Kouji smiled slightly as he watched the Avatar interacting with the princess.  Maybe it would cushion the blow when Aang finally saw Zuko.

Around then, Katara came back. “Aang!” she said, in surprised delight, hugging her old friend. “I didn’t know you were coming, you should’ve written!”

Kouji laughed.  “Surprised me too.”

“Well, it’s been a while since I came to see you guys,” he replied. Which was true, but only half the reason he’d come.

“Well, it’s good to see you again,” said Yui with a gentle smile.

“It’s good to see you all, too. And to meet the girls,” he said, smiling at the twins again.

The earthbender glanced at Katara.  “Is Zuko in his office?”

“He should be,” she replied.

“All right.  I’m going to take Aang to see him.”

“All right,” Katara said quietly. “No, no, Aiko, sweetheart, don’t put that in your mouth.”

Yui turned the twins over to their mother as Kouji led Aang away.

“They’re adorable,” the Avatar said.

“They really are,” Kouji said fondly.  “Makes me feel like an uncle.”

“Bet Iroh spoils them like mad.”

“Them and Mito both.”

“How’s Mito doing, by the way?”

“He’s doing a lot better than expected,” Kouji admitted, “especially after hearing that the Róng Yào were trying to kill Zuko and his sisters and install him on the throne.  In fact, he’s gotten really protective of them and Yui.”

Aang nodded. “That’s good.”

“Yeah.”  Kouji rounded a corner and knocked on the door.

“It’s open,” Zuko called from inside.

“Go ahead,” the younger boy said to Aang.

Aang pushed open the door and paused for a minute, to take in how much his old friend had aged in the last several months. “Hi, Zuko,” he finally said, after a moment, at which point the Firelord finally looked up, surprised.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” he said, rising and limping across the room to embrace his erstwhile enemy.

Quietly, Kouji closed the door and left them to talk.

The two of them left the study not long afterwards, Zuko to go into a meeting, and Aang to go catch up further with everyone else in the palace.

Leilani was, as was more and more common these days, in the infirmary.

Aang went to see her. “Hey, ‘Lani,” he said.

She looked up at him and smiled.  “Aang!”  She hugged him.

Aang hugged her back. “How’re you doing?”

“Stressed,” she admitted softly.

“‘Cause of Chang retiring?”

“Among other things.”  She hesitated, then lowered her voice.  “Aang… I think he means to turn the infirmary to me.”

“…Well, you’re the best choice, if he’s really retiring.”

She looked panicked.  “Aang, I can’t!  I’m foreign, I’m not a noble, I’m only twenty-one, I—”

“You’re the best healer here,” he pointed out. “You trained for two years at the North Pole, plus four years of practical instruction during the war. Chang taught you the ins and outs of this infirmary himself. Plus, he’s not a noble, either.”

That gave Leilani pause.  “He isn’t?”  She didn’t often discuss the doctor’s personal life with him — it seemed rude.

Aang shook his head. “Nope.”

“…oh.”

“So, you’re the best choice,” he said, smiling at her.

She smiled back tentatively.  “I… I suppose so…”

“How’s Minami doing?” he asked, changing the subject.

“She’s a little scared,” Leilani admitted.  “She doesn’t like pregnancy.”

“Oh. Do you know why?” he asked.

Leilani shrugged.  “Her body is doing strange things.  I don’t think I’d like it either.”

“I guess that makes sense,” he agreed, blushing faintly.

The healer laughed.  “You men have it easy,” she teased.

He blushed even more. “I guess so.”

Leilani finished cleaning the (for-once) empty infirmary and sat down on one of the beds.  Aang sat down in a chair next to it. “I got your letter,” he finally said. He’d avoided the topic as long as possible.

“Then you’ve seen him?”  Water drifted out of the pouch on her belt, nudging the door shut and then filling the keyhole with ice to prevent eavesdropping.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“I don’t know what to do for him,” she said.  “There’s only so much he’ll tell me, since I don’t have the security clearance — and I don’t think he’s telling me as much as he could.  But whatever he did to take out the Róng Yào is tearing him apart.”

“I could see that,” the Avatar agreed quietly. “He looks… I don’t know. I suggested he go off on vacation again, just to get away from everything, but he said he couldn’t.”

“He needs to,” Leilani said firmly.  “He’s got to get this out before it kills him.  It’s already aged him beyond his years.”

“I saw that, too. No one his age should have white hair already.”

“It only took six months,” Leilani whispered.  “He was already going grey by the time Kouji woke up, and Kouji was out for two and a half weeks.”

“…So whatever he did must’ve been really awful,” Aang said, going a bit pale at the implications.

She nodded, and sighed.  “I… I think I know what he did… but I don’t want to say anything.”

Aang nodded, slowly. “Yeah…”

“Can you help him?”

“I can try.” He thought for a moment. “Maybe if I get Shang to okay the trip it’ll be easier to convince Zuko.”

Leilani flinched.  “…good luck.”

“Thanks, I’ll probably need it,” he said, smiling ruefully.

“Between his son and the coup, Shang’s been going slightly crazy.”

“I don’t blame him. How old’s his son?”

“Four.”  Leilani sighed.  “And into everything.”

Aang laughed. “Sounds like a lot of fun.”

“Oh, he’s a little heartbreaker.”

Aang laughed. “I believe it.”

Leilani sighed.

He stood up. “I’ll go find Shang, then.”

“He’s probably with Iroh by now.”

Aang nodded. “I’ll look there first, then. Even if he’s not, I’d like to say hi to the old man.”

She smiled.  “He’ll be glad to see you.”

He grinned back. “Here’s hoping. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Good luck, Aang.”

“You too.” And he slipped out of the infirmary, heading towards the General’s office.

As Leilani had predicted, Li Shang was indeed with the old soldier, discussing security.  Aang tapped on the door.

“It’s open,” the old man called out.

“Aang!” Shang said when the Avatar opened the door, looking surprised.  “When did you get here?”

“About an hour ago,” the Avatar said, cheerfully.

“It’s good to see you again,” Iroh said, smiling.

“Come in, have a seat,” the bodyguard added.  “What brings you by?”

“Couple things. First, it’s been ages since I came here, so I thought I’d stop by and see how everyone’s doing.”

The other man nodded.

“And also…” He hesitated a moment. “Leilani wrote to me.”

“…about Zuko?”  Shang wasn’t blind.

“Yeah.”

“Have you seen him?” Iroh asked, quietly.

“Yeah.”

Shang sighed.

“And…” He hesitated again. “I think he needs to get away for a while.”

“No.  Absolutely not,” the bodyguard said immediately, fast enough that he clearly had not actually thought on this.

“Why not?” Aang asked. “I’ll be with him. And whatever went on during those six months you guys were hunting down the Róng Yào really tore him up inside, and even if he can’t talk about it to anyone, just getting away from where it all happened might help.”

Li Shang opened his mouth to object a second time… and then closed it, frowning pensively.

“I think he’s right, Shang,” Iroh said.

“…yeah, he is.”  He ran a hand through his curly hair.  “Zuko does need to get away.”

The younger man sighed in relief. “Now all I have to do is convince him.”

“…good luck with that.”

“…Yeah, I’m probably going to need it.”

“You will”  Shang put a hand on his shoulder.  “But hey.  You’re the Avatar.  You’re due a few more miracles.”

“Here’s hoping.”