Dark Puck

A couple months passed after Leilani’s diagnosis of the Firelord, and still only three people knew the truth of the matter.  Zuko had yet to even tell his wife and closest friends — when Leilani had tried to call him on that, he said he didn’t want anyone to freak out, when he had years left to him.

As a result, the first time the young Lord Kouji, now twenty-four years old, realised that something was wrong was when he walked into Zuko’s office to deliver some papers and found the older man sleeping at his desk.  For a moment, he could only stare, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Zuko was sleeping on the job.

A few seconds later, the older man jerked awake. “…Kouji? What’s up?” He sat up a little straighter, pretending that Kouji hadn’t seen what he had clearly just seen.

“Nothing,” the young lord replied quickly, handing the papers to Zuko.

“…What’s wrong?” the Firelord asked, frowning slightly, as he took the papers.

“You seem… tired.”

“…Ah. Don’t worry about it.”

“Zuko, that’s like telling Aiko and Yuki not to wander the palace alone.”

“Did they wander off again?” he asked, evasiveness instantly replaced by worry.

“No, Zuko,” Kouji said patiently.  “They’re playing with Pan.”

Zuko relaxed, clearly relieved. “Good, good.”

At least they were the last I checked.  I should check again.

He now turned his attention to the papers Kouji had handed him, frowning slightly again.  The young nobleman watched him, concerned.

Noticing, the Firelord looked up again. “…You’re sure there’s nothing wrong?”

“Not with the girls,” Kouji said evasively.

“…Did something happen to Mito?”

“Have you heard Yui killing anyone violently?” he countered.

“…No,” he admitted, relaxing again.  “Then what… ?”

“…I think you should stop work early today.”

“There’s no need for that.”

“You were sleeping on your desk.  You’re clearly tired.”

“…It’s been a long week.” It had. The head of one of the older noble houses — not one of the Seven, but a stone’s throw away in terms of power and prestige — had died, and there had been some dispute over who inherited. The people involved had nearly come to blows.

Kouji sighed.  “Try to get some rest.  Take a day off.  You’ve more than earned one.”

“There’s no need for that.”

“Of course there isn’t.”  The young lord did not sound convinced.

“There really isn’t,” Zuko repeated, almost as if trying to convince himself as well as his friend.

“…I’ll see you later, then.”

“Yeah.”

Kouji walked out of the room, trying to hide his worry.

About ten minutes later, Mito caught up with him. “Hey, Uncle Kouji?”

He turned to the prince, immediately covering his frown with a smile.  “What’s up, Mito?”

“Can I talk to you for a sec?”  The prince looked upset about something.

“Of course you can.”

“In private?”

The false smile fell away.  “Follow me.”

Mito did. As soon as they were behind a closed door, he took a deep breath and, all in a rush, asked, “Is everything all right with Dad? I mean, is there some crisis you guys aren’t telling us about, or… is he okay?”

“…I don’t know, Mikoto,” Kouji admitted.  “There’s no real crisis that I know of… why do you ask?”

He hesitated a moment. “I found him sleeping in his study three times last week.”

Silver eyes narrowed.  “So this has happened more than once…”

The prince nodded, miserably. “He woke up as soon as I walked in the second time, so I think he was only all the way asleep the other two times. But… something’s really wrong with him, isn’t it.”

“I’m starting to think so.”  Kouji scowled.  “I caught him sleeping this afternoon.”

“…Can you talk to him? He won’t tell me anything. If something’s really wrong, he won’t want me to freak out…”

“I’ll try, Mito,” the lord promised.  “But he might not tell me, either.”

The twelve-year-old nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Not a problem.”

Mito managed a hesitant smile, then hugged him, and slipped off to go back to his lessons.

Kouji considered confronting his adoptive brother immediately, then decided it would be better to wait a few hours.  Probably a good decision, as Zuko had just gone into a meeting and was unavailable anyway.  He checked his copy of the Firelord’s schedule, then decided that he’d wait until just before Zuko’s daily session with Leilani.  Zuko took every opportunity to avoid them.

As a matter of fact, he’d skipped every single one this past week, hiding behind the potential violence among his nobles.  Smiling slightly, without any real happiness, Kouji went about his own work.  He’d ambush Zuko with this soon enough.

After his last meeting of the day, the Firelord went back into his study and shut the door. He didn’t think he’d be able to hide from Leilani tonight, but damned if he wasn’t going to try.

Kouji was waiting for him.  “Hey,” he said quietly.

“Hey, Kouji,” he replied, just as quietly, limping over to his chair and settling down into it. “What’s up?”

“I ran into Mikoto earlier.”

“Oh?”

“He seems to think there’s some sort of crisis going on that we haven’t told him about.”

“…If there is, it’s news to me, too.”

“Maybe you should reassure him.  He’s worried.”

Zuko nodded. “Right.” He pushed himself up again, just barely perceptibly wobbling. “I’ll go find him and talk to him, then.”

“…if you talk to him like that, you’ll worry him more.”

“Like what?”

“He says he saw you sleeping in your office three times last week.”

“…Oh.” The Firelord sat back down. “Oh.”

“Zuko, what’s going on?  Mito isn’t the only one who’s worried.”

“Nothing’s going on. I’m just… tired. It’s been a long week.” The excuse sounded weak, even as he offered it.

“You’re a rotten liar, brother.”

“I’m not lying,” he insisted.

Kouji met his gaze steadily.

“I’m just tired,” Zuko said, quietly, holding his gaze.

“…look, at least talk to Leilani or Katara about it?”

“I already talked to Leilani,” he said, before he could stop himself. Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

“You did?  What did she say?”

He didn’t reply.

“Zuko—”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just tired, that’s all.”

Kouji sighed and left the room.

 

The next day, Prince Mikoto found him again. “Did you talk to Dad?” he asked, immediately, then backtracked. “Of course you did, you talk to him like a million times a day. But did you talk to him about the thing? The one I asked you about?”

“I did,” Kouji sighed, dropping his practise glaive and beckoning the prince closer.

He came, shifting a bit nervously from foot to foot. “What did he say?”

“Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.”  His frustration renewed, Kouji turned away from the young prince and slammed one foot into the ground, knocking a chunk of earth into the air; he leaped in the air and kicked out, sending it flying into the wall.

“He wouldn’t tell me anything either when I asked him later,” Mito said, shoulders slumping.

Kouji turned back to him.  “…he did say that he’d talked to Leilani.  But he wouldn’t tell me what she said.  Just continued to insist that he was tired.”

“…He actually admitted that?” The prince now looked even more worried.

Kouji nodded.  “Maybe you should talk to her?  I tried this morning, but she wasn’t available.”

Mito nodded. “Okay. Want me to tell you what I find out?”

“Please?”

“All right.” The young prince slipped off to go find the healer.

Leilani was easily found; she’d just finished removing a splinter from Pan’s finger when Mikoto opened the door.  “Mito!” cried the younger girl happily when she saw him, bouncing away from Leilani and hugging him.

Mito hugged her back, managing an answering smile. “Heyla, Pan! How’re you doing?

“Great!  Doctor Leilani just took out a splinter!” she told him enthusiastically.

“And remember what I told you about that fence,” Leilani ordered.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Were my sisters with you?” Mito asked, laughing a little, though inwardly he dreaded the answer. Dad won’t be happy if they ran off again…

Pan shook her head.  “Or they’d’ve come in with me.”

“All right,” he said, relieved, grinning a little wider. “If you see ‘em before I do, tell them hi for me?”

“Okay!”  And then she was off like a shot.

“Aunt ‘Lani, can I talk to you a minute?” Mito asked, once Pan was out of earshot.

She nodded.  “Of course.  Come in.”

He hesitated, then did so. “What’s wrong with Dad?” he asked, quickly, in an undertone. No sense beating around the bush.

For a long moment, Leilani said nothing.  Too long.  “Why do you think something’s wrong?”

More hesitation. “I found him sleeping in his study three times last week. And Uncle Kouji says he says he’s just tired, but if he’s actually admitting it, it probably means something’s really, really wrong.”

“…Zuko should be the one to tell you,” she said.  “Not me.”

“He won’t. I asked him, I asked him a lot, and he wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“He doesn’t want anyone to worry.”  A split-second later, she realised that she should have said something else.

“So I should be worried?” the prince whispered.

“Mikoto…”

“What’s wrong with him?” he asked again, hushed and scared.

She knelt and hugged him, then closed the door.

He bit his lip, fists clenched, trying not to shake or cry or… something. “What’s wrong with him?”

Leilani took a deep breath.  “His body is giving out on him.”

“Wh-what does that mean, exactly?”

“It means that he’s going to die,” she said quietly.

Mikoto just stared at her. “H-he’s going to… to die?” he repeated. He can’t, that’s not true, he can’t die, not my dad, not after he lived through the Róng Yào and came back with Uncle Aang and…

“Not soon,” she tried to reassure the boy.  “Hopefully not for years.  But eventually, yes.  I’m sorry, Mito.  He asked me to keep it quiet.”

“Oh…” he said, in a very small voice.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“Okay,” he whispered back, then backed out of the room, hit the door, opened it, and fled.

“Mito!”

If he heard her, he ignored her, just kept running, until he ran head-on into Kouji.  The noble steadied him.  “Mikoto, what is it?” 

“Uncle Kouji…” he started, then burst into tears before he could say anything else.

Kouji’s eyes widened, and he gently picked the boy up — then staggered, twelve-year-olds were freaking heavy — and carried him to a quiet room to comfort him.  It took a while to calm Mito down — it was nearly ten minutes before he stopped crying, and, even then, he was still shaking like mad and clearly upset.

“What’s wrong?” Kouji asked him gently, feeling incredibly out of depth.  Yui should be here, not him.

“I t-talked to Aunt ‘Lani…”

Kouji’s heart sank.  “What did she say?”

“Sh-she said… said that Dad’s body was… giving out on him.” Mito stared at the ground, fighting the urge to burst into tears again. I’m twelve. I’m too old to lose control like that.

Silver eyes went wide.  “Oh, no…”

“Sh-she said… he was… was…” NotcryingagainnotcryingagainNOT.

Kouji hugged the pre-teen close, fighting tears himself.  He could hear what Mikoto couldn’t say, and he was close to shattering.  Mikoto clung to Kouji, taking deep, shuddery breaths, trying to compose himself.

The older noble honestly wasn’t much better.

“Wh-what do we do now?” Mito asked, when he’d more-or-less caught his breath.

“I… I don’t know, I… I should probably talk to him…”  Kouji stopped.  “No.  I have to talk to Katara.”

“…Dad probably hasn’t told her, either.”

“Exactly.”

“…She’s gonna be mad.”

“I know.”  He glanced down at the boy.  “…you don’t need to come with me.”

Mito looked relieved. “I should prolly clean up, anyway…”

Kouji managed a small smile for him.  “Yeah.”

“Guess I’ll see you later?”

“Count on it.”

Mikoto gave him a shaky smile, then slipped off to wash his face.

For several moments, Kouji didn’t move.  He didn’t want to believe it.  But it made sense…

He turned and slammed his fist into the wall — and through it.  Not bothering to repair it, he went to talk to Katara.  She was, thankfully, not with her daughters when he found her — which would probably have made the conversation only more difficult.

“K-Katara?”  He didn’t try to hide the pain in his voice or the worry on his face.

“Kouji? What’s wrong?”

“Can… I come in?”

“Of course.” She frowned, and stood aside to let him in. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

He closed the door behind him and turned to look at her.  “…it’s about Zuko.”

“…Did you find out what’s wrong with him?” she asked, quietly. “He dodges whenever I ask.”

“Yes.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Mikoto talked to Leilani.”  He was stalling, and he knew it.

“And then he told you what she said?”

Kouji nodded.

“What did she say?”

The younger bender braced himself.  “…he’s dying, Katara.”

The Firelady froze, and remained frozen for a long moment. Then she stumbled backward, half-falling into a chair she backed into. “…no…”

It wasn’t that she hadn’t known — or guessed — or suspected. She may not be nearly as good a healer as Leilani, but she knew enough to know that something was very, very wrong. But it was one thing to know — or guess — or suspect, and quite another to know, for certain. To be told.

Hesitantly, the young man moved closer to her.  “Katara… ?”

“No…” she whispered again, then buried her head in her hands, crying.  Kouji hesitated, then hugged her tightly, fighting his own tears.  She didn’t hug back, just sat there, shaking and sobbing, head still buried in her hands.  All the young lordling could do was hold her while she wept.

At length, she calmed down. “Can you talk to him first? I think I might kill him myself for keeping this from me if I go talk to him now.”

He nodded.  “Yeah.  I can.”

“Thank you.”

“Gladly.”  As soon as I stop trembling.

“…You said Mito knows?”

“He told me.”

“I should go talk to him,” she said, wiping aside the last of her tears.

“He might be with Yui now,” Kouji warned.

She nodded. “If he is, I’ll wait.”

“…Leilani would know more details than I would.”

“…I’ll talk to her, too, then.”

Finally, Kouji let go of her.  “And I’ll go speak to the Firelord.”

“Thank you. I… need some time to calm down before I do.” It had always been hard to be calm about Zuko. Whether good or bad — mostly bad, in that first year — he’d always made her feel too damn much.

He nodded, and slipped out of the room.

She stayed a further minute to try and calm down, and went to look for her stepson. Mito first. Then I find Leilani and ask what needs to be asked.