71 Grim Reality

"Please, tell me you're here to kill me." Said a bored, monotonous Mai while she stared at Azula and Ty Lee walking down the royal palanquin in front of the Palace of Omashu, the dart-girl didn't even bat an eye at the sight of six poor bastards who were breathing hard due to the fact that they were carrying the two girls all the way up from the bottom of the slopes of Omashu.

She stared at Azula for a second, before displaying a slight smile on her otherwise emotionless face; both girls can't help but laugh.

"It's great to see you, Mai" said Azula with a friendly smile, placing her hands on Mai's shoulders.

Ty Lee, on the other hand, rushed forward and gave Mai a big hug, receiving an uncomfortable pat on her back from her awkward friend.

"I thought you ran off and joined the circus. You said it was your calling." Said Mai.

"Well…." Ty Lee forced a very convincing smile "Azula called a little louder."

Placing a hand on the shoulders of both of her friends, Azula spoke "I have a mission and I need you both."

"Count me in. Anything to get me out of this place…" Mai instantly replied as she stared at the palace with an annoyed look.

As the girls started walking inside, to proceed with the proper protocol for these kinds of things since Mai is a noble and can't just be "yoinked" from her family as easily as Ty Lee can, the hyper friend of the trio whispered into Mai's ear;

"Is your father still acting weird about that whole thing?"

"Worse" Mai's eye twitched a little bit as she recalled the memory of her father's 'conspiracy room', everything was made worse because of how long it took for the old Ukano to discover that Tom-Tom, her brother, disappeared… four hours! It would've been more if her mother didn't come back…. The dude had ONE JOB…

"What are you two talking about?" Asked Azula with feigned interest

Mai and Ty Lee exchanged glances, and Ty Lee being the talkative one, took the initiative;

"Mai's father has been writing weird reports, not really anything related to the Fire Nation or anything… he is into… conspiracies and things… mostly directed towards the famous 'Ghost' that showed up in the last eight or so years…"

Azula's eye twitched a little bit and she clenched her fist ever so slightly, so obviously, both of her friends noticed but they decided not to talk about it considering how Azula decided to brush it off;

"It's a waste of time, Mai. If you weren't my friend, I would've reported your father's misbehavior to the Fire Lord…"

"I'm glad that we are friends then." Answered Mai…. But she got the hint, the moment Azula was displeased with her… her father's embarrassing hobbies would end up on the Fire Lord's table, and what would come after that… she didn't even want to think about the outcome.

The meeting with Ukano went how Mai expected it to go and, while her father tried his best to appear proper, Azula's keen eye could spot his slightly messy robes.

"The resistance, huh?" Asked Azula with a smirk while watching both Ukano and Michi prostrating themselves in front of her "You stay here. Mai will handle the hostage trade so you don't have a chance to mess it up."

As the Princess stood up and started walking towards the doorway, she spoke. "It's time to let 'Omashu' die and the name 'New Ozai' be known."

….

"We're trading a two-year-old for a King" said Azula, watching the mighty King Bumi inside a metal coffin being carried by chains being lowered just beside her, her gaze turned to the conspicuous trio among the 'Resistance' and continued "A powerful, earthbending king?"

"Mmm Hmmmm!" Bumi nods with a happy smile.

"It just… Doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?" The Fire Princess asked while staring at Mai.

"You're right." Mai spoke while fighting a massive inner struggle, but it is as Azula said… as long as she is considered a 'friend' her family will not suffer … hopefully… "The deal's off." She spoke with a stern voice as she quickly stole glances at Tom-Tom, making sure he was alright.

Azula smiled slyly as Mai commanded the soldiers to pull Bumi back up.

"Whoooooaaa! See you all later! HEH HEHE HAHH" shouted the incredibly amused old King, while still laughing, from inside the coffin as he was lifted back up.

"Bumi!" Aang shouted as he sprinted forward with his glider in hand, increasing his speed with airbending.

Azula tried to stop him by blocking his path with a mighty stream of blue flames, but the young Avatar dodged easily by leaping high into the air with the help of his bending.

Azula was completely shocked by this incredible jump and could only watch as Aang briefly touched the scaffolding that held the crane leading Bumi upwards,unfolded his glider and flew up to follow his old friend. Unfortunately, the same air that was lifting him up, also sent his makeshift hat flying which exposed his airbender tattoos.

"The Avatar" Said Azula with wide eyes for a second before they narrowed again, her lips stretching into a smirk "My lucky day…"

…

Walking through a lush green forest, two hooded figures could be seen as they ventured through the few spots of sunlight that managed to pierce through the canopy of leaves that covered the sky.

"Here, take this" said a young male voice as he handed a waterskin to the shorter hooded figure, who grabbed it without much haste and slowly drank from it;

"It saddens me that we won't be able to enjoy the amenities of the Resort for a while" said the older, shorter hooded figure.

"For the rest of our lives." Said the younger, taller one "If we are lucky…" he concluded a bit downcast and sad.

"At least Mr. Uchiha prepared supplies beforehand, although a carriage would help more…"

Rolling his eyes, the taller one said "Don't start with that, Uncle. Teacher had no obligation to provide us with supplies, yet he even gave us money so that we don't starve… you are sounding incredibly ungrateful right now"

"I was just saying." Iroh shrugged as he handed the waterskin back to Zuko "How much do we have?"

"Enough to last for a while… not enough for the rest of our lives…. If we decide to live long, that is…"

Iroh nodded with a serene smile.

"You are not taking this seriously, are you?" Anger rose in Zuko's heart as he watched his easygoing uncle that seemed not bothered by their situation.

"Oh, but I am… I am fully focused on contemplating what we should eat tonight… Perhaps some tea could help me figure it out faster…"

A loud stomp echoed through the patch of forest they were in as Zuko displayed his emotions "You only care about TEA! Do you understand our circumstances?! We are wanted! Criminals! For life! Tea?! You would be happy to have clean water to drink once a day if we don't figure out how to get out of this!"

Day after day, the duo of Uncle and Nephew walked, they went through forests, rivers, villages and even some fortresses, and finally reached the central area of the Earth Kingdom, the arid, inhospitable area that seemed to be receiving more and more refugees since the fall of Omashu.

"Looking at them… It makes me feel like we are the lucky ones here…" Said Zuko in a low tone, more to himself than to his uncle who was right beside him.

"Yet they still stand… Refusing to give up" said his uncle with a wise tone.

"Stubbornness fails in face of hunger and despair…" Said Zuko, pointing towards a group of deranged, thin, and weakened refugees ganging up on a poor merchant that seemed to also be on his last rope just for a piece of bread. ".. And breeds the worst in people"

Iroh could only frown gravely at the sight of such an event.

"What do we have here?" A deep voice echoed as a tall, armored man with strong arms and carrying a polearm on his back, approached the duo;

"Those seem to be some good quality cloaks you have, what else do you two have underneath?" A desperate sinister smirk appeared on his face as five more men encircled Zuko and Iroh.

"My friends, I'm sure we can reach a good deal here." Iroh stepped forward, trying to pacify the situation. "My nephew and I just had some good luck in finding these cloaks and some coins, nothing much but we can surely divide it among us."

Zuko frowned and gave a harsh look at that.

The tall guy laughed "You hear that boys? They want to share!"

What followed was a round of laughter as more and more thugs surrounded them "Don't worry, we will divide your things really well among ourselves!"

"I bet they have more than just 'a few coins' down there!"

""Yeah!""

Iroh could only sigh in defeat as Zuko's hand was placed on his shoulder "It's not your fault Uncle, teacher once told me that the circumstances create the villains… but he also taught me that there's no such thing as 'peace through compromise' because once you compromise once… the others won't stop until you starve to death…" 

Zuko's eyes narrowed dangerously as his hand moved in a blur, tossing four kunai at the four "toughest looking" thugs that surrounded them.

Blood sprayed everywhere as four throats were instantly pierced by the sharp tools;

Unsheathing his twin scimitars, Zuko jumped into action, hacking and slashing like they weren't men, but simply wooden dummies.

All the anger and resentment that he was feeling was unleashed on top of these robbers with no care.

Limbs flying, blood flowing, Zuko avoided using his firebending to hide his identity. At this moment he was so happy that Madara focused on his martial combat instead of bending, his teacher was wise indeed!

"ZUKO!" 

An elderly voice brought him back to the real world. He was in a trance while slaughtering people, afraid to lose what little they had. Looking around he saw several destroyed corpses, many more crippled and a lot of scared people in the background.

"…Uncle… I…" 

"It's okay" Iroh placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder "Everything will be okay, let's find somewhere else to rest and I shall brew one of my original tea recipes for you." 

Zuko simply nodded with his head lowered as he sheathed his blades, following his uncle outside the refugee outpost towards somewhere else.

After they walked long enough to find a cave to hide in, Zuko broke down in silent tears, rubbing his eyes from time to time to try to stay inconspicuous in front of his uncle. This was the first time he took a human life, even in the original Zuko never directly killed anyone.

Yes, people die because of his actions, but by that logic… many died and will die due to Aang, or do you believe those dozens of Fire Nation ships he destroyed during the Northern Siege had no one inside?

The point is, he didn't personally kill anyone before… this was the first lives he took with his own hands.

All the stress that added up, all the fears, worries and insecurities about his family, his honor… Everything was already weighing heavily on his shoulders, and now a bunch of nobodies tried to rob the items that were provided by his teacher? The last true light in this world that refused to shut him out, that always welcomed him with open arms, that taught him, that gave him strength and confidence… he couldn't hold back, no he refused to hold back!

The feeling of taking a life, staring into the person's eyes, watching their light fading away… 

His whole life Zuko heard a glorified fairy tale about strength and power, he was only 16 years old! For the whole second half of his life he grew up hearing tales of the Ghost killing his way through soldiers, how exciting it was to hear about such adventures back then… 

But now that he did it himself… he felt…. Dirty….

All those tales, from Fire Lord Sozin's rise to power to Ghost's debut always depicted the act of killing as a grand achievement, slaying one's opponents, yet reality was…. Grim…

"Zuko…." Said a worried Iroh staring at his broken nephew.

"There's no honor left for me, is there, uncle?" Asked a broken teen as his tears fell down his cheeks "Zhao was right… If father wanted it… with or without the Avatar… I would've been welcomed home… But, in his eyes I'm just a…. stain…"

Iroh couldn't help but touch his own chest at the sight of his nephew, never had the old General seen his fiery 'adopted son' so… fragile…

"There is no hope at all…" 

"No, Zuko! You must never give in to despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts…." The old General hugged his nephew for a couple of seconds before separating, but never letting go of the teen's shoulders "In the darkest times, hope is something that you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength."

The teen stared at his uncle for several seconds before moving away.

"I'm tired uncle… really… really…. tired…"

"Sleep" said Iroh with a gentle, soft tone. "I shall take guard duty tonight… and in the morning, when you wake up, you will see a better day."