68 Royal Siblings

A luxurious Fire Nation warship neared the northwestern coast of the Earth Kingdom, also known as the Northern Colonies.

On the horizon it's already possible to see the pink forest of sakura trees, a picturesque sight for many, but to the Fire Nation soldiers… this place is a cursed land…

As many soldiers were steeling themselves to finally set foot in the "Ghost Lands", a royal carriage was brought from inside the ship, carried by four strong men that bowed once they reached the deck, allowing the daughter of the Fire Lord Ozai to disembark.

Facing the neat rows of soldiers, perfectly aligned, with a narrowed gaze that seemed to inspect every detail possible, she finally spoke;

"My brother and my uncle have disgraced the Fire Lord, and have brought shame on all of us. You might have mixed feelings about attacking members of the Royal Family. I understand. But I assure you, if you hesitate, I will not hesitate to bring you down…. Dismissed." 

As the soldiers went back to their quarters to prepare for what was to come, the Captain, wearing a more decorated armor than all the others, approached the girl;

"Princess, I'm afraid that the tides will not allow us to bring the ship into port before nightfall."

"I'm sorry, Captain, but I do not know much about tides. Could you explain something to me?"

"Of course, Your Highness."

"Do tides command this ship?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Your Highness"

"You said the tides would not allow us to bring the ship in…" her tone grew sharper, as did her eyes "Do the tides command this ship?"

"…. No, Princess…"

"And if I were to have you thrown overboard, would the tides think twice about smashing you against the rocky shore?"

The poor Captain gulps hard, beads of sweat forming on his forehead "No, Princess…"

"Well then…" Azula runs her fingers through her bangs "Maybe you should worry less about the tides that have already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me… who is still mulling that possibility over…" She frowned, and the Captain could clearly see her displeasure.

"I… I'll pull us in…" he says in a hurry, only waiting for her permission to leave.

"Yes you will… or you will have a private chat with the tides that you seem to respect above my orders…"

As the Captain scrambled to go do what he was supposed to do, Azula didn't display a sneer or anything like that, that was beneath her. She simply stared at everyone expecting nothing but perfection, if one couldn't achieve that… She'd simply replace them for someone who could… The Fire Nation did not lack people.

…

After entering their temporary shelter, a dark room, Iroh pulled out a small bag and placed it on the table, pouring all the content out with a childish glee in his aged eyes;

"Look at these magnificent shells!" he said as he picked up a conch "I'll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come."

"We don't need any more useless things! You forget… We have to carry everything ourselves now!" Zuko said as he followed Iroh inside of the building, with a frown on his face as he crossed his arms, tapping the floor with one foot as Iroh picked up his souvenirs, clearly displaying his discontent.

Iroh raised a single finger and adopted his old and wise stance, clearly ready to teach some very important life lesson to his beloved nephew… when a voice echoed from the side;

"Hello, brother… uncle." 

Turning to the side, Zuko's eyes went wide as anger sprouted inside his heart. Iroh, on the other hand, sharpened his gaze as he stared at the girl that was being attended by four different workers;

"What are you doing here?" Zuko asked in a low tone, clearly reining in his anger, making Iroh proud that he learned from his first encounter with Zhao back then.

Dismissing the workers, Azula stood up and walked close to the table, grabbing one of the shells in her hand;

"In my country, we exchange a pleasant hello before asking questions…. Have you become uncivilized so soon, Zuzu?"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Zuko lost his temper, what a surprise, even Iroh could only sigh, the prince had much to learn and he had decided to interfere before Azula made Zuko even worse;

"To what do we owe this honor?" The old General asked, clearly upset with the whole situation.

"Hmmm… Must be a family trait. Both of you are so quick to get to the point." She broke the shell that she was holding with her fingertips, leaving Iroh angry, before continuing "I've come with a message from home. Father changed his mind. Family is suddenly very important to him. He heard rumors of plans to overthrow him; treacherous plots. Family is the only thing you can really trust… Father…. He… Regrets your banishment. He wants you home…"

A dead silence permeated the air for several seconds

"Did you hear me?" Azula raised an eyebrow, waiting for Zuko's response "You should be happy. Excited. Grateful. I just gave you great news…"

"I'm sure your brother simply needs a moment" Iroh spoke from the side, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Don't interrupt, Uncle!" Azula exclaimed furiously before turning to Zuko "I still haven't heard my thank you! I'm NOT a messenger. I didn't have to come all this way."

"… Father… He…. Regrets? He …. Wants me… Back?" Zuko spoke with a lost expression on his face

"I can see that you need time to take this in… I'll come to call on you tomorrow. Good evening."

Not giving a chance for the nephew-uncle duo to speak, she exited the place, leaving Zuko to ponder what had just been said.

"It is… unbelievable..." Said Zuko with the same lost expression.

"It IS unbelievable. I have never known my brother to regret anything." Iroh replied as he caressed his beard while staring out the window thoughtfully.

"Did you listen to Azula? Father realized how important family is to him!" Zuko grew irritated. "He cares about me!"

Turning to Zuko and holding his arms out in a gesture, Iroh argued. "I care about you! And if Ozai wants you back… well…. I think it may not be for the reasons you imagine."

"You don't know how my father feels about me. You don't know ANYTHING!"

Then a third voice echoed through the room;

"Oops, it seems that I have interrupted some family bonding time…" Spoke a tall handsome man with black wild hair, wearing his classic yukata while smoking his kiseru with a smirk;

"Teacher!" Zuko's expression and mood brightened, but then he grew embarrassed "I… I didn't mean to hide myself from you, I just didn't want you to see me in my current state… the last time I visited… I had a crew and a ship, and now… I have… nothing…" The banished Prince finished his argument with a downcast expression, lowering his head in shame.

"Hoo? I'm surprised that you actually believed that I wasn't aware of your presence here from day one..." Madara says with a smirk, winking to Iroh in the background playfully.

Zuko could only grow more embarrassed, but said nothing. Madara is the one that kept the conversation going;

"I've heard your crazy sister decided to stop by for a spa session…" Said the Uchiha while exhaling some smoke from his mouth "I'm saddened to miss such a touching reunion among siblings…"

"How did yo-"Zuko was about to ask… but when he saw Madara raising an eyebrow, he just shut up… His sister just arrived and Madara already knew? That is a scary kind of information network right there!

"Anyway… What was that all about? I swear that I heard some shouts before walking in here..." Asked Madara, before Zuko could make more of a fool of himself

"My sister… she… she came to tell me that father wants me back!" Zuko said with a smile, which only saddened Iroh and Madara more, since both of them could see the red flags glowing with bright lights.

"Really?" Asked Madara while sitting on a chair nearby.

"Yes! I was just packing my things, Uncle seems to not believe her though" Zuko said with an angry frown on his face, avoiding looking towards the old General.

Madara gave the teen an understanding nod "His distrust is understandable…"

Zuko frowned at that but stopped in his tracks as Madara raised a hand, signaling that he hadn't finished his words yet

"Would you believe it if the Fire Lord contacted me today, to tell me that the Fire Nation wanted to promote me, to make me a Hero of the Fire Nation, and to give me my well-deserved noble status?" Asked Madara, making even Iroh smile a bit in the background.

Zuko could only stare at Madara and raise his eyebrow "Of course not! Father branded you an enemy of the Fire Nation for years… how could he…" then it clicked for Zuko, making him stop talking.

"Ah…. It seems that you do get it… huh…." Says Madara with a saddened smile on his face.

"It can't be… can it?" Zuko's face displayed distress, staring at both his teacher and uncle.

"You tell me, is your sister known for her lying skills?" asked Madara.

Zuko couldn't even answer that. Iroh could only come to his side and pat him on the back;

"What… What now teacher?" asked a lost Zuko;

"Well, there are two options here…" Madara says while taking a puff of his kiseru.

This made the family duo stare at him intently.

"First, you run away and I hold them back, your sister might be scary to you and those fodder that you call soldiers, but to me she is just a child… " he even stared at Iroh, as the old man clearly knew that both of them could take Asula easily but Zuko was not there yet.

"The second is… You follow her and see how deep the rabbit hole goes…" The Uchiha simply shrugged nonchalantly.

"A-and what would you do to her, Teacher?" Zuko asked with a trembling voice, he didn't really hate Azula, no… she was family! How could he hate her? Despite all of her flaws, she was his sister.

"What else? I would beat her back to her ship and send her packing" Madara answered "It's too early to start killing Princesses…" he completed, making Zuko gulp harshly

"I think we need some time to think about it, Mr. Uchiha" Iroh approached once he saw the doubt in Zuko's eyes, he knew that the boy was suffering a lot right now, but he was rather happy that Madara joined him in this, this way at least Zuko could see the truth.

'Sometimes the truth is so ugly that we'd rather believe in a lie' thought the old General with a saddened face;

Nodding, Madara simply stood up and left. Oh, he would be there for when they decided to leave, in either case he would meet Azula.

That girl came in swaggering like she owned this place, time to give her the Sokka treatment.

…

The next day, both Zuko and Iroh could be seen carrying bags on their backs as they walked towards the big Royal Ship of the Fire Nation.

Welcoming them there were two rows of soldiers, one on each side, while Asula stood on the ramp with her arms spread wide and a happy smile on her face;

"Brother! Uncle! Welcome! I'm so glad you decided to come!"

The duo simply nodded at the Princess' words, before the Captain took over;

"Are we ready to depart, Your Highness?"

Asula answered sweetly, "Set our course for home, Captain."

That "home" managed to pull some strings in Zuko's heart;

"Home" he said with a complicated gaze towards the horizon.

The Captain then joined Zuko and Iroh and walked ahead of them on the ramp, raising his hand to signal the soldiers "You heard the Princess! Raise the anchors! We're taking the prisoners home!"

The man's eyes widened as he realized his mistake and he looked at Azula, but before anyone could say anything about it, a large blast of fire exploded on the Captain's back, launching him towards Azula like a rocket.

The fire Princess dodged sideways easily, and when she turned her gaze towards the ramp, she saw Zuko and Iroh already beating the soldiers that were surrounding them;

"You knew, huh?" Asked Azula with a sarcastic smirk, not caring about it at all

Kicking a soldier in the side of their head, Zuko turned towards Azula with his own smirk "You are known for your lies… sister…"

"Smart enough to see the truth… foolish enough to follow through with it… it seems that your banishment didn't improve you that much, brother." She jumped and launched a blast of blue flames from her hand aiming towards Zuko's head.

Lowering his body, Zuko waited until the blast of blue fire passed over his head before rolling to the side, dodging another blast.

"Oh? It seems that you did learn a thing or two…" She said as she took her lightning stance "But let's see how good your dodging skills have become"

She was about to start doing the circular movements with her arms when a lazy voice came from behind her;

"Not enough to dodge that, Girly… but everything else? I'm sure he can take it… Am I right, Firecracker?" a sarcastic smirk could be seen on his face as Madara was sitting on the railing of the Royal Ship, still enjoying his kiseru with one hand and having the other lazily hanging from his kimono.