InsaneJournal

"How DARE you"
Who: Iroh, Zuko, Mai, Azula
What: At the hospital after Ty Lee got hit by the car
When: After the gala ended.
Where: hospital!
Status: Complete
Rating PG-13 for language!



It had been a very long day for Iroh, because that day had begun yesterday morning.

He'd attended the Gala like the rest of his family, though he'd arrived on his own and spent as much of the evening as he could trying desperately not to hover or get in their way. Iroh enjoyed gatherings and having a good time, and he'd soon got caught up with mingling and dancing. The incident with the punch had mostly gone on unnoticed by him - Lin seemed to be taking care of it, and he'd left it alone.

He'd made a mental note to get the details later when he'd seen Lin leave with Korra, but there had been portal incidents and drunken incidents and amusing interactions involving people avoiding each other and several things seemed to have gone on in the women's bathroom.

The phone call about Ty Lee's accident had been a crushing blow that had instantly wiped out the entire evening. And then there had been making phone calls, driving to the hospital, watching over Zuko, making sure Azula didn't set anyone on fire. There had been surgeries throughout the night and into the next day.

Right now, he wanted to sleep more than anything. Instead, he handed Azula, Zuko, and Mai some coffee, before taking his own and sitting down, "I am sure we will hear good news soon."

Azula simply looked shellshocked. Her anger had cooled, replaced with an icy feeling in her chest and her stomach. She had just been told she was not allowed to see Ty Lee - by order of the girl's parents - and Iroh had been the only person who could calm her down before someone got really, really hurt. She'd try to bribe her way in later. Right now her hands were tremoring as they held the coffee. She said nothing, merely peered down into the murky liquid.

One of Zuko's hands held Mai's, squeezing lightly. The other trailed on the lip of his coffee as he thought about their next course of action. Or what the motivation for this had been. To hurt them, obviously. Particularly Azula. He glanced over at his sister, and wondered what his father had planned.

Maybe the entire fire nation should just burn.

The much older man had taken a seat across from the three of them, mostly so that he could keep an eye on them. He'd had a long conversation with Ty Lee's parents, who had arrived that morning. The restriction was unreasonable, and what he hadn't told Azula was that girl's parents were blaming her.

He had the very deep suspicion, however, that the restriction would be lifted once Ty Lee started crying for her, so he hadn't pressed the issue much. There was something to be said for being patient and allowing life to take its course.

Mai stared into her own coffee and took a long sip off of it, before taking the entire situation in, and whispering, "If this is how it's going to be, we can't wait to act."

Iroh looked up at her, sharply, "This is not a battle we should go into with clouded heads, Mai."

"Ozai has dictated the terms of the battle every step of the way," Zuko replied. "What choice do we have if we want any hope of success?"

He glanced at Azula, and added, "I wish Aang were here, and Katara. We could use their backup."

Azula snorted, but said nothing. It was the closest she'd ever come to agreeing with that particular sentiment, where the Avatar and Katara were concerned. But Zuko was right. That level of power behind them and nothing could stand in their way. Not their father or a thousand gunmen.

"How much would you love it if Katara was here?" Mai snorted a bit, and pulled away from him. Her brain needed space to think. Out of the three of them sitting there, she liked to think that she'd come the closest to ever outmaneuvering him, and with Azula in her current state, she wondered if she needed to take control of this.

But that encounter, despite its very minor successes, had ended in a failure so crushing that she forced herself not to think about it most days. She sighed, "Your assassin is taking too long."

Neena had approached them about the job at the beginning of the week. None of them had been that eager to allow her the kill - Mai had, in fact, been loudly opposed to it, and she wasn't alone. Still, the woman had encouraged them to think it over, mentioning her own personal experiences. Iroh had almost begged them to let her. That plan didn't look like it was going to work. After this, Ozai would be expecting it.

Even Iroh had reconsidered things, "She is worthy of more respect than the name you are applying to her. The timing of this cannot be forced... however, he will expect retaliation after this. It will make her job much harder. Which is why I have already called her off."

As for having the Avatar at their backs, Iroh thought maybe the Avatar was closer than they realised. Just not in the form anyone was expecting.

Zuko just grit his teeth and folded his arms. Mai was acting like there'd ever been anything between him and Katara. When there simply hadn't been. He looked up when his Uncle spoke, "You called her off?!"

"How DARE you," Azula snapped! She hadn't been happy about letting someone else do the job but she'd been convinced it was for the best, "He needs to go down before he hurts someone else! Tom Tom deserves vengenace, Ty Lee does!"

Even Rarity was a target!

It wasn't often that Iroh raised his voice, but in this case, he glared at both Azula and Zuko, and spoke with a tone that was unmistakably scolding, "Does your own need for vengeance run so deeply that you would put an innocent woman's life in danger to slake your thirst for blood?! When I called her in, the situation was different. Things are rapidly changing. To send her in would be sending her to her death. I will. Not. Send someone to die, doing a job that I could not. And you shouldn't."

He put his coffee aside and folded his arms, "I thought calling her in was best for us all. But that is not the way to win this. We must think above Ozai. We must find a way to win that does not defeat us in the process."

Azula got to her feet, "I'll go. I'll burn the whole damned building to the ground! Let everything burn. None of this is worth it! Turn the Fire Nation to cinders that burn so hotly no one will ever want to fill the power void!"

She looked to Zuko, and Mai to back her up. Zuko remained silent.

Iroh pressed his face into his palms, "Azula..."

The idea had merit to Mai. As much as she'd become fixated on that pair of matching eyeballs she wanted to cart around with her someday, there was a wave of relief that washed over her at the idea that it would be so simple a fix as just letting the whole thing burn and walking away.

Still, it wouldn't be fixed that way. She knew it. The Fire Nation was bigger than San Francisco for one thing. There would be retaliation from Japan. Dozens of innocent people would be caught in the crossfire, like her brother had. And whatever filled the vacuum would be worse.

"We can't. There is no leaving this. Burning it to the ground won't make it go away. The Nation runs Japan. Those generals will just cross over. It'll be worse. We have to deal with this. And we have to do it before it becomes a bigger problem," She finally said, quietly.

Azula looked between them. She looked betrayed, "Cowards!"

She closed her eyes, fire snorting out her nostrils. She wanted to curl up somewhere. She wanted to wrap her arms around Ty Lee and never let go.

She wanted her father to suffer.

"There is no shame in waiting to strike until the appropriate time!" Iroh shouted back at her. He was nearing the end of his very, very generously deep well of patience.

Mai understood what Azula was feeling, up to a point, but she still couldn't agree with her, "We all want Ozai to pay for what he's done, but we can't be idiots either."

Azula stared Iroh down, hands balled into fists. Finally, she relented. But she didn't sit back down. She made her way to the bathroom so she could be alone.

Zuko rested his face in his hands.

Relenting on some internal anger Mai had with Zuko, she took a seat beside him again, and rested a hand on his shoulder.

Iroh settled back into his chair, and got back to thinking. He had to find a new plan. A week had already changed things, and waiting much longer would change things again. But he was exhausted. Keeping Azula contained was draining. Zuko had nothing to add. That poor girl was fighting for her life in an OR. He had no one left to turn to but himself, and he was scared that he was wearing too thin.

Zuko lifted his head, studying his Uncle. He glanced at Mai. They had to find a way to lift the pressure on him. He felt bad about laying all this on Iroh's shoulders.

It was just that right now, he was all out of ideas.

Zuko was out of ideas, and Mai was too daunted by her previous failures to try. Or at least, she felt like she should try, but didn't know if she had enough confidence in herself to do it. Or if anyone would follow her if she did.

For now, all they could really do was sit and wait.