Zuko wants to grow up already (myowndestiny) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-09-25 16:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, azula, iroh, mai, ty lee, zuko |
I'm stronger than you, I remember more, my fire burns hotter.I should lead
Who: Zuko, Iroh, Azula, Ty Lee, Mai
What: A Fire Nation meeting to figure out what to do with the syndicate
When: Saturday, after Ozai got deposed
Where: San Francisco
Status: Complete
Rating: Pg-13 for language
It hadn't been normal closing time at the Jasmine Dragon, but at around 8pm, Iroh found himself locking the place up anyway. He'd sent Korra home earlier that day (the girl had worked hard and deserved a night off), which meant he was all alone when Ozai's shade came to visit him.
He stared at his brother's spirit form with sad, tired eyes. No one had told him that today was the day, but it was probably for the best. His brother said nothing to him, but only stood there staring at him accusingly. After a few seconds, he faded away like smoke on the breeze.
He'd already sent everyone home for the night and gotten the place cleaned up when the phone call came to his office. Call up a meeting of the board of directors, there's been a hostile takeover.
It only took another hour to figure out which of the three available people had done it - Mai was at home, and Azula had been at the hospital. He was proud of Zuko, but also disappointed, and concerned. The private jet flew to San Francisco in silence. Mai carried two jars in her hands. Azula had stared straight ahead with enough intensity to leave smoke blurs on the chair in front of her.
By 10pm, the three of them were walking into the room that most people called the throne room. Iroh looked around the place, noting where things were still charred. The smell of smoke and burned remains was still in the air. He let out a long sigh, "So. You have chosen your destiny."
Azula had been incensed at first, but between Iroh and Ty Lee she'd calmed down. Ty Lee couldn't be there, but Azula had promised to video conference her in. And by the look she'd gotten she thought she'd be in trouble if she didn't.
A single jar was resting in the center of the conference table. Zuko sat at the head, still wearing his nice suit, though it was a little burnt in several places.
Placing a laptop at the other end of the table and turning on the cam for Ty Lee, Azula took a seat next to it and shot her brother a hateful look. She didn't think she could forgive him. It would have been better if she didn't forgive herself.
"Have a seat," Zuko said, his voice even, though his eyes were shadowed. He ignored his sister's look. And Mai's. He'd have to keep her after the meeting. He slid stylized pins to each of their seats, “Congratulations, you’re all Fire Lords.”
Mai refused to take a seat, instead placing down the jar with the eye in it, and the other empty one. She folded her arms up into her sleeves, and stared down at the pin that had been slid in front of her chair. She didn't say a word, but the pin could have melted into slag if looks could kill.
From the laptop, Ty Lee frowned. She hadn't bothered to put makeup on, and looked a little bit like hell, but her face was stubbornly serious. Her voice echoed through the laptop speakers,"You shouldn't have taken care of this alone, Zuko."
Iroh simply picked the pin up off the table and solemnly attached it to his lapel. He would only take this position for the interim, while things settled down. He had never had any intention of being Fire Lord, and it wasn't his role.
"It was mine to deal with," Zuko replied, clasping his hands on the table in front of him. "Not yours. He wronged Mai, but only because of my actions, and because I didn't act sooner. Azula has enough weighing on her soul, and so does Uncle. It had to be me. I'm the eldest, the next in line. They wouldn't accept anyone else making the move."
His secretary brought them some coffee, and then left the room.
Azula said nothing until the woman was gone, then she lifted her hand, blue flame hot in her palm, "He wronged all of us, Zuko."
"He wronged me the most," Mai whispered, in her usual monotone. The coffee was stared at the same way the pin had been. Neither one was touched. The only reason she was remotely calm at that moment was that she'd taken a stolen painkiller before she'd boarded the plane.
It was possible Azula hadn't even noticed her bottle had gone missing. Mai'd finessed a refill at the beginning of the month.
The blue flame lit Iroh's face in the conference room, bringing light to the sadness in his eyes. His hand reached out to Azula's and, without a word or barely a movement, the fire went out. She wasn't the only one who could firebend, and Iroh thought this room had seen enough fire for one evening.
From the laptop, Ty Lee sighed. Ozai was dead. It made her sad - for Ozai, for Ursa, for Uncle Iroh, for all of them. This wasn't a victory. She was really glad no one was acting like it was, "What do we do, now?"
"I've already ordered the trafficking shut down. It will take months to fully cleanse ourselves of its filth." Zuko's face was shadowed, after the flame had gone out, and he stared straight ahead. "We fix our ties with the government and legitimate businesses. We ensure a smooth transition among the members of the syndicate. We probably have about forty-eight hours to stop the fire before it spreads."
He glanced at Mai, then, "Tom Tom is safe. Taking Ozai's other eye wouldn't have healed him. It wouldn't have even satisfied you."
That wasn't for Zuko to decide. Mai said nothing.
Over at the hospital, Ty Lee sat up a bit more in the bed. She had a lot to catch up on, she hadn't been included in this as long as everyone else had. But she liked what Zuko was laying down as far as their next step went, "There are 5 Fire Lords, isn't it going to be hard for everyone else to know who's in charge? How is this transition going to be smoothed out?"
No one else was asking questions, so she guessed it fell on her.
Even if Mai hated him, even if he lost her over this, he knew it was necessary. Because he loved her, because he didn't want this on her soul.
Azula glanced at the laptop in surprise, but she said nothing. Ty Lee had beaten her to her questions and...it served to calm her down some.
"Five prevents ties," Zuko said. "We'll divide things up between us, but for the big decisions it will require a vote. We'll each be the public face of a division, but for ease of transition I'll have to be the main face."
At that, Iroh nodded, "I have no disagreement with that. This is your takeover, and your face will be the one they remember the most."
Part of Iroh was proud of Zuko. That part rumbled in Iroh's voice, though his face still remained solemnly sad.
Mai said nothing again, though she was almost certain that this was a role she didn't want. And it was the only time that she'd have to say no, if she was going to. It would upset the balance, and she knew that, but it was her life. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. She would have embraced a role like this even a month ago. It spoke to her level of capability that he'd even give her the chance. But it was making the choice for her, again.
And she was angry. She'd never have that second eyeball. She'd lived to collect that second eyeball, the chance to carve it out of Ozai's skull had kept her going. Now she just felt lost, and purposeless. Zuko had removed her purpose.
She drew a dagger out of her arm holster, and slammed into the pin on the table. Then she picked up the coffee mug, threw it just shy of Zuko's head so that it whisked past his ear, and walked out of the conference room.
As her footsteps echoed away, Ty lee let out a sigh, "I guess she's unhappy with this arrangement."
"I knew she would be," Zuko replied. He got to his feet, and signaled the secretary, "Fill them in on what they need to know." Then he headed to the door to catch up to Mai.
Azula grabbed his arm, "Let her go. You've done enough, brother."
"I need to talk to her. Let me go."
"I'm stronger than you, I remember more, my fire burns hotter. I should lead, and Mai should choose her own life."
"Let go of me or so help me god you'll join father on that table."
The two stared each other down, neither willing to back down.
"If you do not stop arguing with each other, neither of you will lead, because our enemies will sense the weakness within our leadership that kills this council from the inside like a poison, and prey upon it. Only united can we do this. Zuko is the head simply because he was the first to strike." Iroh's voice rumbled, from his seat at the table.
He got up when he was done speaking, however, and shot a quick jet of flame between them, "_I_ will speak to Mai. You both have greater things to worry about."
Azula and Zuko stepped away from each other as the fire shot between them. It didn't stop the glaring, but it was Azula who relented, "I want the legitimate side."
"Fine."
"If there are only four of us, this isn't going to work too well. I want to help but maybe I shouldn't be in charge like that." Ty Lee's voice said, through the speakers. But she was thinking that instead it should be her instead of Iroh. Uncle looked tired, and if they were going to be at war with each other, she thought they'd need someone ... someone resilient who was used to working hard for her goals, but wouldn't compromise on her morals.
She just wasn't sure how to say that. No one was used to Ty Lee stepping up like that.
Iroh made sure the two of them weren't going to set each other on fire, then stepped out of the room. Mai hadn't gotten very far. She was pacing in the hallway like a caged beast, back and forth, as if the hallway were much shorter. He watched her.
She paced, and paced, hands tucked up in her sleeves. Finally she stopped pacing, and stared at him. Tears were rolling out of her eyes. Iroh stepped over to her, and tucked her into a hug, "You are lost, I know. And you will not find yourself here."
She almost fought him, tried to push him away. Instead, she fought with herself, and stayed in his arms, tears still rolling out of her eyes. She was very lost, and she didn't know how to be found. She was scared of what would be left of her life when she was done searching for herself. Would Zuko wait that long? Would her family ever forgive her?
She still didn't deserve to be in Tom Tom's life.
The elder gentleman hugging her didn't agree with any of that, but said nothing, since she said nothing to him. He held her for a few minutes, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He pulled out a credit card, and handed it to her, "Take the jet. Pack up your things, and get a hotel room for a while. Let yourself have time to think without distractions. Let yourself have distance from this. I will deal with Zuko, and the rest."
Mai slipped the ring off of her finger and pressed it into Iroh's hand as she took the credit card, "Tell him... Tell him I will want that back. But only when I'm ready for it. Tell him I love him."
Iroh's hand closed around the ring, and he nodded, then walked back into the conference room.
Zuko looked up when his Uncle came back in. Without Mai. He sighed, and sat back down, his hands balled into fists. It felt like even as everything fell into place, everything was falling apart. He'd have to deal with it. Heartbreak could wait, there was too much at stake.
Azula sneered, and folded her arms, "Good going, Zu zu."
"Stuff it."
"No. If we're going to do this we need to be able to disagree." She insisted.
"We can't let there appear to be cracks, Azula. Everyone has to assume we're one hundred percent into this."
"I know that. Unlike you, I've spent the last twenty years wearing father's mask. Mai has worn her own for just as long. Even Ty Lee. What do you know about faking it?"
"She's right," Ty Lee said, quietly. Zuko's emotions ran high and everyone knew that.
Iroh discretely tucked the ring into his pocket - he would have that discussion with Zuko alone, away from prying ears and eyes - and took a seat, "You can be seen to disagree, but you must also be seen to come to compromises. We are not robots, who work in unison and think the same way. But what they cannot see is this infighting. On some fronts, we must be united."
"Trafficking." Azula and Zuko both spoke at once. Azula continued, "We're all agreed that is disgusting. We need to settle just what is allowed, and what is not."
"I want to cut out the criminal element as much as possible," Zuko replied.
"Impossible." Azula retorted.
"It's not impossible, it's just hard," Ty Lee countered, from her hospital bed. What if they did more business related things while cutting out the ones that weren't that legitimate?
She pondered that, "If the money we get is the problem, we could expand the regular business while we cut back on the rest of it, couldn't we? What about that woman who was going to help you?"
Iroh frowned, "She has come upon some troubles of her own."
"How do we deal with the old guard that wants the danger and opportunities that come with the criminal enterprises?" Zuko asked, furrowing his brow.
Azula smiled knowingly, "Money. Show them where the money is and they won't give a damn if it involved selling children or selling stocks."
"They will fall in line if you show them a faster way to achieve their goals, yes." Iroh nodded, while scratching his beard. He looked down at his fire lord pin, and over at Zuko, "I think it would be better if the three of you were in charge. I was his brother, and I have been out of this a long time. I would do better serving as an advisor to the three of you."
"Uncle..." It was Azula who objected. Of them all, she was the one who had wanted this the most, before. Yet so much had changed in such a short time.
She glanced at Zuko, and something passed between them as they read each other's eyes.
Understanding. None of them wanted this now. That's what made them the best choice.
She turned to Iroh and nodded her head, "..okay."
The man unpinned the insignia from his shirt, and set it gently down on the table. "I will stay here as long as you both need me, to help you through this in whatever way I can."
From the laptop, Ty Lee's voice sounded sad, "I think it's better this way too, I just didn't want to say... but Uncle, you shouldn't have to be involved in this if you don't want to."
She was glad he was putting his foot down on it. And glad they were allowing her to stay involved, "... It's getting late here. I think they're going to take my laptop away."
"I love you," Azula said, not caring that her brother and Uncle could hear her. She picked up the laptop.
Iroh was glad to hear it, and smiled.
Ty Lee’s voice echoed through the speakers, “I love you, too.”
Zuko's lips tightened as Azula closed the laptop. They'd gone from five, to three, and he didn't know where he and Mai stood.
"I'll send you and Ty Lee a list of resources and assets so you can sort through what you want to deal with."
Azula nodded at him, then tucked the laptop under her arm.
Iroh waited until Azula had left the room, then approached Zuko. His look was sad, but in his heart he knew that Mai was making the right decision for now, and that he had done right to help her in any way he could.
"She is going to stay by herself for a while, in a hotel room. This was not an easy choice for her, and I hope that you will understand that she loves you."
Zuko's brow creased, and he turned to his Uncle. Unspoken emotion laced his voice, "She's going to stay by herself?"
"She needed space to think about things and discover who she really is. You needed the same kind of space. I gave her a credit card of mine, so I can monitor the charges."
Iroh slipped the ring out of his pocket, and set it into Zuko's hand. His tone was gentle, "She wants this back someday. She said, when it was your choice to marry her, and when it was her choice to say yes."
Zuko looked down at the ring, his jaw tightening as his chest seemed to hollow out.
"It will always be something, won't it." Zuko shoved the ring into his pocket, "I had to do this. I couldn't let her keep going down that path. I know she wants to choose her own, but this was my destiny, not hers."
He wondered if hers was without him.
Iroh put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. He offered his nephew a reassuring smile, "No, it will not always be something. Give her time to find herself. The only thing she was certain on when she left here was that she loved you. I do not think anything in the world will change that, no matter what other path she finds."
Zuko just nodded. He couldn’t find the words - they refused to come, but right now he felt as though the ring in his pocket was a heavy anchor.