Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“What is the date?”

The tavern of the future looked remarkably like those of the past, Zuko surmised. Drunk sailors, fights, games, and liquor overspilling.

The bartender raised an eyebrow, so Zuko repeated his question.

“Don’t tell my boss I said this, kids your age shouldn’t be drinking. You should go home,” she replied and returned to wiping down the bar.

The bartender looked at him again, and when she realized he wasn’t leaving, told him the same date that was printed on the new bulletin.

Zuko tried asking her where to find a coaling station next, but the bartender only looked  more and more confused as the conversation went on. She told him about how coal was old fashioned (Zuko had dealt with people calling his boat old for three years, so the comment didn’t register), but she didn’t have a definite answer.

Just when he was going to leave to find someone more suited to tell him where the station was specifically, the bartender leaned forward, and Zuko took an unconscious step back.

“You here for founder’s week and practicing?”  she asked, eyes alight with a realization he couldn’t parse.

Zuko nodded along. He had no idea what a “founder’s week” was.

“Well, you really look the part. Best costume I think I’ve ever seen and just think I’ve been part of the costume guild for decades.”

Zuko nodded again.

She must have thought he was a Fire Nation soldier…? Did the future not have those? Zuko almost scoffed. Of course, the Fire Nation had soldiers! The armor must have changed.

He gave a generic thanks and dropped a few coins on the counter before ducking out of the establishment, but not fast enough to miss her shout that he didn’t pay enough for her information.

Zuko very much wanted to go back home, and at this rate just his time period would be good enough.

Then, almost as if his wish had been heard and granted in a twisted way, the Avatar’s bison flew right over him heading straight Northwest.

Zuko started running, not caring if he couldn’t catch up on foot. The Avatar was here! Seventy-two years outside of time too! Not near Zhao or anyone else who would impede on his goal.

He was probably the only person in this “Republic City” whose mission was to capture the Avatar. He had his whole crew and Uncle too. Who would get in his way now?

Iroh, Dragon of the West, was very disoriented.

He didn’t know what to make of the city his nephew’s favorite port had twisted into, but in the span of an hour he had a water bender offer to heal Zuko and been led by the port liaison into a palanquin-sized metal box on wheels that somehow moved without the assistance of people or animals.

He could excuse a water bender being nice to his nephew and the miraculously autonomous box-carriage contraption, but nothing could explain the towers that shot into a misty sky and several people confusingly insisting that he, a very alive Prince Iroh, first son of Firelord Azulon, had been dead for several decades.

The dimly lit office with no windows cast the man opposite to him in shadow. Iroh could still make out some details though. The man seemed to be Earth Kingdom? Bright green eyes weren’t a Fire Nation trait.

“Sir, I will say you bear a striking resemblance to the Dragon of the West, but please, if you want your ship to dock, you’ll have to give me the proper paperwork.”

“Of course. Forgive an old man for having his fun,” Iroh started out. The expression of the port officer didn’t change. Awkward.

What was more awkward was that the paperwork tucked within his robes had his name, Zuko’s name, and a manifest of the entire crew. If Iroh was thought dead…in a mutated version of Cranefish Village, then what good was his paperwork?

“Which city is this again?” Iroh asked, a nervous smile on his face. Because if his papers weren’t any good (a precursor to being booted out of port if standard Fire Nation Navy protocol was still in use), Iroh at least needed to learn where they could get help.

The officer raised an eyebrow. “Sir, please drop the historical act. Everyone in the world knows this city.”

Well, that wasn’t true for Cranefish Village. When they last visited it, it boasted one coaling station, a small port town (including a theater Zuko didn’t think very highly of), and a few fishing vessels. The Wani was one of the few Fire Nation ships to make a regular stop.

What in the four nations did they sail into?

Iroh was going to have to pull another tactic. Being earnest and honest wasn’t getting him information. “I fear I have found myself a little confused. I don’t have my papers.”

The official’s face fell. Realization took over his face. “Sir, do you have someone we can contact for you? A family member or a friend?”

“Everyone I know is on my boat,” he said with a shrug and a sigh. The official raked a hand through his own thinning hair.

“How about this,” the man said in a tone intended to soothe a child, “I will get you and your… crew… provisions, but I will need to talk to someone on that ship. I don’t think you’re in the right mind, sir.”

Iroh agreed with a genial smile and began to list off the food and coal supplies the Wani would need.

“Coal?” the official balked. “I can’t secure you several cubic tons of coal?! What year do you think this is? Wait-- don’t answer that.”

“The fifth year of Firelord Ozai’s reign,” Iroh replied a little too fast.

The official dramatically bunched up the papers on his desk and pressed them to his face. “Oh, my spirits-- you really are out of it,” he muttered just loud enough that Iroh could hear. At least he thoroughly tricked the man.

“Is it not…?”

Iroh hadn’t considered something wrong with time itself, but villages do not build themselves into cities larger than the capital in a few months. Advance technology that looked like it belonged in the Fire Nation war machine didn’t suddenly spread to the colonies for civilian usage. Waterbenders did not help firebenders.

“Seventy-two years after the war’s end,” the official replied.

Iroh couldn’t disguise the anguish that flashed on his face. Over seventy years after the end of a war he saw no end of? Yes, the Avatar had returned but he was very young, untrained, and untested.

The White Lotus were scattered and unorganized. Iroh had friendships with his fellow members, but their best laid plans were shattered by the Avatar’s return.

Zuko too, well, Iroh wanted so desperately to help the boy find his own path but like his plans with the White Lotus, Iroh’s slow guidance of Zuko had all but stalled when he found the Avatar after a hundred years of absence.

But, the war had ended. Somehow, in some way, the war had ended. And in that, Iroh could find a shred of relief that quickly blanched back to worry.

The official didn’t specify who won.

His hands were braced on the desk. “Who won?” Iroh asked with a desperation that nearly overtook him.

The official grimaced. “You mean you don’t know?”

Iroh’s patience was being siphoned. “Why do you think I’m asking?”

“Okay, okay. You know—the good guys?” Iroh narrowed his eyes at the very vague answer. The official straightened up. “Avatar Aang defeated Firelord Ozai seventy-two years ago… I think it was the fifth year of Ozai’s reign? It’s… a famous event. Are you sure there’s no one we can call for you? Sir, do you know the people you’re traveling with well?”

Iroh wanted to be relieved. The Avatar managed the impossible. Nowhere in any of his best laid plans or fantasies would his brother be stopped this year .

Such jubilation was paused. What did the war ending in less than a year mean for his nephew? His nephew who was still fiercely loyal to his father, still actively chasing down the Avatar, still only saw himself as a banished prince.

Would he survive? Would he join Iroh if it came down to Zuko having to choose? Would the Avatar be forgiving if Zuko chose his family…?

“And of Prince Zuko? What happened to him?” 

“Uh, he’s Firelord Zuko, or just Lord Zuko now? He’s in the Fire Nation? Sorry, what does he have to do with any of this?” 

“He’s still alive?”

“As far as I know.”

Iroh, who had been nothing short of frustrated with the official, could have embraced the man at that moment. Zuko survived and even became Firelord ? He’d envisioned Zuko leading their nation sometime down the line, but this year was…soon.

Iroh swallowed, trying to make his reservations, fears, and general anxiety disappear. He focused on the fact that Zuko would be okay. Despite everything, his nephew would persevere. That was something to be thankful to the spirits for.

“I think I will take those provisions and a ride back to my ship,” whispered Iroh in a shaky voice.

The official looked over his papers again. “You know what? How about for tonight, we keep you and your ship docked, but in the morning, I send my superior out there to further discuss some of the provisions you need.” There was something very forced in the official’s gesture of kindness. Iroh suspected the next day the port authority was going to investigate why a “senile” man was at the helm of a boat.

Iroh was relieved that he didn’t bring Zuko here. It was bad enough the port official thought he had a few screws loose. He could still salvage the situation and forge some proper looking documents by the next sunrise. Lieutenant Jee could present them to the port authority the next day and claim that Iroh was an aging family member of his.

There was no telling what the port official would have thought of Zuko.

So that’s how Iroh thought his confusing night would end. He would be given a ride back to the Wani, must carry the weight of the future and gently explain it to Zuko, and forge some feasible papers.

Little did Iroh know that his night had just started.

All Zuko caught was the Avatar’s direction but after traveling towards it the streets widened. A Fire Nation restaurant was nestled next to an Earth Kingdom tea shop. A strange rail went up and down the streets.

Zuko wasn’t here to sightsee, but he couldn’t fail to notice it seemed Water Tribe, Fire Nation, and Earth Kingdom all lived together crammed on the too-bright streets.

And the miniature tanks held dominion over the road in a grid pattern. Block after block of grid he walked to find the same mixture of peoples, nations, and customs.

Part of him was tempted to go to a museum or a library and figure out what exactly happened to create a “Republic City” and how they managed to keep said Republic afloat— Zuko’s education may have been cut short by his banishment, but even he knew that republics were a fool’s errand— but Zuko had one goal with a solid lead. He couldn’t lose it to curiosity.

That and if this was actually a spirit tale maybe he shouldn’t acquire knowledge that he was never supposed to have access to. Maybe the lure of future knowledge was a test Zuko was supposed to pass.

Having crossed streets, cut through pavilions, and jumped a few flimsy fences, Zuko resolutely passed a closed bookstore without a head turn. (There was a small head turn, but the only title he saw was about Ba Sing Se’s Walls which Uncle could tell him all about anyways.)

Then the sounds of destruction rang out, echoing from a nearby street. Glass, wood, stone– Zuko knew what all sounded like when they were destroyed. Cutting through an empty pavilion with twinkling string lights and a dead water fountain, before he could really think about it he dove down a small alleyway determined to not get involved. 

Trouble had a way of finding him anyways. 

“Hey you! This area is under curfew!” That was the only warning he got. 

Zuko barely dodged a boulder from the way he was going. Backpedaling from what must have been an earthbender on the other end of the narrow street, Zuko found himself back in the pavilion. It was better this way out in the open, he thought. Tight quarter fighting was a favored tactic of the Earth Kingdom’s army for a reason. 

This time the pavilion wasn’t empty. This time the dead fountain wasn’t in one piece.

 A girl in traditional Earth Kingdom clothing was holding her own against three men. 

And the girl was winning. She created pillars, boulders, and holes to her advantage against an earthbender and two fire benders, until the man with an emerald green sash peeled metal from a building’s façade and launched it straight for her. Her head turned towards the source of the noise, and she erected a wall out of the destroyed fountain, much bigger than necessary, to block it.

“Found another one!” a voice, which must belong to the earthbender who got him into this fight, rang out. In a stroke of his usual bad luck, Zuko was now caught in this trivial street fight on the side of  this scarily skilled earthbender girl, and he had caught something she hadn’t.

In protecting herself from the metal attack, the fire bender had positioned himself to take a clean shot at the girl.

He shot fire towards the earthbender who had chased him into this mess. His flying kick stunned the firebender whom Zuko quickly took out of the fight with a harsh kick to the collarbone.

A rock was flung straight for his face, but with reflexes as sharp as a knife point, Zuko unsheathed his sword and deflected  it back towards the direction it came from, just as he once did to Yuyuan arrows at Pohuai.

Swords safe in their scabbard again, Zuko pressed his advantage to make space, punching fire to a chorus of boulders breaking and earth shifting: the girl was pressing the opponent who had somehow hurled metal at her.

The other firebender wasn’t ready for a fire duel and had horrific footwork. A few punches of fire and Zuko sent him stumbling backwards.

He raised his arm for another strike when a wire wrapped itself around his wrist. Zuko pulled, dragging that man towards him. Heat hit his back, and he realized he had taken his eyes off that firebender with the terrible footwork for a moment too long. Only his armor saved him from receiving burns.  

“Duck!” the girl cried out and Zuko listened. A boulder sailed over his head rendering the man who had his arm ensnared completely still. Another crash sound swiftly followed, and Zuko turned to see the bad footwork firebender twitching on the ground.

Standing there was the girl with a triumphant smirk. With a move of her arms, she earthbent her now dazed attackers in prisons of earth. The wire around Zuko’s wrist went fully slack, and he uncurled it from the indention it created in his leather wrist guard.

Adrenaline still roared in his veins. Zuko leveled his glare at the firebender whose collarbone he broke, the one who was going to take a cheap shot at a child.

“Is this how an honorable citizen of the Fire Nation acts!?” Zuko spat, in adrenaline fueled anger.

The half-conscious man predictably didn’t answer, but the girl was ready.

“We should go. I feel more on the way.”

Zuko swallowed more insults pertaining to honor and followed her, darting down alley and street until he couldn’t remember how to retrace his steps to the scene of the fight. They finally took a breath in an alleyway behind sprawling apartments.

“So, what’s a firebender helping me for?” the girl demanded… she was shorter than the Avatar. She had quickly bent a boulder now aimed at him. The threat was clear enough.

Zuko needed to go. He shouldn't have been caught up in the entire mess in the first place. “I-uh I live around here,” he answered, remembering the Fire Nation shops and restaurants. Good enough right? 

“Lie.”

“What?” Zuko sputtered. The armor was probably giving it away, but others had thought it a costume? Why didn’t she?

“Don’t bother lying. I can sense your heart rate pick up. You’re a really bad liar by the way,” she said, the boulder still menacingly pointed towards him. He was a few bad words away from fractures.

“You can really tell when I’m lying?” he asked, trying to get some time. Zuko didn’t comprehend the heart rate sensing stuff. The boulder inching closer took priority.

“Okay, okay! It’s just a hard story to believe.”

She gave a sharp smile. “Trust me, I’ve had the weirdest week of my life. Anything you say can’t phase me.”

It was talk or walk with a broken foot. Zuko chose the former.

“I think I pissed off a spirit or something. I’ve traveled seventy-two years ahead in the future. Yesterday was the fifth year of Firelord Ozai’s reign, and this city was a small fishing village. I’m trying to find coal for my ship.”

The girl unexpectedly leaned forward and through the movement of her bangs, Zuko thought he saw that she had clouded, grey irises? A blind master earthbender? And what was she talking about earth’s vibrations earlier? Maybe Zuko didn’t know as much as he thought he did about the earthbending discipline. He’d have to fix that if the Avatar found an earthbending teacher.

“You’re not lying,” she said. Was that relief in her voice? “You have a ship?” Her voice then fell. “You’re in the Fire Navy, aren’t you?”

“I only answer to myself.” This was probably the calmest conversation he had with an Earthbender about his role in the navy. Zuko wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

The girl seemed to mull over what he said before suddenly declaring, “Good enough. Congrats firebender, I’m also seventy-two years lost in the future.”

The Dragon of the West’s night was just getting started.

When he returned from the port authority, the driver assigned to him, seeing the military presence surrounding the Wani, tried to take him away from it. Iroh had to reassure him that he did, in fact, wish to approach the ship that was in “United Forces custody.”

Having boarded by himself, Iroh found a standoff between Lieutenant Jee and a tall, stiff man in red. The man had his brother’s golden eyes. It was the first thing Iroh noticed about him. The next observations were more crucial.

He shared a name with him and was a general of a military body Iroh couldn’t identify.

The man, a “General Iroh of the United Forces,” seemed to know who he was, and tried to present himself as a friend even offering supplies, despite boxing their ship in and despite the port authority already promising to do so.

This man wasn’t with the port authority, he had his own agenda…and several warships at his command. Crucially, the uninvited general’s eyes kept scanning the tower of the ship like he was expecting someone.

Iroh knew Zuko resided there, and this “General Iroh” knew more about them than he was letting on. He needed to establish motivations before Iroh let slip any word about Zuko.

“I have business with your nephew!” the general said in a rush of words.

“Business? I thought you had supplies to deliver.” Iroh pressed. Was the general talking about the retired Firelord of this timeline? Or did he want his teenage nephew, who was recuperating only a few decks away? Every instinct told him it was the latter.

Regardless, Iroh didn’t want this intruder anywhere near his nephew. Especially not an intruder with the exact golden hue and angular shape of Firelord Ozai’s eyes that already seemed to know too much about their true identities. Zuko had a lot stacked against him, but Iroh was determined to protect him where he could— even if he was outmatched. From the looks of the warships looming in the distance, Iroh surmised he was.

Lieutenant Jee sent him a strained look. Did this “Iroh” already have Zuko? Why feign friendship if so? What was Lieutenant Jee getting at?

The general in response raised his hands in an appeasing gesture and a smile that seemed familiar somehow. “Look, I think we got off the wrong foot.”

“That’s what happens when you box in someone with warships. Orders my ass,” Jee snidely accused, arms crossed.

The general pinched his nose. “I want to help you get back to your time. I can get your ships repaired in Yu Dao, I can get you provisions, and I know someone well versed in spiritual matters. Most importantly, I want to keep our leader away from you.” The general leveled his gaze at him directly. “Trust me, you don’t want to get involved with him.”

“Talking gibberish isn’t going to make us capitulate,” Jee shot back, but Iroh frowned. The general knew not only who they were, but also about their… predicament.

Where did he get that information? 

Yet again, Iroh I was faced with the likelihood that this other Iroh knew more about the Wani and its crew than he was letting on. 

“No, he’s right, Jee. As hard as it is to stomach, I found it out myself from the port authority.”

The United Forces general’s jaw slackened. “How much does the port authority know?” His voice fell to a mutter. “We’re going to have to move fast.”

Iroh was going to ask for an elaboration, but his question was lurched to a halt by Jee who whispered the words that haunted his campaigns.

“Sir, we have a problem.”

The general before them, already anxious, looked as on edge by their whisperings as Iroh felt.

“Prince Zuko left the ship an hour ago.”

“Prince Lu Ten left with his battalion an hour ago…”

Iroh left the two men on the deck, his feet moving before his mind could catch up.

Army protocol had always taught him to double check information. He had to check. He had to see. Because Zuko wouldn’t wander off when Iroh had ensured they would have no need to.

Iroh shook his head before he reached the entrance leading into the Wani’s upper decks. Who was he kidding? Zuko wasn’t like Ozai in many ways, but the stubborn determination was something they shared.

Once the door was opened, Iroh found himself face to face with the entirety of the crew, crammed in the hallway with pikes and helmets on, staring back at him. The momentary terror that had seized him before slinked away in the face of realizing that Jee had planned an entire ambush for the “general” on their deck. A part of him felt some pride that the man was coming around on his opinion of Zuko after the storm. The Jee of two weeks ago wouldn’t have dared stage an ambush on Zuko’s behalf.

“General!” a relieved voice exclaimed. Iroh spotted Ensign Ishida in the front. Jee was smart to stage the firebenders as the first line.

“What’s our orders against the boarding party?”  Another soldier asked, almost sounding eager.

“Is Prince Zuko truly gone?” asked Iroh.

Not all men were like Jee. “Yeah, he just marched off the ship thirty minutes after you left, General,” Ensign Uwir, a pikeman, answered. Disdain and exasperation colored his tone.

Iroh sighed and tried to not ruminate on it. Zuko would be back then. He always returned. He had to.

The worry must have shown on his face. “He said he was going to get coal, so we could leave,” Ishida said. Uwir, standing behind him, rolled his eyes when he thought Iroh wasn’t looking.

Iroh dreaded what would happen if Zuko figured out…Iroh himself hadn’t yet truly processed what he had been told happened in the future…

“Then we’re going to have to wait for him to return,” Iroh said more to himself. “Follow me. We have a visitor.” That was a generous way to describe the other so-called “general Iroh”, in the dragon of the west’s humble opinion.

 The crew filed after him in an orderly group. Jee, who was awkwardly looking everywhere on the deck except at the United Forces general, looked relieved he didn’t have to keep fielding Iroh II’s small talk attempts.

“Is everything in order?” the United Forces general asked. On seeing the crew forming behind he re-introduced himself and gave a bow which he followed up with a not so subtle scan of the crowd.  

Iroh looked from the general with Ozai’s eyes to his threatening warships with multiple cannons that boxed them in (though in fairness the cannons were not pointed at them), and then to the fog shrouded port. The port authority didn’t believe him, but here was someone who did and wanted to give them help.

Iroh hated it, hated the worry it sent down his spine, but this United Forces “general” (who knew his way around a ship very well for a general in the army presumably) may be their only shot at figuring out what happened to them. If it came with strings attached, Iroh would have to deal with that when it happened and just try to shield Zuko and the crew along the way.

“We accept your offer of repair, supplies, and rendezvous with the spiritual master on one condition,” Iroh said to a chorus of surprise from behind. Jee looked like he would interrupt.

The United Forces general gave a slow nod.

“We would like to wait for our captain’s return. It at most should only be a few hours. In the meantime, could I interest you in some ginseng tea?” He should take the chance to get to know their… benefactor.

“Wait, your nephew’s not on the ship?”

“Like I said,” Iroh soothed. “We could discuss this over tea.”  

The general to his surprise rejected his offer. “I feel I have intruded upon your ship long enough. I’m happy to wait with my men on the dock.”

Iroh, in his mild confusion, endured a rather courtly bow from the United Forces general, and then it was just he and the crew alone again on the Wani ’s deck. If there weren’t a misty skyline of glass pylons and vines Iroh could have mistaken the moment as one belonging to the waning hours of music night.

Jee walked up to him. “General, we aren’t seriously going to listen to this guy?”

Iroh nodded, still distantly watching the cook and the second engineer carefully arrange the tea set and plating which was now for himself and the lieutenant.

 “We have little choice. It is rare a man receives someone who seems to have all the answers.”

“All the answers? Like what? He seemed like an inexperienced youngster to me,” The lieutenant disagreed gruffly. “Boxing us in with his six cannon-luggers and then trying to play nice. Can’t even pretend to be consistent.” 

“How did he know I have a nephew? And that he is supposed to be on this ship? Why did he keep asking for him, a man of unspecified rank, when both the captain and Lieutenant are already standing right before him?” Iroh responded, then paused to stroke his beard. 

“I don’t know. Lucky guess, dumb curiosity?”

“He used the exact phrase, ‘ help us get back to our time.’ He knows we are in the wrong place.”  

Jee rolled his eyes. “I still don’t trust him. If he’s sending the ship to Yu Dao, that means you won’t have us for when you meet that spirit guru of his. Let me take a few men and ask to stay with this boat general. We could keep an eye on him for you.”

“Who did you have in mind?”

“Ensigns Ishida and Uwir plus myself. Those two, for all their bickering, do work well together.”

Iroh considered the crewmembers Jee suggested. Ensign Ishida, an illegitimate noble son, and Ensign Uwir, a debtor from the colonies, were some of the most martially competent men on the ship. Jee very well might need them.  Bringing too many men to keep tabs on the United Forces general would be suspicious, but just three in total? It could work.

“You have my permission. I’m sure Prince Zuko would agree if he were here.” Iroh didn’t know when he’d have a private moment to divulge Jee’s plan to him, so explaining it in retrospect would have to suffice.  

“When do you think he’ll be back? He left over an hour ago.”

“He will be,” Iroh assured.

In the end the Dragon of the West chose jasmine. They drank it in silence. 

“Good enough. Congrats firebender, I’m also seventy-two years lost in the future.”

“Wait, actually?” Zuko said, mystified, but taking another look, he surmised the clothing she wore was much closer to something Mai or Azula would wear in terms of time period and finery than what he had seen that evening. She had apprehension about the Fire Nation which was appropriate too.

She summoned two small earthen seats for them to sit on. “Yep, I woke up in my…town far from here, except no one knows who I am. I got chased out and I kept running until I ended up here. A half decent fire nation soldier isn’t the worst person to be trapped with I guess…”

“Why did you help me?” she asked him with renewed intensity.

“I got a boulder launched at me for no reason! Why were they after you?”

The girl had a smile back on her face, it widened in pride before she spoke: “I started it.”

Huh?

“I wanted them to shut up, so I started it,” she said in a bravado that Zuko could detect no waver in.

 Zuko raised an eyebrow that he belatedly realized the girl couldn't see. “Who are they?  Domestic forces?” He’d need to know about the law enforcement of the colonies in this world’s time if he had to resort to enlisting their help in capturing the Avatar. Zuko frowned. Getting involved in a fight with them certainly wasn’t going to help his case. 

She sighed. “They were just asking about where my parents were and saying weird shit like how I looked lost. I threw a boulder at them telling them to leave me alone when they made their biggest mistake: fighting back.” 

Zuko couldn't believe the domestic forces of this time had fallen into such disarray. The Domestic Forces of his time would never attack a girl on the streets…right? Zuko, to his mother’s disappointment, was never allowed to roam Caldera without a troop of guards, but his tutors had always extolled the domestic forces for their honor. 

“I should have broken more than one collarbone,” Zuko said, crossing his arms. 

She let out a laugh. “I like your style.” She hit him in the shoulder. What was that for? The girl for her part acted like what she just did was normal. Before he could demand an answer, she introduced herself.

“What’s your name? Mine’s Toph.” Toph. It suited her. Sounded like “tough” if one twisted the vowels. Zuko though wasn’t going to give out his name. It wasn’t a common one. “Li.”

“That’s your second lie in this conversation, sparky.”

“I’m not going to give out my name to an Earth Kingdom girl I found in an alley!”

“You can’t give your name? Afraid I know it?  So, you’re someone important? Interesting…and you have a boat at your age? Double interesting.” 

“What makes you think I didn't earn my ship!?” Because that ship was Zuko’s punishment. He had earned it, and it was as much a mark of a banished prince as his scar was. 

“Woah, woah relax. I need something to call you something, and I’m not calling you Li. There’s a million of them,” Toph responded.

“I don’t care what you call me.”

“Alright, Zhao it is! Like the Fire Nation Commander, right? Since you also have a ship and everything.”

“I am not in any way related to Admiral Zh—“ he cut himself off with a huff. “It’s Zuko.”

There. Fine. Be done with it. Otherwise this mysterious living lie detector would grill him through the rest of the night. 

He didn’t see any dramatic flash of reconciliation, but still Zuko was ready in case there’s a fight. 

She seemed to know a lot about the upper echelons of society and Fire Nation military hierarchy for just an Earth Kingdom girl …she wasn’t just an Earth Kingdom citizen as he initially suspected. How could he have missed it with her appearance? 

“You’re a noble, aren’t you? The common Earth Kingdom peasant doesn’t know about Fire nation personnel.” He felt a little childish at that moment. It sounded like he was trying to one up her in their impromptu identity guessing game.

“How about this? I don’t tell you my family name and you don’t tell me yours,” she offered.

“Okay,” Zuko agreed. That worked for him. There was only one house with his family name, and it held the dragon throne. He didn’t need to alienate the person who could level a boulder at his ankle at a moment’s notice. 

How would he handle the Avatar and her? Maybe he could try to convince her to help him? That would be impossible. Earth Kingdom nobility would ally themselves with the Avatar against the Fire Nation in a flash.

“I can almost hear you thinking,” Toph commented.

“I just don’t know where to go from here,” Zuko admitted. She raised her eyebrows but didn’t comment on omission.

“You could buy me some new clothes. I’ve been wearing this uncomfortable dress since Gaoling,” she said. Zuko only then noticed the elaborate silk dress had mud and grass stains. Fraying silks and tears. It was really in no condition to be worn. Not by a noble’s standards, anyway. 

“I need to find coal for my ship,” he said for himself more than her.

She crossed her arms. “Fine, I’ll help you find coal if you let me shop in the future. I’m the greatest Earthbender alive. Trust me, I can find some rocks.”

And just like that, he had coal secured.

“Deal.”

It would be good for Zuko to know this Republic City a little better too. Not like he had much faith in his ability to do so, since the place seemed to get more unpredictable by the minute. 

He just prayed to Agni that the Wani would still be there, with his uncle and crew, when he’d finally return with the promised fuel. 

Somehow, he also didn’t think that his prayers would be answered. 

Several hours passed, and Zuko, to Iroh I’s dismay, never returned.

“I’ll have my men search the docks,” the United Forces general said. Adding to Iroh’s dismay, the other general Iroh had reappeared on the Wani ’s ship with a worrisome timetable. He wanted the Wani off to Yu Dao in under an hour, and even worse, he was going to personally escort Iroh I to the spiritual master himself. Alone. 

Iroh had said he’d be honored, of course. A prince handled hostage and suspicious benefactor situations with honor.

“Allow me to suggest some men from the crew to assist you. They know my nephew well, and it will help him to adjust to everything with a few familiar faces,” suggested Iroh. That and the only reason he hadn’t started resisting was because he had Jee swear on his honor that he’d prevent this other Iroh from so much as batting Zuko’s phoenix tail if he found him.

 “Very well. I can accommodate them on my flagship.”

It took less than an hour for United Forces sailors to board for the Wani’ s trip to Yu Dao. At least they only numbered ten. The ship’s original crew could overpower them in an emergency. The second lieutenant, who also doubled as their navigator, had pointed that out to Iroh as they boarded.

Jee, Ishida, and Uwir gave him a firm salute and trailed off behind the other Iroh’s Captain Opik. According to the Captain, the other General Iroh would have his flagship dock in the Wani ’s former spot in case Zuko came back.   

The United Forces general escorted him to a much smaller ship. It reminded Iroh of the riverboat the Wani carried. He watched through the glass the Wani disappear into the fog and tried to not think of how wrong it felt for both he and Zuko to be without the vessel.

In a way it had become Iroh’s home as much as the palace in the Fire Nation had been— prior to his shared exile with nephew.

A nephew who was currently entirely missing, and of whom Iroh had no ways of tracking at the moment. A situation Iroh couldn't help but compare to when he lost Lu Ten who also was missing for several hours before…being found. 

The United Forces general kept his eyes on the departing ship, and his question brought Iroh I back to reality. “The spiritual master is just across the bay. Are you ready?”

Was Iroh ever ready for the major shifts in his life? No, but life happened wherever he was. He took a deep breath to steady himself.

“Of course.”

The riverboat’s engines hummed, and they too were enveloped in the bay’s mists.