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"This is the Fire Nation, eh?" Naakun sneers as their boats bumps into the docks. Many of the men had already shucked off their furs and wraps during the travel, but not Naakun. He may have taken off his cloak and boots, but he'd be damned by La if he removed all of his dyed linens. He was a proud warrior of the Northern Water Tribe and he wasn't going to show any weakness to these hotheads.
Sokka, the little runty brat from the South who talked like he was already chief, just raises a brow at his refusal to make himself more comfortable. While Naakun was showing strength through perseverance, as were a few of the tougher warriors, Sokka was bare armed and dressed in flimsy cottons and silks. The material was foreign to the Northern men, but Sokka wore them like a second skin. If Naakun were to speak freely, it was shameful to be standing with someone in Water Tribe blue so idiotically unprepared for battle.
And a battle would most definitely occur. These simpleton Southern Tribe folk might be fooled by the Fire Prince claiming to want peace, but Chief Arnook remembered who was responsible for his daughter's death.
"There should be a team of carriages nearby- Oh, there!" Sokka points over the rail to a set of four animal-led contraptions on wheels.
"Are they like sleds?" One of the youngest, Maluk, asks in confusion. "What are those beasts?"
Sokka smiles and starts rambling about all that the Fire Nation has to offer, even as he is huffing with exertion from unloading the crates from the ship. Naakun rolls his eyes at the idiotic prattling. Many of the "inventions" sound like made up junk.
The work is done quickly with all hands on deck in action. They've gathered an audience of Fire Nation commoners who whisper and gawk at the muscular men, which makes them puff up in pride. This is probably the first time any of them have seen Water Tribe Men. Just like how this is many of their first time seeing Fire Nation, but he pushes the thought aside.
"Sokka!" A very pretty girl with green eyes and light brown hair calls out as she runs toward the group. She wears a mix of pink, red and green. It's hard to tell if she is a natural born to either Nation, or if she is some mutt from the colonies. No matter the answer, it was shameful to flaunt it so blatantly.
"Suki!" The boy calls in response, looking more excited than he had the entire boat ride here. He rushes down the gangplank and embraces her, kissing her cheeks and nose. "Where's everyone else?"
"They're at the palace." She giggles and kisses him back. "Waiting for the chief strategist to arrive."
Naakun wondered who among their group is the "chief strategist". Most likely Arnook? But he isn't known for being incredibly strategic. He supposes he'll find out later.
They travel through the port town in a slow procession, mostly uphill along a cobbled path toward an even bigger city. The people watch intently, some mistrustful and some with wonder, but no one spoke or came closer. Naakun sneers at any of the men, holding his hatchet at the ready.
The castle is visible for a long time before they actually reach the gates. Chief Arnook, who is obviously the leader of their group, was ignored by the guards for Sokka, whom they greet with familiarity. Sokka, likewise, claps their shoulders and calls them by name. Naakun seeths at the idea of being so kind and forgiving to one of these monsters- someone who probably killed innocent people and liked it! Yet another show of how weak of a character this Sokka fellow was showing himself to be.
The palace is all metal. It's very reminiscent of the Fire Navy ships, with straight edges and no charm. Just undecorated steel in the terrible heat. Once they make it to the open courtyard, Naakun can see the welcoming committee of garish red clothed men and women with a single speck of green and blue in the mix. Three individuals came forward- the little girl in green, the girl in Water Tribe blue, and a boy in gold trimmed robes with the hideous scar on his face. The new Fire Lord.
Naakun, along with the men around him, have never properly met anyone from the Fire Nation. It's been generations since they were even involved with the world outside of the North Pole. He's heard stories, all terrible, about the Fire Prince who tried to capture the Avatar and got their princess killed in the struggle. He makes sure to pour his hatred into the glare he sends at the scarred teen walking toward them.
It's a mild surprise when the leader of the entire race of monsters bows to Chief Arnook and offers his "most sincere apologies" for the loss of his daughter. Arnook looks taken aback by this, offering his own bow and responding with something too quiet for Naakun to hear from so far away. The others around the two leaders smile and begin welcoming their guests, ushering them forward to allow the carts to be unloaded by the attending servants while everyone heads inside for refreshments. And while Naakun isn't terribly happy to be here, he can silently admit to himself that a cold drink sounds nice.
—------------
The Avatar sits at the left hand of the Fire Lord, laughing and jabbing and being a child. The leader looks mad, as if he could get up at any moment and give the boy a scar to match his own. Naakun keeps a careful eye on the two to make sure the fire brat keeps himself in check. There won't be another hundred year war if he can help it.
The meal is hearty and filling, but very spicy. It matches the heat of the land and makes Naakun even more uncomfortable in his leather boots and furs. He would feel a lot better once he was able to retreat to a room and decompress.
His room is mercifully near Chief Arnook's (as the next in line for a seat in his war council) though his room is also right across from Sokka. No matter. He doesn't need to interact with the boy who thinks himself a leader at 15. He will be talking about the finer points of restitution with the real leaders tomorrow.
Naakun rests uneasily.
—-----‐—----
"What is he doing here?" One of the men asks before Arnook even gets the chance.
"And for that matter, why are there girls allowed in the meeting?" Another elder warrior asks from the other side of the table. Katara, Sokka, and the little Earthbender girls are at the far end, wedged around the end seat. Arnook sits between the two Southern Tribe youngsters and tries very hard to keep a serious look upon his face as the two make jokes. If they can't take this seriously, then what are they even doing here?
The Firelord and the Avatar arrive soon after everyone is seated, both holding scrolls and parchments for the meeting and talking amicably. As the teen passes the back wall he raises a hand and lights the ceremonial pit. Instead of sitting on the high throne, as Naakun had been led to believe was customary, he sat in the chair at the end of the table with everyone else.
"Let's begin." He says gruffly. "First things first. I think it would be beneficial to introduce the attendants for the court record. Everyone will go around the table saying their name clearly and how to spell it, since Water Tribe names are uncommon to our recorder." Naakun looks to where he gestures and sees a frightened looking man sitting at a tiny table with many papers and ink. The act of writing down everything that happens at a meeting is not something that the Water Tribe does, but Naakun can admit that it would be beneficial in matters like this. As long as the man records correctly.
Once all the names had been recorded, Sokka stands and says "Now that an official peace treaty has been reached with the Southern Water Tribe, we would like to begin discussion for a treaty with the Northern Tribe. A copy of our treaty is being passed around. This will be the basis for the treaty with the North and edited as both Chief Arnook and Firelord Zuko see fit." He sounds rehearsed, but as professional as a little kid like him can get. Naakun rolls his eyes.
"I have a question." One of the other warriors, who still wore their fur-lined vests despite the heat, raises his fist to indicate that he was speaking. "Why are we making agreements with children?"
The room fell silent with shock. Naakun couldn't keep the corners of his lips from turning up at the looks on everyone's face. It was hard to tell if they were more stunned by the audacity or the question itself.
Yet another man from the chief's council stands and asks "And why are we starting the meeting when young women are present?" He huffs and runs a hand along his beard. "It's unprecedented for something as important as this to include the ears of young girls. We can't afford to have them off gossiping before any agreement has been reached."
The earthbender immediately leaps to her feet, but the firelord quickly shouts "stop!" before anyone could say another word. He rose from his seat calmly, even as he looked about ready to set everyone on fire. After a calming breath, he projects his voice loudly for the whole room to hear. "I can see from your expressions that many of you hold these same beliefs." Naakun quickly fixes his own expression to a neutral frown. "If you'd like, we can have my father pulled from his cell and seated on the throne once again. I'm sure he would love to talk about peace with you." His hard gaze drifts across their faces, letting the implication settle. "Or maybe you'd prefer my sister? Though I can't guarantee that she has enough of her senses at the moment to hear you out. Or the Dragon of the West? He was there the day of the invasion. I'm sure many of you may have met him."
"I'm sorry, Prin- Firelord Zuko. We are just used to standards that are different than… this is all new ground to tread. Please forgive them." Arnook speaks with a furrowed brow and a grimace, neither condoning nor disagreeing with the comments made.
While the Avatar looks a bit understanding and ready to let it go with the understood warning against speaking out again, Zuko obviously is not. "While I can appreciate the thought behind your words, I feel that we cannot proceed until certain things are made clear." The rest of his entourage of children share a look, but don't interrupt him. Zuko breathes another sigh to steady himself before continuing. "Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Suki are here because they were the ones who truly helped end the war. While you were hiding in your fortified city, they were taking out the entire Fire Nation air brigade." There is a stillness in the air as Zuko continues. "I have made reparation agreements with the Southern Water Tribe because they were willing to have the discussion. If you aren't, then we are done here."
"You can't be serious. You're going to walk away from giving us our due because you feel insulted?" The man who originally raised his fist exclaims. "Is that the kind of warlord we're dealing with?"
Zuko has to give himself a moment to school his features at the title, but doesn't lash out. Katara is the one to stand and speak for him. "You aren't owed anything. Our men fought and died in battle while you hid. Our waterbenders were all slaughtered and you did nothing! Zuko is offering a path of peace and all you've done since coming here is complain!"
"Not to mention that Sparky has a point. If you aren't ready to look for peace, then you shouldn't be here." The earthbender says to the room, looking blankly at the wall. "You guys need to realize you aren't warriors right now. You're supposed to be ambassadors. "
Naakun couldn't hold in the disbelieving snort. When most everyone's eyes turn to him, he straightens up. "Forgive me, but I haven't come all this way to be scolded by a child."
The girl crosses her arms and turns in his general direction, still without meeting his eyes. "Maybe you shouldn't make it so easy, then."
"Alright, we're not here to fight. This is a peace talk. Let's discuss what we have in common and work from there." The Avatar says. The children huff, but take their seats and look to Arnook for his response.
The chief clears his throat and calmly replies "You bring up many good points. We are here to talk civilly. If any of my men feel that they cannot be a part of that, now is a good time to say so."
The room falls quiet again, except for the frantic writings and page flipping of the court documenter. Naakun glares at the Firelord and his lackeys, but doesn't speak up. He has come too far to be told to leave. And while the Southern brats might sit there thinking so highly of themselves, Naakun knows in his heart that they're just dumb children. He'd heard plenty of tales about what everyone thought these kids had done, but what could they truly know of war? Or forging alliances with nations? This is what the adults are for. Whatever little agreement they made won't hold a candle to what Arnook will make. He'll have that stupid spark spitter groveling in submission in no time.
The rest of the meeting is spent reading through the treaty made with the other Tribe. It's even worse than Naakun had imagined. Their reparations were minimal, the trade agreements too positive for the Fire Nation, and hardly any prisoner exchange? Naakun knew he couldn't expect any better from these kids. He and a few other men shared the same sentiment as they recounted the laughable standards that they were expected to agree to. As they walked back to their rooms, they bid each other goodnight and went their separate ways. Tomorrow's talks would be much better, once the chief showed them what real reparations looked like.
—------------
"My council and I have made notes of the most obvious changes we would like to discuss." Chief Arnook says as he hands the stack of documents over to the Firelord. Naakun shares a pleased look with his fellow Tribe members as the children read through the adjustments with furrowed brows.
The little earthbender, who does not take the paper, huffs and asks "what does it say? Why is everyone getting so tense?"
Naakun wants to laugh at the baffled silence that follows as they each try to piece together what they're seeing. It must be hard for these ignorant youths to see how unprepared they are for the finer details. No doubt the two Southerners are rethinking their own agreement. It's fortunate that Arnook was kind enough to put stipulations in place for their benefit too.
"Are these serious suggestions?" Sokka asks in a squeaky, accusatory tone. No one else adds to this. The little girl throws her hands up in exasperation and asks him to please fill her in on what is so unbelievable!
"Well for one thing, they think they have the rights to the entire coffers of the Fire Palace-" Zuko grumbles. "as if the other nations don't deserve financial reparations at all. Do you want my people to starve?"
"Of course not. This is just the starting point of the discussion. It can be readjusted with our continued discussion." The chief's financial planner, who had been the one to suggest this amount in the first place, answered with a slimy smile.
"And what about this? The release of Water Tribe prisoners of war? You weren't in the war. What prisoners do you think they can release?" Suki injects, slapping a spot on her paper to indicate where the offending statement is.
Naakun speaks up, feeling smug at the idea of correcting these children where they had failed. "That is for the benefit of our Sister Tribe. We noticed that you forgot to include that in your own treaty."
Katara glares hard. "What war prisoners?"
Naakun gives a disbelieving snort. "This is why children need to stay out of war talks, little girl. Prisoners of war are common in disputes and we-"
"I think what she means is that there are no more prisoners." Zuko says in a voice loud enough to overpower him and sharp enough to make him stop. Naakun takes a minute to grasp what he's saying.
"You mean they have all been released?" Arnook asks with raised brows. He seems impressed that such a thing could be true after only a month since the ceasefire.
Katara blows out an aggravated breath. "What few there were, at least. It's one of the first things we organized. All prisoners of war from all nations have been sent home."
"Then why is it not written down in the treaty?"
Zuko crosses his arms unhappily. "Because it wasn't needed. I had already helped break chief Hakoda out of prison before the end of the war. Second day on the throne they helped me track down and release the few that were left."
Naakun kept hearing the word 'few'. He didn't like the weight and emphasis they kept putting on it. It didn't settle well in his gut. "How many prisoners in total?" By the looks on Sokka and Katara's faces, he wasn't sure he was ready for the answer.
"Six." Sokka answers in a stoic tone. "All leadership positions. Everyone else was already disposed of."
"Alright, what other crazy things did they put in this?" The little girl asks abruptly. Suki, who is sitting next to her, unrolls the rest of the parchment to read on. "They want to extend their borders… A detainment plan and execution agreement for any Fire Nation soldier who enters your territory?"
"In case of violent action." The head commander says as if it were obvious.
“So basically, you can skewer anyone wearing red without retaliation. And that’s ok with you guys.” Toph accuses with a deep frown. “Is there anything in there about a trial?”
“Nope.” Suki confirms and continues to skim the paper. The rest of the group grimaces at what they are reading, side-eyeing their friendly firebender as they read the gruesome plans for these ‘evil Fire Nation intruders’.
Zuko closes his eyes in frustration. It’s too bad he can’t truly block out the stupidity of the discussion that they need to have. “Alright. So your people don’t want to do trade with us. That’s understandable. You want some sort of financial compensation for… I don’t know, the destruction of your city during the siege? Fine. If that is to be our only interaction, then we can discuss this. But-” Here he looks up and lays both hands flat on the table while maintaining eye contact with chief Arnook. “-there are more important changes that need to be made. Your relationship with your sister tribe, for one, was negatively impacted by the war.”
“Are you threatening to keep us from our own people?” Arnook’s right hand man asks from down the table. There are a few murmurs of discontent. Suki shares a look of worry with Sokka at the ferocity that continues at every turn. It seems that these people want to pick and prod at every statement.
“That’s not what he’s saying.” Sokka says defensively. “If you listen, you’ll see that things are more complicated than you think.”
Naakun beats a fist against the table. “I’ve just about had it with you and your obsession with the Fire Kingdom!” He’d been trying so hard to let his hate simmer below the surface to avoid being kicked out, but some things he just couldn’t stand. “You’re a weak little seal pup with no leadership experience. You think you can talk down to your betters?” Even the men next to him get wide-eyed at the exclamation. “You spent the whole trip here talking and talking and talking about how great they are and how you love being here and they’re so much better than your home tribe. If your father could hear you talk like that, he’d have you cast out on the glaciers!”
This is the breaking point for the rest of the room. Soon, each man is voicing his anger and resentment, their frustrations at the situation, their hatred toward the people who forced this upon them and the child king who thinks he can make everything better. Through it all, team Avatar attempts to give answers and contradict what is being hurled at them. It’s no use. Zuko stands still and quiet through it all, allowing the yelling and insults without blinking.
After probably a quarter hour, the energy of their venom seeps out and leaves everyone exhausted. Zuko remains standing firm until the last man takes his seat and huffs in finality. Only then does he speak up. “We are not ready to talk peace. And we won’t be ready until we form an understanding. We tried it Aang’s way, by talking it out. Now, we try it my way.”
“What’s your way?” Sokka whispers in concern.
Zuko answers with the tiniest quirk of his lips, only discernible by those closest to him. “The Southern Tribe had an easier time with peace talks because we had fought in battle together. From the way you talk of Sokka and the rest of the group, you haven’t seen everything that they are capable of.”
“So who are we supposed to fight?” Katara has already caught on to what he’s proposing. She smiles in understanding and clear joy at the prospect.
“We can split into two teams, to make it fair.” Zuko suggests.
Toph snorts. “Yeah, it wouldn’t be very fair for them if we were a team.”
Naakun looks to chief Arnook to see what his thoughts on this are. Everyone here is of varying ages, but all have had warriors training. No man from the North is weak. Arnook seems to think on this for a moment before nodding along. “I can see the thought behind this. A bond is born between shield-brothers in war and this has the promise of being of great benefit to our talks.” Arnook stands and offers an outstretched arm to the Firelord. “Very well. Tomorrow we will discuss an even-sided match for sparring.”
Zuko, to Naakun’s surprise, grasps the chief’s arm in the correct form of the Water Tribe, seemingly familiar with the move. Sokka must have taught him how.
“Let’s eat some lunch!” Toph exclaims and throws her hands in the air. This time, the murmurs of agreement are without hatred.
—-----------------------------
The next morning sees them all gathered in the large courtyard of the palace. Naakun knew a few of the men had spent the night before stretching and practicing their basics, while the majority had gone to sleep feeling there was no need. Naakun, while knowing he is able bodied and powerful, erred on the side of caution and stayed up with the moon for much of the night.
The Firelord and the Avatar face off as leaders to choose their competing teams. Naakun expects the first choices to be either the benders of the group, or one of the muscular warriors of their Tribe. It surprises many when the first choice of the Firelord is for Sokka.
Sokka raises a fist of triumph as he trots to the firebender's side, clapping their hands in an odd gesture when they stand together. It baffles him, as well as the rest of the men, that the runty nonbender was the first pick.
The Avatar chooses Katara, not as surprising but still odd when there are plenty of male waterbenders to choose from, and smiles broadly as she comes to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
The Firelord must be insane, because his next choice is the little blind earthbender. Naakun feels a bit offended that none of their men are seen as a fit option, where as these children are ganging together and already smiling in victory.
After the Avatar calls Suki over, he calls out to Arnook to divide his men in equal measure to join the two teams. "We don't know who can bend or who is good with strategy. Since you're more familiar with them, it would be more fair for you to decide how to make this an even fight."
"It won't ever be even with the Avatar present." Someone mutters among the crowd and is quickly shushed.
Naakun is a bender, so he is sent to join the Firelord. All the nonbenders join the Avatar. Zuko frowns at the choice, but doesn't say anything.
As two servants begin handing out wooden weapons and colored sashes to denote teams, the little blind girl shouts "OK, lily-livers! Here's the rules!" Her voice is very loud and commanding for one so small. "Earth Rumble style! If you get pushed out of the ring-" she twists her feet and stomps, bending a divot in the stone to form a large circle. "You lose! Whoever is left standing in the end wins."
“The goal isn’t to hurt anyone, just to get them out of the circle.” Sokka confirms. “Five minutes to discuss a strategy!” He and Zuko huddle together, gesturing for Toph and the men to join. They cautiously come close while they tie their silver sashes around their waists, expecting the Firelord to be the one to take charge.
Instead, he turns to Sokka and says “ok, chief strategist. What’s the plan?” Naakun gawks. Sokka is the chief strategist they talk about?! He’s no older than fifteen winters! They have the best and brightest men of the Northern Tribe at their disposal and the leader of the nation chooses him?!
Sokka rubs his hands together in glee. “Based off of what I’ve seen, Korlanuk favors his right side. I think he has an old injury.” Naakun looks over his shoulder to the man in question. He’s standing perfectly fine, but Naakun knows that he did indeed sustain an injury years ago to his ankle. “He’s the guy with the gray hair with a braid in his beard.” Sokka clarifies for the firebender.
“Oh yeah, I can feel which one he is.” Toph says. “Easy pickings.”
“Since Aang favors water and air, we need to keep him from having a lot of room to make big motions.” Sokka waves his arms to show what he means. “Everyone, keep him blocked in. If you see him doing something big, either stop him or get out of the way.”
“What if he goes into the Avatar state?” Maluk, the youngest of the Northerners, asks. Sokka waves him off.
“He won’t do that here. He has a hard time controlling how intense he gets, so he wouldn’t put anyone in danger like that.”
“Most of you are waterbenders, right?” the Firelord asks the group. He gets a lot of nods. “Then you need to keep an eye out for Katara. She’s the strongest waterbender I’ve met and she likes to change her tactic frequently.”
It’s good advice, but Naakun still feels a prickling of frustration to be warned about some little girl. This Firelord has never seen any of them bend, so what does he know?
“Since I can’t see, I’m going to go off of whoever comes near me. So if you don’t want to be pummeled into the ground, stay out of my way.” Toph declares and punches a fist into her open palm. Zuko and Sokka don’t say anything, merely nodding in agreement.
“You seem to have a lot of opinions.” Zuko looks right to Naakun. He has a hard time keeping his eyes from wandering over to the huge scar, but the leader doesn’t seem to mind. “What can you tell us about these men?”
Naakun stops to think about this for a moment. He looks back over at the men he has worked alongside his entire life. He’s never had to think of them with the mindset of fighting against them. “Uh… Inuksuk is a slow runner. And… Hanta will try to appear weak to get you to come close.” He turns back around, looking a bit sheepish. “Everyone else is…old.”
Sokka and Toph openly laugh at his statement, while Zuko breaks into a smile. They break apart to announce that the five minutes is up and it’s time to start.
It feels ridiculous at first, to face off against his own men while he stands beside the leader of the fire nation, but once the gong is rung and everyone leaps into action it feels like regular sparring. He had feared the Firelord would want to take it too seriously, or wouldn’t include them in his plans and leave them to figure it out themselves. Against his wishes, his heart leapt with pride that the boy had looked to him and included him. He shakes his head and refocuses on using a water whip to snap at the feet of anyone wearing a golden sash.
True to her word, Toph is frightening to see on the battlefield and Naakun is beyond glad that she is on their side. She dips low to the ground and raises up, lifting her hands as well as the metal beneath the feet of their opponents. It rolls like a wave and knocks the majority of them onto their butts, giving Zuko’s team the distraction needed to move closer.
Aang and Katara team up to form ice barricades. Thankfully, they have a firebender that can easily take them down as quickly as they build them up. Not to mention that the natural oppressive heat makes them melt quicker.
Sokka engages many of the experienced warriors in combat, showing impressive swordsmanship and techniques not used in the water tribes, as far as Naakun knows. He’s not terribly knowledgeable about such things, since he’s a trained waterbender. What is even more shocking is when Zuko jumps in with his own wooden sword and parrys beside him. What business does a firebender have learning weapons? In his distraction, Naakun is lifted into the air by a circle of water, trapping his arms to his sides. He panics and kicks, but cannot break himself free. Moments later, he is placed on the ground, just outside of the ring. He gets to his feet and bends the water out of his clothes, feeling embarrassed and light headed from the rush of panic seconds ago, and goes to sit in the shade with the other men who have been defeated.
Now he can watch the battle unhindered. He hadn’t anticipated it being this…fun? True, Naakun likes to win and can be a bit of a sore loser, but this was new. He’s never fought with a firebender, never against his own men, and never had to think so hard during a spar. He can see what the Firelord meant. This had been quite a bonding experience.
He keeps his eyes tracked on Sokka for a while, watching him pick his way through the ring and sweep the legs out from men twice his size, or block a hit meant for Zuko, or move so fluidly it looked like he was using waterbending moves. After a long while of this, Katara is able to grab his ankle with a watery tentacle and encase his lower half in ice. He isn’t able to break it apart before she slides the entire block along the ground and out of the ring.
Naakun gets to his feet and walks over to him, clenching and unclenching a fist to release the water particles and let it become water again. Sokka wobbles free of the puddle and grins. “Thanks” he says and walks over to the group to watch with everyone else. There’s only Toph and Zuko left on their team, and Katara on the other. Without noticing, Aang had accidentally come back down from a big airbending move and touched down right on the border of the battle ring. He laughed good naturedly and admitted defeat, joining the others with a smile.
Zuko attempts to distract the girl with a flashy firebending move using multicolored flames. Katara knows what’s happening, though, and keeps her feet steady when Toph tries to use the distraction to split the ground underneath her. She creates an ice-shelf to keep herself steady before sending a huge crashing wave through the air and knocking against Toph’s chest. She’s pushed to the ground and sent rolling out of the ring.
The next portion of the battle is short lived, but Naakun honestly has a hard time deciding who to root for. His teammate or sister tribe? The fight involves a lot of hissing steam as his flames meet her water, followed by quick hand-to-hand hits. Zuko seems to copy her moves well, parrying her low jabs with his own high kicks, but there must be an eventual winner. Katara is able to form a thin sheet of ice beneath the Firelord’s feet and push him over with her hands, causing him to pinwheel his arms to keep balance and ultimately crash on his back, inches over the line.
Everyone from both teams hoop and holler and pat each other on the back. Naakun feels no resentment that his team lost, nor does he feel any anger when the firebender comes to clasp hands with him, offering a tiny smile. He watches in wonder as the teen moves around the cluster of men to offer the same gesture of goodwill. Maybe this had worked better than anyone had thought. It seemed to put everyone in a good mood and easily flowed into talks of eating lunch out in the gardens. Naakun follows the group, wondering what this will mean for the peace talks.
—-------------
The next two weeks go by smoothly. Well, not completely, but much better than before. Naakun and many others form relationships with some of the palace staff and the Avatar's friends.
Naakun learns more about the hardships that Zuko went through to get where he is. A petite male server assigned to clean his room, who slips in and out as quietly as the breeze, gives him any answers he asks with a sly grin. Naakun finds himself a bit enamored with the man, even though his Tribe looks down on such things.
"Firelord Zuko lifted the ban on marriage between men." Mou says and plants a kiss against his lips without being asked. "Maybe you should talk to your king and see what you can change."
And why not? If his entire worldview can be toppled and rewritten in the span of a week, who's to say he can't do some rewriting of his own?