Chapter 1: An Itch

He scratched at his scar. Lately it had been itching a lot, which Zuko found a bit troubling, since the last time his scar had been itchy like this were the weeks after he had received it. He pushed those dreadful memories aside, focusing on the task at hand. He had been chasing these pirates for almost a week now, finally catching up to them in a port on the most western parts of the Earth Kingdom. Most of them had left their ship to visit the local taverns, leaving only a few of them behind to guard their ship. The ship appeared to be an old Fire Navy vessel, similar to the one Zuko himself had commanded years ago.

Zuko, crouching on the roof of a building roughly 200 meters from the ship, had spotted three patrols consisting of two men circling the ship's deck. He could see lights and hear music and voices coming from small windows on the hull of the ship. The bridge was dark and eerily quiet over the music and general jubilant outcries from the men onboard. It was probably his best chance of entry and mostly likely where the captain lodged, well, if you were a responsible leader, it would allow you to take control of the ship immediately if trouble appeared. At least that was what Zuko had done when he had had a ship. But these of course, were pirates. The problem with pirates was that they were rarely in the right state of mind to make logical decisions, or more accurately, too drunk.

Zuko pulled down his blue mask and took his grappling hook off his belt. Taking careful aim, he threw it as silently as he could. It was harder to throw things quietly than Zuko had originally thought. As the hook finally attached itself to a railing near the bridge, it made a horrible clanging sound. At this moment Zuko remembered, to his dismay, that there wasn't any kind of special trick to throwing things quietly, some simple cloth around the hook would have been far more effective.

"Hey, didya hear that Thom?" came the voice of a guard as Zuko cursed surprisingly creatively under his breath.

"Hear what, Biddle?" another guard's voice replied.

"That metallic cling," the first voice answered.

"Huh, uuhmm you mean that metallic clang a few seconds ago?" said the second voice.

"Yeah that metallic – wait, 'clang'? – what are you talking about, it was obviously a cling."

"No, it was definitely a clang, big warships made of iron go 'clang', not cling, no self-respecting sailor would use a ship that 'clings'."

"Not all o'them parts are made of iron you know, there's other metals too, ya'know."

"And I suppose you know where on a ship these other parts are?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. C'mon, I'll show ya."

Zuko sighed in relieve as the two guards walked away, still bickering. Pirates...

Zuko attached the end of the rope to a close by chimney and carefully made his way across the rope. When he reached the platform, he sent a small concentrated bolt of fire to burn through the rope near the chimney, and pulled back the rest of it. He couldn't risk one of the guards noticing it hanging there. He then found an unlocked door and proceeded into the ship's interior.

It had been such a long time since he had done something like this. Sneaking into an enemy stronghold, to liberate something of immense importance, all by himself. Besides the rush of adrenaline he was receiving, which made all his senses sharper and allowed him to see the world in a more fluent manner, he revelled in the solitude this opportunity afforded him with. For so many years, there had always been at least someone badgering him about what they should do. He had no idea people needed so much... leadership. He was starting to think maybe his sister hadn't gone completely insane when she decided to banish practically everyone she ran into as the Fire Lord. How had his father done it so easily? He had always seemed so calm and collected when it came to managing stately affairs. Zuko himself was constantly second-guessing his own decisions, and it probably showed. Why else would his subjects constantly be asking him: "Are you sure, My Lord", "Perhaps more time should be taken to consider all the consequences" or his personal favourite, "Really? – I mean seriously? – Uh, My Lord." He felt so lost in all the politics, not like when he had been chasing the Avatar, or when he had finally joined the Gang. Everything had been so simple, just like it was at the moment.

Zuko came to a half-open door which had a word written on it. The word was 'KaPtaen'. He dearly hoped that the word was actually the captain's name and not someone's attempt at trying to write the word captain. He carefully opened the door slightly and peered inside. It was empty of people. So far his infiltration had gone well, too well. This onset of natural paranoia made him peer around, nothing appeared to jeopardize his mission; there weren't any traps around. For some reason he decided to look up as well. There was a bucket sitting on top of the door. I probably wouldn't have noticed that if I didn't spend so much time with Ty Lee, any time in fact, Zuko thought to himself as he carefully removed the bucket and set it on the floor. This was exactly what she would have considered to be a funny way of keeping unwanted intruders from entering her room.

The room itself was full of stuff: trinkets, furniture, money and weapons. This KaPtaen obviously liked to be where all the swag was kept. This was good news for Zuko, as it meant that what he was looking for was probably there as well. There was a vase full of scrolls in a corner. Zuko carefully waltzed around all the fragile treasures so as not to accidently make too much noise and started looking through the scrolls when he reached the ornate vase. After a couple of minutes he found what he was looking for.

"Gotcha," he muttered in triumph as he began his way back towards the door.

But then he heard a familiar voice and stopped in his tracks, in an unbalanced position that would probably not last long and take a couple of fragile clay statues with it.

"I'm telling you there are parts of this ship that aren't made of iron, heck the doors can't be iron, they're way too light," said the voice of the guard who had heard a cling instead of a clang. Thom, wasn't it?

"Says you, those doors are murder on my arms, it takes everything I have just to open my room's door," said the other guard, Biddle.

"Well that's cos you live in the old brig, ya daft hog monkey! All the other doors are light as a feather. Look, I'll show ya," Thom said in a confident tone. Zuko could hear footsteps approaching.

The door opened.

"Look, see how easy it is?" said Thom as he closed the door again.

"Yeah, ok, that was... wait a sec, ain't there s'posed to be a bucket of water on top of the captain's door, you know, as a security system," Biddle asked.

"Hmmm, you're right, but you gotta admit it ain't much of a security system. I mean there's no alarm for crying out loud! How are we s'posed to know if something does get pilfered?"

"How'bout by the fact that there ain't no bucket of water on your head presently!"

"How 'bout you – wait a tick... do you think someone's in there...presently?" Thom asked in an almost terrified voice.

"Only one way to find out, c'mon," Biddle answered.

The door opened once again, but with two spears entering it first this time. Zuko lost his balance and fell to the floor with a crash, accompanied by the statues.

"Why, you slimy son of a turtle toad, STOP RIGHT THERE! Thom, get some help while I hold this thieving scumbag here," Biddle said as he advanced on Zuko.

Zuko, regaining his footing, nimbly dodged an impaling attack and quickly closed the distance between himself and Biddle. He slammed his fist into Biddle's face and could hear a crunching noise as Biddle fell to the ground screaming.

Zuko ran out of the door and into the small corridor. The other guard had already gone, and Zuko wasn't in the mood to stick around to find out how many friends he could muster to defend their loot. Probably all of them, as long as they were still sober enough to walk on two feet. He gazed around. At one end of the corridor was a window and if he remembered correctly, it was facing the waterfront, with no obstacles between the water below and the ship. So Zuko decided to risk it and try Escape Plan B. Cursing his rusted espionage skills, Zuko started running for the window. And just as he was about to jump through it he smelled the all too familiar smell he had always associated with firebending, oddly enough it didn't smell like burned anything but like bacon on a hot day. He really did spend too much time around Ty Lee...

There was no room to dodge and judging by the heat on his neck, the fire blast had to be close, very close. If he continued with his present course, he'd be fried while jumping through the window. He had no choice but to firebend his way out of the situation. He had hoped to avoid firebending in public in the Earth Kingdom, since the Fire Nation's relations with the Earth Kingdom were, even after all these years, strained at best. But then again, these were only pirates; maybe he could play with them a little, after all, the Blue Spirit needed to make a grand reappearance.

As Zuko spun around, he brought his hands around in a wide arc, guiding the fire harmlessly around him and back towards his assailant. Just as the flames were about to hit the attacking firebender and his cohorts standing behind him, Zuko allowed to the flames to disperse into tiny spinning petals of fire that harmlessly slipped past the pirates. For most of them, this bedazzling show of elemental control was lost on them, as they were too shocked to form even the smallest cohesive thought. One of them was actually standing in a damp puddle, and Zuko sincerely doubted that it was the remains of an attempt at waterbending.

Zuko coughed slightly, to clear his throat, so he could make his voice sound gruff and intimidating. "Do you know who I am?"

There was no reply except a minor whimper from the man standing in the puddle.

"I said, do you know who I am?" Zuko asked, raising his voice.

"Y-y-you're t-the Blue Spirit! Please, don't eat our eyeballs!" stammered one of the pirates.

Eyeballs? That's a new one, Zuko thought to himself. I guess that's the sort of thing that happens to urban legends, after a while, they get creepy...-er.

"Yes, I am the Blue Spirit. And I have come to set things right. For all of you lost souls. I am going to give you a Choice. Between eternal agony in the embrace of The Infernal... Porcuslug or choose vindication and adopt a new life, where you shall help the helpless and do what is honourable." He paused for dramatic impact and let his voice drop again. "So what's it gonna be boys?"

"Uhm, we'll just start moving all of this loot back to their rightful owners, how'bout that?" asked a pirate who had been holding his hands out towards Zuko throughout the entire exchange, he was probably the firebender.

"Good, now beat it," Zuko told them. He had barely uttered the last syllable before the pirates lunged for KaPtaen's room.

"Well, this was easier than I had anticipated," Zuko said outloud as he strolled towards a door leading to the deck, and then casually slipped into the shadows as he left the ship.

As Zuko entered the warehouse he had stayed in for the last two days as he searched for the pirates, he heard giggling and moaning. Enthusiastic giggles and moaning intermixed with groans which made Zuko recall the time his entire crew had eaten spoiled fruits and spent the subsequent week expelling various liquids. But even with these mental images in his head, Zuko found the joyful giggling far more unnerving.

The sounds were coming from behind some large boxes in a corner. There was also a flickering light behind them which produced constantly shifting shadows on the floor and walls of the gloomy warehouse. Zuko decided to take a closer look, despite having a general ambivalent feeling towards such a daring act. What greeted his eyes was in a way, relieving and freakishly perplexing at the same time.

"Why is there a smelly, bruised hobo hanging upside down in here?" Zuko asked the giggling girl, who was standing on her hands, face to face with the hobo.

In all the years Zuko had known Ty Lee, she hadn't changed much, in appearance or personality. The only things that did change constantly were her hairstyle and outfits, although the midriff always remained exposed, to the delight of many Fire Nation boys.

"Ah, Zuzu, you're back! How'd it go with those nasty pirates, hmm?" Ty Lee asked him as she cartwheeled around onto her feet. She looked very excited, like a little boy with a frighteningly large firecracker.

"Fine, got what I was looking for. And stop calling me that. Now, about that hobo," Zuko was unwilling to let the subject drop so easily.

"What do you mean, what about the hobo? I got you what you asked for," she said earnestly.

"I asked for a smelly, bruised and now drooling hobo?" An eyebrow was raised.

"Heh, no, you asked for a pirate who knew what the scrolls you were looking for were to be used for... I think," She said the last part rather uncertainly.

"And he knows?" The eyebrow hadn't left its elevated position.

"Well yeah, why else would I bring him to our super secret base?"

"With you, it's sometimes hard to tell," he said as he inspected the hobo. "Did he tell you anything?"

"Oh loads!"

"About the scrolls."

"Oh, well he did say that those scrolls were the last part of a shipment of scrolls going to Ba Sing Se."

"Last part of several scrolls? Ba Sing Se? Damn, this is starting to get really worrying..."

"What do you mean? What's in the scrolls anyways? Why exactly are we here anyway?"

Leave it to Ty Lee to start asking the important questions a long time after they should have been asked. Zuko recounted the details of how during the inspection of the Easternmost naval facilities, he had decided to stop at a local bar, incognito, in order to relax a bit. There he had coincidentally overheard a discussion amongst a group of customers. They had been discussing Fire Nation military information no civilian should have had access to. After this, as the group was preparing to leave, he had ordered his two bodyguards, who had been waiting outside patiently, to go back to his ship so they could fetch more men to apprehend these people. It had been a lie, so Zuko could pursue them by himself. He needed to find out where this information had come from, what else they knew and if they were telling it to someone else who shouldn't know about it. Unfortunately for Zuko, Ty Lee, who for some strange reason had wanted to join Zuko on his naval inspection, had quickly caught up with him. As soon as she had heard what the bodyguards had to say, she had rushed off in his pursuit. Together, they had found out that the pirates had detailed copies of papers containing crucial information about the Fire Nation's military capabilities. And Zuko himself had gone off to retrieve these documents while she was to find out what the pirates intended to do with them.

"Wow..." Ty Lee said, genuinely impressed.

"I know."

"You must really be bored being the Fire Lord. Needed to spice things up a bit, eh?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Well you didn't really need to do any of this by yourself, all sneakily and such. You could probably have taken them all out in the pub, and let me pinch the truth out of them. I learned a lot of cool things from the Kyoshi warriors."

"I – no, that wouldn't have worked because... uh, bad political image and, uhm, they might not have known all the details…" Zuko told her unconvincingly.

"Riiiight-o," Ty Lee said in a sing-song voice. "And next you'll be going to Ba Sing Se to set up a rival tea shop to your Uncle's..."

"And when did you become so sar- never mind. You're right, I am going to Ba Sing Se."

"Ooh, great idea, I could use some new Earth Kingdom jewellery, and maybe one of those twisty-bendy doohickeys, and a –"

"You're not coming along," Zuko interrupted.

"WHAT?" Ty Lee's reply sounded surprisingly hurtful. "Why the hell not? I mean, I was useful, I got the baddie! And you wouldn't believe what I had to do in order to lure him here! There's only so much any woman's feminine wiles can accomplish. You owe me big time! You better have a good – "

"Ty Lee, please," this time Zuko's interruption contained a quiet yet commanding tone. "I need to have someone I can trust keeping an eye on the Council while I'm away, to tell everyone what I'm doing, and to... to... check up on her... she's been alone for almost a week now, and you know how she gets when she's alone for too long... please, Ty Lee."

"Oh, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Ty Lee said in a now calm, sympathetic voice. "Of course I'll check up on her, it's been a long time since I've seen her any way."

"Thanks Ty Lee," Zuko said as he turned around and headed out of the warehouse. Another job he had given to Ty Lee was purchasing an ostrich horse, fully saddled with enough supplies for several days. As Zuko made sure everything was strapped on properly, Ty Lee came out as well with an uncharacteristically sombre expression on her face.

"Zuko," her quiet voice was more than enough to snap Zuko's attention away from the saddle and back to her. "It's all gonna be okay someday isn't it? No more off all this – ickiness?"

Zuko was silent for a moment before he gave a firm: "Yeah."

And then he leapt on to the back of the ostrich horse and rode off. He didn't feel right. Something was wrong and he didn't know if it was with him or the world. He couldn't help but feel unsettled. It hadn't exactly been a lie, things were probably going to work out in the end, even though he wasn't sure if he believed in it himself. There was just so much... ickiness in the lives of anyone who was remotely connected to the royal family. Not to mention what he himself was doing at the moment. Why was he doing it? Like Ty Lee had said, he could have ordered someone else to take care of all of this. But they wouldn't have been as thorough as he would be, they wouldn't know what to look for, those small signs most people didn't even notice... But all of these excuses seemed hollow, with only the call of the road, its end hidden to him, filling him with a sense of reassurance and focus he hadn't felt in years. It felt like coming home after a long time away. Like scratching a really bad itch.