The Fire Lord's Bride

It was a beautiful day, so beautiful that Lord Iroh, the famed General who was known as the Dragon of the West, decided to enjoy his breakfast in the Royal Palace's gardens. As was their custom, he was joined by Zuko, his nephew. While he sipped his favorite ginseng tea, Iroh surreptitiously studied the young man sitting across from him. Outwardly, Zuko seemed fine. Since his investiture as the Fire Lord a little over a year ago, he had worked tirelessly and he had proven himself to be the capable ruler that Iroh had always known he would be. He was strict, but just: a monarch with fists of iron and a heart of gold. The nobles who scorned him before had quickly realized their error in underestimating Ozai's firstborn. Under Zuko's reign, the Fire Nation had begun to prosper again, great advances in trade and diplomatic relations with the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes had been made, and the people had risen from the feelings of despair and humiliation that had been brought on by their defeat in the war. The path leading to a future of peace and progress had never seemed more inviting to everyone.

This beautiful day, Iroh reflected, was simply perfect for a royal wedding and, in fact, it was the young Fire Lord's wedding day. The entire kingdom was abuzz with excitement over the momentous occasion. However, Zuko wasn't looking particularly excited or happy for a man who was about to marry a beautiful noble lady, and that was the dark cloud that marred the perfection of the day and the nation's dreams of a golden future. And Iroh was very worried about that fact.

"Are you prepared for the ceremony this noon?" he wondered. His tone was carefully casual.

"Of course," Zuko answered. "We have only been planning and rehearsing everything for the past five months."

They were silent again. Presently, Iroh sighed and put his tea cup down rather forcefully. "Nephew," he said, "do not marry her. She will not make you happy." There. He had finally expressed the concern that had been eating away at him for the past five months of wedding preparations. He waited rather anxiously for Zuko's reaction.

The Fire Lord showed no sign of surprise at his uncle's outburst. In fact, he showed no emotion of any kind, at all. He merely continued sipping his tea. Iroh glared at him, silently challenging him to speak. Finally, Zuko met the elderly man's gaze.

"It is a very advantageous marriage for the Fire Nation, Uncle," he said coldly. "Lady Ayumi is from a noble Earth Kingdom family. Her father is one of the Earth King's most trusted advisers. Lastly, she is not a friend of the Avatar, so she has never been tainted by that blockhead's influence."

Iroh regarded him sadly. "It was my fault, Zuko," he admitted. "It was my foolish meddling, my scheming, that hurt her and made her leave. I know that she was beginning to care for you. If only I had been honest, maybe To —"

"I do not wish to talk about this," Zuko cut him off. He stood up, his face a mask. "I have a council with my ministers. I will see you at the ceremony." He left his uncle staring after him with a pained expression.

Iroh was left with his bitter regret over how badly he had hurt two of the people he cared about most in the world. After the Avatar and his allies had defeated the Fire Nation, Iroh had reclaimed his birthright and he had been crowned as the Fire Lord upon his brother Ozai's death. He had named Zuko as his heir, but his nephew had adamantly refused to accept the honor. The young prince hadn't thought that he deserved it after his father's treachery in taking away the title from Iroh. When Zuko kept refusing the position year after year, Iroh finally resorted to a little sneakiness.

He pretended to accept Zuko's decision, then he announced that he would have to beget an heir by getting married. He paraded countless beautiful young ladies before his nephew, hoping that one of them would spark Zuko's interest so he could execute the rest of his plan. But, to Iroh's surprise and then to his delight, the young lady who finally caught Zuko's eye was Toph Bei Fong, the blind Earthbender master.

Toph and Zuko had a tempestuous relationship characterized by alternating bouts of cold disdain and furious arguments. But, with Iroh's maneuvering, the two of them were brought closer together in spite of themselves. All the pieces were falling into place as Iroh had envisioned, so he thought that it was time to reveal his secret plot. He fully expected Toph and his nephew to have a good laugh over his well-intentioned machinations. But, instead, events had gone terribly wrong.

Toph had called both Iroh and Zuko names that would have scandalized and shamed even the most blackhearted of pirates. It was all her friend the Avatar could do to stop her from burying the two men alive with her Earthbending. Then she had stormed out of the Palace, leaving a sizable amount of destruction in her wake which Avatar Aang had sheepishly restored to order as best as he could. Zuko, for his part, retreated to his estate outside of the capital and refused to see his uncle for several days. When he finally returned to the Palace, he informed Iroh that he was willing to succeed the elderly man as Fire Lord only if Iroh abdicated immediately. His uncle had looked at him sadly then agreed.

So, Zuko became Fire Lord. And six months ago, he met Lady Ayumi while on a state visit to the Earth Kingdom and he decided that she would make a proper Fire Lady. The entire courtship and betrothal had been conducted with all the cold precision of a military campaign, and Iroh had furiously berated himself for inadvertently causing his nephew to become disillusioned with love.

Later, as he stood beside Zuko in the temple while the priests intoned the prayers asking the heavens to bless the groom with many offspring, Iroh prayed, too. He prayed that his stubborn nephew would come to his senses and not go through with the ceremony. A marriage without love, no matter how advantageous, was not what he wanted for Zuko.

The priests had just finished their chanting when the doors suddenly burst open. However, it wasn't to herald the arrival of the bride. Lord Jiro, Lady Ayumi's father, came running into the temple. "Fire Lord Zuko!" he cried out. "A tragedy! She's gone! My poor child! Ayumi has been kidnapped!"

A look of fury came over Zuko's face and, without a word, he swept out of the temple, Iroh following at his heels. Lord Jiro led them to where the bridal procession had been ambushed. "They were Earthbenders," he told them. "I don't understand why my own people would do such a thing. This marriage is incredibly important to the Earth Kingdom."

"Uncle!" the Fire Lord said sharply. "Get our best trackers. We're going after those Earthbenders." In less than an hour, Zuko had assembled a company of men to help him in going after those who had taken his bride. Four Yu-Yan archers accompanied them. They rode hard and fast, following the very clear trail the kidnappers had left in their flight. Both Zuko and Iroh thought that it was very suspicious that the rogue Earthbenders had left such visible traces of their presence. It was becoming more and more likely that they were riding into a trap, but they knew that they had to rescue Lady Ayumi for that was their primary mission.

Their chase led them to the port town of Tenzu. However, they were a little too late. They were informed by the townspeople that a band of Earthbenders had commandeered a ship and fled across the sea just over an hour before the Fire Lord had arrived. Since the nearest Fire Nation Navy ship would only get to Tenzu by morning to pick them up, their party would have to spend the night in the town and lose precious hours in tracking the Earthbenders. Zuko was in a towering rage by this time. He smoldered all throughout dinner though Iroh kept reassuring him that they would catch up with their quarry. He finally excused himself and left the teahouse to head back to their inn for some sleep.

A cloaked servant bearing a pitcher of water was leaving his room once he came back to the inn. The servant bowed deeply when Zuko walked by and the Fire Lord acknowledged the obeisance with a curt nod. Then he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He looked down at the muddy footprints the servant had left all over the floor. He turned slowly and caught a glimpse of bare feet before they disappeared around the corner of the hallway. His entire body tensed, ready for a fight, as he shouted out, "Earthbender!"

The sound of a pitcher crashing against the floor was heard and then hurried footsteps as the Earthbender fled. Zuko's shout had alerted his soldiers and they all gave chase after the mysterious figure. "I want him alive! Bring him to me alive!" the Fire Lord ordered. The Yu-Yan archers, with their perfect aim, immediately pinned the Earthbender's cloak to the ground with four arrows. The Earthbender quickly retaliated and sent several chunks of rock smashing against the soldiers. He would have escaped if Iroh, who had come out of the teahouse just then, hadn't bashed his head with a teapot.

The Earthbender fell. "Ow!"

Immediately, he was surrounded by soldiers and the Yu-Yan archers. "Move, and I'll burn you alive," Zuko threatened, fire wreathing his hands.

The hood of the cloak fell back as the Earthbender looked up to face Zuko. "Hello, Princess," said Toph Bei Fong.