The Bear: What if, when Long Feng was still low in the ranks of the Dai Li, he hadn't allowed Keui to have a pet bear. Really, it could maul a young prince. Then again, it could change everything. Long Feng dwells on the past and what he is now. One-shot. AU.

Disclaimer: Avatar the Last Airbender is not mine.

Image: Funkeh Colors by Kursunada

Rating: Teen for mild swearing.

…

A rotten Prince you shall not be,

Act like a king and listen to me.

You are not a bear or a wild thing,

But a prince with advisor and an ailing king.

Now listen to your loyal advisor and body guard,

He's tired of the life he has lived so hard.

…

He wasn't sure why he laid awake at night, staring at the small fire at the center of their camp. Maybe it was because he was looking out for Fire Nation soldiers or wild animals. Maybe he was waiting for the King to wake in another nightmare and comfort the traumatized ruler once more. Maybe he would go to the river and try to wash the blood off Keui's royal robes once more though he knew it wasn't coming out.

Or maybe he would dwell on his life again.

Long Feng had many regrets especially with the recent turn of events. The Princess of the Fire Nation, Azula, had turned the Dai Li against their nation who in turn dropped the walls and handed over the city of Ba Sing Se to the fire-benders and killed the Avatar. Well, the kid was technically not dead, yet, but looking across the camp at the child he sure looked pretty dead.

Regardless, the man couldn't help but sigh at the thought and shifted on the dirt, feeling it try to cling to his body. In reaction, he half considered buried himself in a blanket of sand with his bending so he could keep warm. They didn't have much and what they did have he tried to give to the young King. He was the man's body guard and unofficial advisor after all.

Not that he had always been such.

He had once been in the ranks of the Dai Lee and was the favorite of the current Grand Secretarian. The man had even allowed him to learn the basics of mind bending, a secret tool of the Dai Li since the war had began. He knew that the man even had plans of allowing Long Feng to become his replacement once he retired, but first he had to prove himself as an advisor. He could never be the Secretarian if he could not advise the king.

So he was given the post of body guard or baby sitter as all the other Dai Li mocked. Not that he blamed them for saying that in hushed laughter when he returned to the underground barracks every day. It was true. The prince was pampered and mother-hened. The prince could have been mistaken for a little girl with the way he acted. The royal son clung to everyone's robes though he was nearly seven, crying or sniveling or having some kind of nearly fit. It was a shame that no one was allowed to truly obedience the child.

Kuei was the prince of the Earth Kingdom after all and soon to be King if his father's health kept fading, which probably explained the child's behavior. The boy knew something was going on. He knew that his father was fading and was terribly broken up about it. So the child's caretakers decided that he needed to be cheered up and what best way than with a pet?

Long Feng had twitched at the announcement and nearly blanched when he found out what the young prince wanted.

He didn't want a cat-bird.

He didn't want a crab-fish.

He didn't want a dog-ostrich.

He wanted a rare animal called a bear.

Long Feng had cursed the influencers for Prince Kuei had had performers come in for his seventh birthday a few weeks back and the show had had a bear in it. Long Feng hadn't witnessed the show himself but he had heard that the blasted bear had freaked out due to "instincts" apparently and destroyed some hundred year old art. The prince had apparently laughed at the show.

Ugh, it had taken hours to get all the gorges out of the stone work as well. That blasted bear, Bobo or whatever it was.

And that was what the prince had requested to make him happy. He wanted Bing, or whatever its blasted name was, as a pet and protector. The advisors had even started considering it, readying themselves to send letters to the circus and request a price and to see how to care for such a thing.

Long Feng couldn't keep his mouth shut. He was loyal to the city and its history. If the prince was mauled to death before he could create an heir, who would rule in his place? Sure, the Grand Secretarian would do it, but the people may revolt.

There had always been an Earth King. Though he wasn't always the ruler. This was a city ruled by tradition after all.

He had voiced his opinion rather forwardly, his voice cold and collected as usually, but almost angry. He wouldn't admit it, but the kid had grown on him a bit. He had wanted to protect him from more than just bodily threat. That young mind shouldn't have to worry himself about politics or the truth of war beyond the wall. The present king barely even knew of the war, following the current advisors words just to continue as they were. They had walls for a reason but some wondered if that was why he was ill… He was ignoring a threat to his lands and his vows as king.

Regardless, Long Feng had stated, "The prince shall not have a bear. He will be mauled and I doubt that thing's instincts are near anywhere as loyal or well tune as any of his guards of the Dai Li! Stop spoiling him and giving him all he wishes just because he's a prince."

Everyone had been surprised by the outburst, the young prince seemingly ready to cry and the current Grand Secretarian ready to discipline the young trainee with some harsh words for not babying the prince when a dry laugh escaped the entrance of the room. The Grand Secretarian actually gasped and ran forward, stated as he took an arm from one of the guards, "My King, you shouldn't be out of bed. You are not well and…"

"Calm down," the king stated to his advisor, as a pale hand rested itself on his advisor's shoulder so he could hold his weakening body up. "What kind of father would I be if I didn't come to discipline my son when he was taking advantage of his caretakers to get him something that would certainly maul him?"

There was a twinkle in the man's green eyes as he turned to stare at Long Feng; he almost took a step back, wondering if he would be banished or stripped of his title for his harsh words at the royal. Instead, the king stated, "Come here, I wish to speak with the man that is fatherly enough to look over the boy's title and instead care about his well being. You most certainly need to be congratulated and recognized."

When young Long Feng walked up the king he had had a thousand thoughts conjured in his head. Perhaps he would be allowed to become the Grand Secretarian's understudy now, instead of a puppet of play as other candidates were shuffled through. Maybe he would even be allowed a higher rank in the Dai Li because for the king to notice you it was certainly an honor…

Or the worst mistake of your life.

He should have kept his mouth shut, should have allowed the child to have the damn bear, because the king proclaimed there in front of everyone that he didn't want anyone else as the prince's personal guard, his silent advisor, then this man here. He wanted someone who actually cared about the prince watching over him.

His career had ended there, no one would overthrow one of the king's last proclamations before he died and though he became more respected and well paid… he was never able to rise from the babysitter position. It was as if… as if…

Long Feng almost sat up and laughed in a sudden moment of madness. He had just realized something. The prince, in his young age and still bratty, had gotten his bear after all. Long Feng was his pet bear. He followed him around, did as he asked, offered comfort whenever his master would cry, and attack when the King was in danger.

He was a pet bear. A damn pet bear. No wonder he couldn't stop thinking of that damn circus animal, Bosco.

Yeah, that was what the king had called it. He hated that bear … and himself. Perhaps he should go back down to the river. He wouldn't try to clean the robes again though. Maybe he would try to swim, at least that would be what the group would think in the morning. Rocks didn't float very well.

Nodding his head to himself, he slowly started to rise only to stall when he heard the water tribe boy sit up as well from his bed next to the Avatar and his sister. The strategist rubbed his eyes and gave a frown at the eldest member to their group.

Sokka's voice squeaked slightly as he looked at the other, giving a tired reply, "Still can't sleep, Long Feng? The Fire Nation isn't going to find us plus Toph can feel people coming our way. You need to rest… especially if Zuko wakes up. I still don't know how you managed to convince him to come with us. It was like mind control."

Long Feng tried not to twitch at the boy's words.

"So you should rest nonetheless. We don't know if Zuko will be okay with his agreement when he wakes from his fever. It might have been a case of madness," stated Sokka eyeing the elder man with a slight tint of suspicion before he noted that Long Feng wasn't lying back down. "Do you want Katara to make you something to sleep? I-I know you and the king have been having a lot of trouble sleeping since what happened … in the palace."

The blood bath…

Long Feng stalled at the thought, his long green guard robes shifting slightly as he turned to the youth while picking up his uniform's hat. He could say "yes". He could rest away these nightmares of choices made and a life not lived, but the thoughts would come back. They always did as if he had lived a different life and had failed at that one as well.

He was tired.

Closing his eyes and shaking his head, he stated, "No, this bear wants to go down to the river."

Sokka cocked a brow in confusion. Did he mean platypus-bear or what? Why would he call himself a bear at all? Was it an Earth Kingdom thing? Frowning, Sokka nodded and rolled back over into Appa's fur, watching as the guard, the king's protector, faded into the shadows, his form devoured by the shadows as if he had never been. As if this life could have formed and disappeared by such simple choices.

XXX

Paw07: If you couldn't tell, this was an AU that had to do with the simple choice of having Bosco or not. I wrote it because I really liked Long Feng's character and though I know he was malicious, I don't consider his character evil. A part of me can see him as slightly loyal to the King in some ways. If he really wanted to be leader, he could have overthrown Keui whenever he wanted. Nonetheless, I wanted a Long Feng story. There are not enough of them. I even considered making this a multi-chapter because I could see a depressed Long Feng and a broken Zuko being really entertaining, but I'll just leave it as it is for now. I have other multi-chapters to finish.

(Revisions February 2014)