Father Dearest [Locked]

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

Hiccup was overjoyed by the presence of his special visitor and that was why he'd left her to go to his forge. Quickly gathering up all his plans and drawings, he made his way out.

He wanted to show her everything he'd thought of, every idea he had, wanted to share absolutely everything he could about himself in the day he had.

This was the first he'd get to know his mother, and the first she'd really get to know him, and he wasn't going to waste a minute of it.

Comments

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

All of that was why he was in a rush as he ran out the door, still gathering up papers, and why he slammed right into the man standing there, scattering some of them.

"Sorry, didn't see you there--"

The man had black hair and amber eyes. Amber eyes just like Zuko's. Amber eyes just like the ones that'd stared back at him when Azula had threatened him.

Hiccup was quick to understand, and the one thing he understood best was that there was absolutely no way he stood a chance.

"Oh no."

[cityship]

"Oh yes."

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

Zuko could have used the omicomms to call for assistance. It wasn't like Ozai was much of a hacker.

But he was kind of busy running to the rescue, and it was possible the others would figure out that Ozai would go someplace that made sense to him, someplace that felt more familiar than the rest of the City. Angkor Wat was often the closest place Zuko felt to home outside the Sensoriums, and maybe that was why Ozai took his prisoner there. Maybe Ozai felt the same way.

It meant Zuko had the advantage of territory. And he'd need every advantage he could get against Ozai, in what was apparently one of Stacy's elusive blind spots.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

Hiccup was trussed up and gagged, on the ground in one of the temple courtyards.

He was conscious, at least, and this was abundantly clear by the fact that he was shaking his head frantically.

"T-p! Isf a t-p!"

Like seriously, duh, Zuko. What the hell are you doing barging right into it?

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

Rescuing his friend. Duh.

After a brief look at Hiccup, both to make sure he was okay and to send him a look that said, "What, you think I didn't know that?" he turned to his father.

"You wanted another chance to kill me, you got it. Let the peasant go."

He took his firebending stance in the open mouth of the temple, hoping to lure Ozai out into the open. Stacy's eyes might see and stop him there.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"Ged oud of hee yoo monon!" A pause. "An' m' nod a pefant, I'm a cheefd fon. What if wif you guyd an cawing peeple pefantf? Sewioufy."

[cityship]

"Will you shut up, you insolent whelp!" echoed Ozai's voice from the temple surrounds. He was hiding somewhere in the architecture.

The fool hadn't shut up the entire time he'd been awake. That was actually more why he burned his arm than anything else. Punishment.

For annoying him.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

Fine then. With a careful look around the temple to try and figure out where Ozai would be aiming from, Zuko ran across to Hiccup to singe his bonds off.

"Just run as soon as you can. Go.]"

He'd be fine. Just a little father-son reunion. Sure.

[cityship]

Flames shot down at the both of them from the nearby roof off to Zuko's left.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

That was a lot of fire.

Zuko was barely ready for it, twisting just in time to parry the blast to the open-aired interior of the temple. The heat boiled around them, blurring the air and scorching the columns that Zuko had just barely avoided parrying the fire into.

Hiccup had to be free enough to run, because if he wasn't, they were . . . well they were in even more trouble than they already were, and that was a lot of trouble.

"GO!"

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

Draping Zuko's arm over his shoulders, Hiccup helped carry Zuko along until they were clear of all the smoke and the flames.

He did it silently.

They'd fought after all, and he hadn't listened. He'd come back when he wasn't supposed to. Hiccup was a little worried that Zuko would just find that as another reason to be mad at him.

But he'd come for him, hadn't he?

What did all that mean? Were they friends? Were they not friends?

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

It meant that Zuko was marshaling his inner resources to ignore the pain from his wounds and get his complain on.

"I hate this stupid ship. And I hate my stupid family."

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"I'm beginning to hate your stupid family, too."

What with the fact that two of them had already threatened or harmed him in some way. Only adrenaline had him not curled up on the ground cradling that burned arm of his.

"There's no way your dad just instantly knew who I was and where to find someone you knew."

That meant Azula must have helped him, not that they could prove it.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this." Zuko sounded genuinely reticent at this point. "I didn't think it would be a good idea not to have friends, just in case my dad and sister showed up and wanted to use them to get back at me."

That might have answered a few of Hiccup's unasked questions. But it certainly didn't answer all of them.

"I just hate this stupid ship," he repeated, with more force. "Stacy decides to wake up our loved ones, so she wakes up the parts of my family that want me dead? She couldn't wake up my uncle? Or my m-"

[cityship]

Up the road, a woman turned a corner. It was clear she'd been rushing towards the danger at Angkor Wat, instead of away.

But the moment she saw Zuko she stopped, she stopped and just looked at him, imagining him younger, and shorter, her eyes briefly stuck on that scar, her expression pained as she looked at it.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"Please tell me that's not some sadistic aunt or evil older cousin or something."

Those Fire Nation royals were easy to peg as relatives.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

She's definitely important, because Zuko has frozezn and is staring at her with an expression that's cycling between horror and disbelief and sadness.

"-Mom?"

No. NO. He was only joking. Not here. Not now. Not when Ozai's on the rampage, not when she can see him like . . . not when she has to see him injured, on top of seeing him disfigured. One was always going to happen. At least the first was avoidable.

Disfigured. His scar. His mother is here, seeing him, and his scar. His dishonorable, ugly scar. Of dishonor.

His mother loved him. But she was still a lady of the Fire Nation. Maybe the dishonor will be all she sees.

[cityship]

Was that expression disgust? Was it disgust at him or at his father? Was it disgust at herself for leaving him? It wasn't really possible to know how she felt--

Well, at least until she ran towards him and swept him up into her arms, colliding into him with enough force to nearly knock them both over.

Tears were streaming down her face in a way entirely undignified for a member of the Fire Nation royal family. She didn't care how undignified it was.

"My little boy. I've missed so much. I am so, so sorry that I did, that I wasn't there when you needed me," she sobbed quietly.

[cityship]

The fight could only be described as epic. Angkor Wat was still in flames around them. Parts of the temple were now completely destroyed.

And finally, finally they'd worn him down.

He was still fighting it, to the last.

"I am the Phoenix King!" he cried out, struggling to get back up to his feet. "All the world will bow down before me!"

Because it wasn't gone. Everything he held power over couldn't be gone.

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

Aang, equally exhausted, robes ripped and burned off his chest, Earthbended restraints around Ozai's arms and legs.

"I'm going to take his Firebending away, like I did before."

He looked far more hesitant to do it this time, and that was because he was. Would he be strong enough, spiritually, after all he'd been through?

[knifeurrib.livejournal.com]

"No," Mai's limbs felt heavy. She'd thrown or used up at least half of the small arsenal she carried around with her. Her plantsuit was more than a bit singed in places. And Ozai had hurt Zuko. One of Zuko's psychotic family members had shown up and hurt him again. How many times was this going to happen? How long was she going to wait for the approval of the Avatar and everyone else before she dealt with the problem permanently? If this kept up, Zuko would end up dead, sooner or later.

So she took a step forward, hands poised.

"We kill him. He won't be able to hurt Zuko ever again. I'm tired of watching him get burned and wounded because none of you can do what needs to be done. So this time, I'm going to handle it."

Her gaze slid over to Aang, "...besides. You don't look like you could take way anyone's bending right now."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"YES." Kaya narrowed her eyes, looking at the older girl dead in the eye. "Just because you want to jump at the chance to be a murderer doesn't mean we have to be there for it. You know darn well this only lasts a day and all this ends: even if we get our worlds back, he won't even have his powers. If we have to take it away here again, what will be the difference. And not that I need to say it, but the only reason you even have the ability to kill him is because of me and Aang and Sokka."

She cleared her throat and hated to say this, but she would. "If he were staying longer...then it would be a different story. Then, we wouldn't have any choice, I don't care what the council said."

[theregularguy.livejournal.com]

Sokka was uncomfortably silent for a moment. He didn't really want to kill Ozai. But on the other hand, he was a warrior. People died during wars. They'd just been very lucky so far, really. He chewed at his lower lip, his shotgun gripped in his hands.

". . .We need to stop him. And Aang is in pretty rough shape." He's not agreeing with anyone. Yet.

[cityship]

"I'm right here, you know!" where he can hear you discussing the prospect of killing him.

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"There are laws here and aside from that, it's murder, Mai."

He staggered forward. "If he's depowered, he can't hurt anyone, and when he wakes up again after today, he'll go to jail, just like at home."