Chapter Text
The messenger hawk arrived in the middle of the night.
Even though it was in the smallest hours, and the sun had not yet risen, the palace was soon bustling with activity as the news spread from person to person.
A missive sporting a black ribbon, adorned with the seal of the Crown Prince, bringing forth the news that every member of the Fire Nation had been hoping for:
The siege of Ba Sing Se was a success. The war is over.
It was the first time in his life that Prince Zuko had ever seen his grandfather smile. Even his father was in a good mood, an uncharacteristic adjustment from his normally bitter and twisted demeanor.
Plans and preparations for a celebration like no other went underway with immediate effect, both to mark the historical occasion, and to greet the return of General Iroh, Prince and heir apparent to the Fire Nation throne, and his son, Prince Lu Ten, both of them now the heroes of the entire Fire Nation.
But amidst all of the jubilation, the only person who did not seem happy was Princess Ursa, Zuko’s own mother. Zuko couldn’t help but notice her increasingly sullen demeanor, and unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one.
Azula scowled at her mother, eyes pinched as her lips twisted into a disgusted expression, looking at odds with her age; a mere child in her nightwear, but carrying the airs of a soldier fully alert. She leaned over and whispered to him “Of course she’s not happy. She never supported the war, or Grandfather. It’ll only be a matter of time before she actually does something traitorous about it.”
Zuko hissed at her to shut up, but Azula just smirked and left to skulk around the war council members, not caring for one moment of her informal appearance.
It was two months later that their Uncle and cousin finally returned to the Fire Nation, but time did nothing to dissuade the citizens of the victory. The two were hailed by massive crowds, lining the docks and the streets all the way to the royal properties. People loitered outside of the palace for hours to make their cheers be heard.
That only made things more surprising when Uncle renounced his claim to the throne shortly thereafter, placing his son in line for immediate succession. He comforted many with a quip about commanding an army having been enough for him, and that he had no wish to command a country, despite his birthright.
But the unease at the immediate change in succession soured the mood of too many in the palace. After that, Zuko did not see much of his cousin, as the Fire Sages and the royal advisers prepared him for the role that he was fated to inherit much soon than expected. Ozai did his best to persuade Firelord Azulon that Lu Ten was not ready for the role yet, but Azulon simply dismissed him.
This left Ozai to direct his anger towards his family instead. Zuko knew his mother got the worst of it, especially after Zuko walked past her chambers one day to hear her crying. But that also didn’t stop Ozai from taking moments to terrify both of his children either. Azula pretended it didn’t bother her. After all, it was only a matter of time before she would go back to that girls boarding school, leaving Zuko alone to deal with their father.
Zuko himself never thought of that time fondly, even with his sister gone.
About a year after the conquer of Ba Sing Se, a new problem arose. Water tribe ships began attacking and disrupting the supply chains between Earth Kingdom territory and the Fire Nation mainland. They didn’t cause much physical damage to the war ships, but the stealth advantage of small crews gave the tribe members far too many opportunities to take lives and destroy cargo.
Businesses were outraged at the loss of products and profit, leading to demands to improve the Navy vessels and their operation, and yet, somehow, Water Tribe wooden ships still managed to do a lot of damage to the Fire Nation import business.
The war council was assembled, and soon enough, rumors started circulating of a new war announcement between the Water tribes and the Fire Nation. Whispers echoed from the corners of the War Room, every soldier chomping at the bit for blood, as tensions and bloodlust started to boil.
But no such announcement came.
Instead, decisive action from an eager commander culled the problem at its source. Fourteen of the sixteen ships that had been causing the damage were sunk and over seventy Water Tribe prisoners were taken. The aggression from the Water Tribes subsided quickly, and the opportunity for war was lost.
Only peace was on the table now.
Zuko would later learn that it had been his Uncle who had opened the Firelord’s mind to peace talks instead of engaging in another conflict, something that would only undermine Iroh’s influence in the days to come. But peace talks began regardless, and Iroh left for the Northern Water Tribe, taking Lu Ten with him to show him the ropes as a Royal foreign dignitary.
Iroh’s absence eased Ozai’s anger, and it wasn’t long before Ozai and Azulon were back on speaking terms, something Zuko privately knew would be a disadvantage to his cousin. And so, while Ozai could not convince his father to abandon the peace negotiations, he was able to determine the new terms upon which peace could be agreed.
A politically arranged marriage appealed to both his father and grandfather, although no one was sure who either man had in mind for said match. Not even Zuko’s mother could tell him, although the worried glances that she directed at her son should have been a big hint. But her glances and silent warnings were soon forgotten, as only days after the negotiations started, she disappeared.
It was on Zuko’s fourteenth birthday that he was told that it would be his responsibility to marry the individual whom the Water Tribes would pick for the union. He was also told that both the Southern Tribe and the Northern Tribe chiefs had daughters, both girls younger than him.
Zuko had been horrified at the idea, and protested his Grandfather’s decree. This proved to be a near fatal mistake on Zuko’s part, as he would quickly learn once Ozai dragged Zuko from the room.
After that night, Zuko wouldn’t be able to tell anyone what had happened between him and his father. It wasn’t that he didn’t remember, but that he couldn’t. Everyone could only assume what had occurred during the two days he spent unconscious, bandages covered the entire left side of his face, under the care of the family physician.
His uncle returned from the Northern tribe with a delegation of diplomats to continue the peace talks, and word of Zuko’s condition would remain a secret from everyone outside of the Royal family and their staff, except for a healer that had joined the delegation who offered their help in an attempt to smooth over the peace talks.
Iroh was told that it was a training accident that caused the burn, and while Zuko himself would never admit it, he was not fooled. He knew that kind of burn was only caused by close-range contact, and no training would have ever resulted in a blow to the face of a royal prince. And so Iroh quickly agreed with the sentiment of Zuko’s arranged marriage, if only for his nephew’s safety.
All that was left to do after that point was wait for the day Zuko would reach the marriageable age of sixteen, at which point the prisoners would be released, and Zuko would be sent far away to whichever tribe agreed to the match. But in the Water Tribes, however, they were not as easily convinced of the idea of an arranged marriage.
Both Chief Arnook and Chief Hakoda were totally against the idea of a political match for either of their children with a Fire Nation Prince. Not that it would matter. The day General Iroh left with the political negotiators, the Northern Tribe’s military general reminded Chief Arnook of their already existing marriage contract between their respective families, leaving the only option with that a marriage to an individual of the Southern tribe, forcing their hand instead.
Chief Hakoda was horrified at the concept. An arranged marriage for either of his children was something he staunchly objected to, especially given their ages. Sokka was twelve, and Katara eleven. Neither of them were old enough to understand the importance of this, and they were both too young to have the option of marrying for love taken so brutally.
It was with that in mind that Hakoda accepted the sacrifice himself. He had already married for love once, that was enough, and his own love life was far less important than that of the lives of his men sitting in a Fire Nation prison.
But somewhere along the lines, that particular decision was not fully passed along.