Chapter Text
“Okay, so I have to ask.”
Zuko glanced over at Sokka and raised his eyebrow. Sokka hesitated a moment, then forged on, “So that one time you almost died from cold sickness you woke up and called me ‘Lu’, that means you thought I was your cousin?”
Zuko blinked. “I did what?”
“You know, after the pirates? You- well, I guess you might not remember since you were half dead at the time, but yeah, we had a whole conversation like that.”
“I…” he frowned. Tulip had said he talked in his sleep, and the Gaang had mentioned him calling out for Azula before, so he supposed it could have happened. “I guess?”
“I was just curious, you know, if you could provide context for that, but if you don’t remember that’s fine,” Sokka shrugged.
“Well we were in the woods, right?” Zuko narrowed his eyes. “I went on a few hunting trips with Lu when I was little. That was probably what I thought was happening.”
“Oh yeah, you did mention that once, that makes sense,” Sokka nodded.
“Why are you… bringing it up?” Zuko asked.
Sokka paused. They were walking a little behind the others, on their way to the secret passage into the Dai Li’s base. Sokka lowered his voice a little. “I don’t know, I guess I’m just trying to figure out why you were so trusting then. Because you weren’t like that before you joined us.”
Zuko considered that and let a few old, precious memories creep back into his mind before he responded. “I always trusted Lu. He used to watch me and Azula when we were little, sometimes, and he was… he was fun and he made us laugh and, I don’t know, feel… safe? Him and uncle, I think maybe it was because father couldn’t threaten them, so they were never scared like…” ‘Like me.’
“… Just when I think your family might be a little bit normal you hit me with ‘it was because my father couldn’t threaten them’, like that is so messed up, your dad should be the one making you feel safe not… threatened,” Sokka shook his head.
Zuko filed that away for future reflection. “That was part of the reason I liked going out with Lu and why I’d sneak along with him and his friends sometimes, it got me away from father and the palace,” he smiled a little. “Lu’s friends were nice, most of the time. And if they weren’t he just… stopped being friends with them.”
“Define ‘nice’ and ‘not nice’ because I think we have very different ideas on what those things entail.”
Zuko tilted his head thoughtfully. “I don’t know, they didn’t tease me like the kids in the palace did. They let me talk about stupid stuff and didn’t yell or hit me or anything.”
“Okay, that’s, that’s not terrible,” said Sokka. “And ‘not nice’?”
Zuko looked down. “There was one time… they were right, and I deserved it, but it made Lu angry. A couple of his friends saw me firebending and started making fun of me, how I didn’t do the forms right and how far I was behind my sister…” he rubbed his sleeve between his fingers. “Lu yelled at them and told them they should be ashamed of themselves for saying that stuff to a kid and I never saw them again after that.”
There was a pause where Zuko started to wonder if he’d said something wrong (or, Agni forbid, Sokka agreed with Lu’s friends about him) but after a moment, Sokka nodded.
“Alright, yeah, my respect for your cousin I’ve never met has now gone up exponentially after that story. He sounds like he would have made a good big brother. Or a good dad.”
“He would have been,” Zuko glanced at Leeli. “And maybe he still can be.”
They reached a dead-end alley and Leeli, who had been leading the way, turned to look at them as they gathered around. “The secret way in is down here. The Dai Li don’t know we use it, but we still need to be careful.”
“It’s rarely used,” uncle added. “Sometimes they transport supplies outside the inner wall with it, but not often.”
“Or some poor soul they plan to brainwash,” Leeli said darkly.
“You’re just a ray of sunshine, aren’t you?” Sokka piped up. Zuko rolled his eyes.
“I was a slave for eight years and lost my husband after one, did you expect me to be cheerful?” Leeli snapped. “Now come on, we’re wasting time.”
She opened a metal door in the ground, revealing a ladder into a tunnel. Without a word, she started climbing down.
“Leeli has had a difficult life,” said Iroh, glancing at each of them before settling on Sokka. “She wants peace, like we all do. Try not to antagonize her.”
“I wasn’t-!” Sokka protested.
“To be fair to Sokka, he antagonizes everyone,” said Katara.
Iroh chuckled as Sokka spluttered in outrage. “Just be kind, and mindful of your words,” he said before climbing down after Leeli.
They filed down into the tunnel. Iroh pulled a torch off the wall and lit it, then handed one to Leeli who did the same. Zuko’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You’re a firebender?” Aang asked Leeli, echoing his thoughts.
“Of course I am,” she said, glaring a little. “Where do you think Maraly and I were kidnapped from?”
She turned and started down the tunnel, leaving them with that revelation.
“I must have forgotten to mention that, my apologies,” said Iroh. “It has been a busy two days.”
“Is Maraly a firebender too?” Zuko asked.
“Mhm, as is Roxie,” said Iroh. “But Ellie is not a bender.”
“Finally someone I can relate to,” muttered Sokka.
“And you’ve all been hiding it this whole time?” asked Katara. “And no one suspects you?”
“No,” said Iroh. “When I moved permanently to the city, the White Lotus provided me with a new identity, and it was easy enough when Leeli and Maraly joined me, to explain to anyone curious that Leeli was my widowed daughter in law. There are so many refugees in Ba Sing Se, and so many broken families, that one more was not noteworthy. We only firebend in secret, like here, in these tunnels.”
“Is that what the secret door in the shop’s cellar leads to?” Zuko asked. “A secret chamber for firebending?”
Iroh smiled at him. “You remain very observant, nephew. Yes, that is what it is for. Though originally we believe it was a smuggler’s cave.”
Zuko beamed with the praise. Then the others started asking questions about being a firebender in the city and since he didn’t need those answers, he turned his attention to Leeli, who was striding purposefully ahead of them.
He made his way up to her and walked beside her for a moment before he spoke, just a little nervously. “Hi.”
She glanced at him. “Can I help you?”
“I was just… curious,” he hesitated. “You married Lu Ten before the siege ended.”
“Yes,” said Leeli, pointedly looking away. “And?”
“He never sent word back about it, I just wondered why.”
Leeli’s steps slowed, just a little, and when she spoke her voice was softer. “He was worried that your grandfather wouldn’t approve of him marrying a commoner, one who had been a slave, no less. So he decided to wait until we returned home in victory to announce our marriage, because then how could the Firelord dare refuse?” she sighed. “But of course that never happened.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, quietly. “If… if it’s okay, if you- want to tell me, how did you meet him? I mean, if you were a slave and he was a…” he frowned, not quite sure what rank Lu had received before he left home.
“A prince?” Leeli guessed, sounding a little amused. She sighed and her shoulders sagged. “I was a slave in the house of a wealthy official. One day one of his personal guards ran into my master’s office while I was cleaning. He told my master that the Fire Nation army was traveling down the road nearby and that they had been attacking Earth Kingdom cities as they got closer to Ba Sing Se. They were less than a day away from us,” she looked into the tunnel, eyes distant. “I ran to tell Maraly. She worked in the fields. We couldn’t both escape, Ellie and Roxie were too little, and I wouldn’t leave my family. But Maraly convinced me to try and escape to tell the Fire Nation army that their people were being held as slaves.”
She was quiet for a few moments and when she spoke again her voice was soft. “I escaped that night and ran all the way to where the army was encamped. The guards tried to turn me away but then…” she smiled sadly. “Lu came over and told them to listen to me. I told him that my family were Fire Nation citizens who had been sold as slaves to a cruel Earth Kingdom master and begged him to help us. He promised he would and tried to get me to stay and rest and eat something, but I wouldn’t until I knew my family was safe. So he made his troops get up and march straightaway to the manor. I ran ahead to tell Maraly and we hid till the fighting was over. Lu came and found us and personally saw to it that we were given food and clothes and rest.”
“That sounds like Lu,” Zuko said quietly.
She nodded. “He was so kind. I was in love with him from the first week I met him, as soon as I realized I was finally safe and that he wasn’t going to take advantage of me like other men had,” she looked down. “He kept us with him, introduced us to Iroh, played with Ellie and Roxie like they were his own children. He finally confessed one day that he was madly in love with me- and that he was certain I was too beautiful and fair to care about him at all,” she rolled her eyes. “I assured him that wasn’t the case, we started courting, and we were married less than a year after he rescued me. And then a year later I lost him.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. Should he try to comfort her? Change the subject?
“He did mention you,” said Leeli after a moment. “His little cousin. He said you were very smart and would be a great strategist one day. And that you had a good heart.”
Zuko felt an ache in his heart and ran his hands up and down his sleeves. He really didn’t know what to say to that.
He jumped when Leeli set a hand on his arm. “I haven’t given up on him, you know. I might be frustrated, but I’m not hopeless. I’m angry.”
He nodded. “That’s better than being hopeless.”
“It is. Iroh says it’s not healthy to stay that way though,” she smiled bitterly. “I told him I’d stop as soon as we had Lu back and the Dai Li were ash in the wind.”
He was still trying to figure out how to reply to that when they came to the abrupt end of the tunnel. A rusted metal door stood before them, unlatched but not quite ajar. Leeli turned to face the others as they caught up and he followed suit.
“Beyond this door is the Dai Li’s base,” said Iroh. “We must be silent and on guard from now on and try to remain undetected for as long as possible.”
“Because as soon as they know we’re there, they’ll attack,” said Leeli.
“I’ll feel them coming before they get anywhere near us,” said Toph.
“Don’t be so sure,” said Leeli. “They open walls seemingly at random, I’ve even seen them pop out of the floor before.”
“If they earthbend, I’ll feel it,” Toph assured her. “I fought all kinds of crazies at Earth Rumble Six, I know what to look for.”
Zuko half expected Leeli to argue with her, but instead she smiled. “You have the confidence of Roxie. I hope you’re right.”
Toph blinked, and before she could reply, Leeli started to pull the door open. Zuko and the others hurried to help her.
Despite their best efforts, the door opened with a loud creeeeaaaaak. They waited for a few tense minutes to see if their entry had been noticed, but when Toph gave no warnings and they were not attacked it seemed safe enough to move forward.
Zuko remained on high alert. He didn’t doubt Toph’s earthbending abilities, but he wasn’t about to underestimate the sneakiness of the Dai Li either.
The tunnels were vast, with arched ceilings rising high above them. They passed dozens of doors, but none were big enough for Appa. One door was open just enough to see inside, and as they passed they heard the monotone phrases Joo Dee had used on them when they first arrived in the city. When he glanced inside he saw a group of women repeating them after a Dai Li agent and he shuddered.
Had they done that to Lu? Trapped him in a dark room and said the same things over and over until he no longer remembered who he was? Had he gone mad from it?
(maybe that was why they made him forget)
He was jolted from his thoughts when Toph froze midstep in front of him. His heart skipped and he was immediately listening-
“Someone’s coming,” Toph whispered. “From both sides. A lot of someones.”
Something whizzed past his head and he jerked back as a rock glove crashed into the wall beside him. Before he could draw his swords more flew out of the darkness. One grabbed hold of his collar and jerked him towards the shadows and he yelped.
Toph raised up an earth wall and he smacked into it. He shook his head, and saw Katara and Sokka picking themselves up off the floor too.
“Thanks,” he said, drawing his swords.
“Don’t mention it,” said Toph, launching the earth walls at their invisible attackers.
More rocks flew out at them and he deftly cut through them with his swords.
“Iroh-” he heard Leeli call.
“Not yet!” his uncle shouted back.
Zuko didn’t have time to wonder what they were talking about before the Dai Li finally emerged from the shadows to face them. He bared his teeth and swung at them but his swords clattered uselessly against the rocks they blocked him with.
He kicked the rocks aside and lunged at the agent behind them, but the man slid away. Zuko huffed.
“Come out and fight you cowards,” he muttered.
His eye caught movement and he saw another agent trying to circle around beside him. They were staying carefully out of range of his swords he noticed.
He felt frustration building up in him as he dodged and cut more of their stone gloves. They didn’t have time for this. They needed to keep moving if they had any hope of finding Appa, or Lu Ten.
Maybe it was time to put all their cards on the table then.
Heat flowed to his hands and giddy excitement laced with fear flowed through him. He took a deep breath-
-exhaled –
Fire exploded from his hands, knocking the agents to the ground. He rushed forward, slamming the hilts of his swords into the men’s heads and knocking them out.
Rocks flew at him from all sides. He spun, creating a tornado of swords and flame to intercept them. Blood roared in his ears as he stepped forward, launching fireblasts and sheets of flame at his attackers.
For a few glorious moments it seemed like it had worked. The Dai Li retreated from him and when he looked back at the others he saw them pushing the other line back as well. Maybe they could get out of here after all, maybe-
Fire flew at his face and he screamed, raising his arms to protect himself. Something slammed into him and knocked him to the ground.
He looked up just in time to see another fireball fly at him and rolled away quickly. The only other firebenders with them were uncle and Leeli and they wouldn’t be attacking him, which meant…
“Lu,” he whispered as the dust settled and the flames faded and he saw his cousin for the first time in eight long years.
Lu Ten looked much the same as he had then, but he seemed thinner and more wiry than Zuko remembered, and his hair was longer and braided down his back.
And his eyes…
They were blank eyes, empty of all recognition, and Zuko’s heart dropped.
Lu advanced on him and he lay there, frozen, heart pounding. His cousin raised his hand, fire sparking along the edges-
“Lu, don’t!”
Zuko jolted at the sound of Leeli’s voice and his eyes darted to her as she stood behind Lu, grief and anger warring on her face. Behind her, the Dai Li had closed in on the others from both sides and his breath sputtered.
“Lu, please, don’t hurt him just listen-”
A stone smacked into Leeli’s head and she crumpled. Zuko’s eyes widened in horror.
Before he could move or shout or do anything, rocks clamped around his mouth, wrists and ankles. He jerked, trying to pull his hands apart, but a hand grabbed his collar and lifted him up.
For just a second, Zuko met his cousin’s eyes and silently pleaded with him to remember. But Lu Ten only stared at him expressionlessly for a moment before slinging Zuko over his shoulder.
As they followed the Dai Li back into the darkness of the tunnel, Zuko caught one last glimpse of his friends fighting and prayed they’d be alright.
****
The Dai Li melted back into the shadows as quickly as they’d appeared, leaving the Gaang tense and breathless. Aang surveyed his friends. They seemed to all be alright, except-
“Leeli!”
His gaze snapped over to Iroh, who was kneeling next to Leeli’s still body. His heart stopped, and for a moment he couldn’t breathe.
Katara rushed over and put her water-covered hands over Leeli’s chest, then head. “She’ll be okay, she’s just knocked out.”
Aang let out a shaky breath as Katara started healing Leeli. They were okay, no one was dead, no one was dying-
“Where’s Zuko?”
The question sent a jolt through his heart and he spun back and forth, hoping Zuko was just being stealthy and standing in the shadows-
“He’s gone,” said Toph quietly. She was kneeling on the floor, her hand pressed against it. “There’s a group headed that way, he might be with him,” she said, pointing.
“How did we lose him again?!” Sokka shouted. “How does this keep happening??”
Aang took a deep breath. He was not losing anyone else. “He’s not going to be lost for long. Katara, will Leeli be able to walk?”
“Yes I can walk,” Aang jumped at Leeli’s voice. He looked over and saw her roll her eyes.
“That is not the first time I’ve had a blow to the head,” said Leeli, brushing Katara and Iroh off her as she stood. “I’ll be fine,” she turned to Iroh. “It was Lu. He appeared out of nowhere and attacked us and the Dai Li knocked me out before I could help Zuko.”
Iroh bowed his head, and for a moment he looked so old and tired that Aang just wanted to give him a hug. But when he looked up a moment later his eyes were filled with determination.
“We need to hurry and find Zuko before they do the same thing to him that they did to Lu Ten.”
Aang nodded. “Then let’s go.”
****
Zuko struggled as best he could while bound and slung over his cousin’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They hadn’t gone far before the Dai Li opened up a wall and they walked into a much smaller tunnel.
The tunnel opened into a dimly lit room with a single chair sitting in front of a circular track with a lantern on it. The sight filled him with inexplicable dread and he redoubled his struggling.
Lu Ten set him down on his feet he felt the rocks binding them fall. As soon as he was freed, he bolted ran towards the doorway, but his feet were quickly encased in rock and he was dragged back.
“It is pointless to resist,” said one of the Dai Li. “Soon you will not wish to resist.”
Zuko squeezed his eyes shut and fought to breathe. If they would just take this stupid muzzle off him-
He was guided over and pushed into the chair and blessedly the gag crumbled off his face. He coughed and gasped, sucking in great lungfuls of air and glaring at his captors.
Stones wrapped around his chest and forehead and pulled him back, forcing him to sit straight. His hands were dragged apart to rest on the armrests and his ankles were tethered to the chair legs.
His heart beat a panicked rhythm in his chest. This was his worst nightmare; captured underground and held captive by earthbenders-
(-while his family watched emotionlessly, blind to his fear and suffering)
He fought against the shackles, calling fire to his hands and feet and willing it to break him free. Smoke poured off him, but he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t make his chi move the way it should-
The lantern began to move, slowly traveling around on its circular track. A Dai Li agent stood calmly in the center of it, eyes dark.
“The Avatar is your enemy,” said the man in a measured voice. “Not the Dai Li. The Avatar is your enemy, not the Dai Li…”
He felt his mind starting to drift, fogginess start to cover his thoughts. He closed his eyes, but the light spun on and the chant continued.
“The Avatar is your enemy, not the Dai Li. The Avatar is your enemy, not…”
“Lu,” he whispered, clenching his hands into fists. “Lu, please, you have to make them stop. I know you don’t remember me but I’m your cousin, please-”
He tried to turn his head and look, but the rocks around his head held him fast. He squeezed his eyes shut again and fought against the blackness engulfing his mind. “We used to firebend together! I was- you were always looking after me, please, Lu, it’s me-”
It was getting harder to talk and almost impossible to think. If he didn’t get out of here now-
“Lu, please,” he sobbed. “It’s Zuko! Your cousin! Please-!”
He was sinking, falling, drowning in the shadows, gasping for air-
CRASH
Zuko felt his body jolt and the light outside his closed eyes went out.
Immediately the fog over his mind started to lift and his eyes flew open just in time to see fire flash and the second and third Dai Li agents in the room go down in rapid succession. The first was lying in a heap inside the circle.
Lu’s fire stopped and Zuko struggled to see through the darkness. He sensed someone beside him and felt hands grab him and he yelped, trying to jerk himself away.
“Be still.”
Zuko froze. It was Lu’s voice, a voice he never thought he’d hear again, and his heart leapt and ached at the same time.
With a few quick hits to the stone shackles, Lu freed him and helped him up. Zuko grasped his cousin’s arm, unwilling to let go.
“Lu,” his voice shook. “Wh- do, do you remember me?”
“No.”
The simple word cut into him like a knife and Zuko shook. “Then why- why did you free me?”
Lu was silent for a long moment, then, “I promised that if I ever met Zuko, I would look after him and keep him safe.”
That, that didn’t make any sense, but now was not the time to question it. “C-come with me, Lu, please.”
“I belong here,” said Lu. “I must stay and serve my masters.”
Zuko felt an icy chill slide down his back. “But you don’t, you- you’re my cousin, my family, and your family is looking for you, you belong with us.”
Even in the dark he saw Lu shake his head. “I must stay. Go, quickly, before more of my masters come.”
Another idea popped into his head and Zuko grabbed it like a lifeline. “You said you promised to keep me safe,” he squeezed Lu’s arm. “As- as long as I’m here I’m not safe. If you want to keep your promise you have to help me escape.”
There was a pause, then Lu sighed. “Very well. Follow me.”
He turned and started to walk away and Zuko hurried to follow him, still clinging to his arm. He’d found Lu and Lu had saved him.
And he wasn’t letting his cousin go until they were free.