HOME | DD

Description
    And the decor did soften, much. Hatefully decadent reds were either whitewashed or stripped away and replaced by airy blues and yellows. The two colors, according to everyone but perhaps Aang and Katara, did not marry well together. Zuko was only somewhat against showing cool tones in his palace--not enough to say anything about it. He fantasized briefly about suggesting to Aang, "Technically, fire is mostly warm colors," but he had already concoted a flimsy version of Aang's imaginable reply on his own, "Yeah, but the hottest part of the flame is blue!" When Zuko wasn't racking his brain for great further argument, he was beating himself up about it until he regained the nerve to more thoroughly scrutinize and discriminate.
    Needless to be said, all of Azula's things were removed and relocated to a secondary dining hall. Sokka found himself drawn there by what he esteemed a righteous aggregation of stuff. Never before had he witnessed such an intimidating multitude of weapons and cosmetics in one uninterrupted space. It was basically a frighteningly expensive version of the hut he and Katara shared back home.
    At Sokka's request, a man employed by the palace was called to appraise most of her possessions. He was youngish, slouched, cleanly and sweet-looking but altogether too aware of himself, and always behaved as if he felt rushed by his company. Iroh dearly wanted to sit him down and feed him, but Zuko and Katara worked together to restrain him with infinitely numerous threats, then pleas. The stranger didn't appear to notice, or was too humble to show that he did, and he spent the length of a cool day taking notes and counting them. Sokka trailed him through the duration of his visit, enticed by the practicality of the work. Toward the evening's end, the two began to form a mutual affection wrought by an attraction to constructive productivity, and they ultimately enjoyed a lively exchange that pertained to rudimentary mathematics, as Sokka's knowledge in the field was self-taught and wanting and the stranger's passion for them was always unfaltering. Katara and Zuko kept watch from the adjacent tea room that Zuko would never drink tea in. Toph was with them, but she wasn't keeping watch. Whenever Aang and Sokka (the usual "fun-bringers," according the latter person) were occupied, there was little else to do but talk.
    "I love it when he's driven like this," Katara began, "but the appraisal should have been done with hours ago. I'm hungry."
    "I'm not." Zuko put in awkwardly.
    "Neither am I, actually." Toph covered him. "In any case, what's the point of finding out how much all her stuff is worth? Azula's going to be mad when she comes back to find that you sold all of it."
    "She's not coming back." Zuko promised. "So it doesn't matter what we do with it."
    "There's no "we," here. Leave me out of this."
    "Fine," he recoiled, "what your friend is doing." Katara moaned, covered her ears and lowered her head to rest on the table.
    "Please, don't fight." Her eyes moved to Zuko. "Besides, how can you be certain that she won't? We all know she's a menace."
    "I just know." He said lamely. She rolled her eyes, wondering when he would cease to be so predictable, said goodbye, and went to join Sokka where he lounged in the hall. The room was set in a lazy yellow-orange state where polished gold complemented the color of candlelight, and its effect was to make all who absorbed it not want to do anything at all. Sokka and the servant were doing just that: nothing. They were doing it on an elongated sofa. Katara carelessly perched on an armrest.
    "Katara," Sokka burst ecstatically, "did you know that there are actually books of formulas people use to remember how to multiply huge numbers? THINK of what we could remember if we just wrote stuff down!"
    "That is interesting. But I want to know what you two discovered as the value of all this stuff that, fortunately, doesn't belong to you."
    "We're not finished yet!" The stranger squeaked. "But so far, I've estimated less than half of Princess Azula's things to be worth... at least five-hundred-thousand gold pieces."
    "She was way spoiled, am I right?" Sokka drawled smugly. His pat on the back didn't come, but when had it ever?
    "Oh, probably, but that shouldn't matter to us. What you're doing with her things is far worse than what she's ever done to you.
    "She tried to kill me--"
    "I meant directly." Katara stood, donning a deceptively warm smile as she did.
    "Now, come on, both of you. Let's all sit down together, have dinner, and then calmly return to where we're supposed to be."
    "Meaning, us: here, you: ... anywhere else." Wagered Sokka.
    "More like, us: bed, him: home." Replied Katara.
    "I've never eaten anything in the palace before," the servant whispered timorously, but was ignored.

- - -

    Meanwhile fire rained on the posterior lawn in a splendid array of real shapes and bubbling, cheery little stars. Aang drifted down among them with air full in his tunic until he felt grass beneath his toes, then the soles of his feet. He smiled at Iroh and waited once rested, needing feedback to feel sated.
    "You were right," he said, "that was better!"
    "Firebending is always most impressive in the dark." Iroh nodded.
    "Just like airbending is in the sky, and waterbending in the ocean."
    "Isolating the element gives you an opportunity to study it... And when you've found the environment that most favors your element, you may begin to bond with it in a deeper way." Said Iroh wistfully.
    "I'm glad that I'll finally have time to refine my bending. When I fought Ozai, I really felt like I wasn't ready."
    "Indeed. And you might not have been, but providence was definitely on your side. Karma exists, my young friend, and it neither forgets nor overlooks anything. You made all the wise decisions... I only regret that you needed to grow so much in so little time, but I believe that it has been to your benefit entirely."
    "Stop it, you're making me blush--!"
    "Seriously. I am very proud of you, Avatar Aang."
    Aang, who wanted to play off his gratitude, instead accepted his title and responded with deep bow against the wind, which Iroh returned.
    "Zuko doesn't know that I'm leaving soon."
    "Perhaps that is best at the moment." Iroh frowned and eased himself to sit in the grass; Aang lept in a flawless arc to land beside him, where he sat cross-legged.
    "Zuko thinks that, by relying on your strength, he can ignore his own unhappiness. He used to have this blue mask that changed him and elevated his sense of disgust for himself by magnifying his darker qualities, but you are like its opposite. By being with you he may focus on the better qualities that he no longer feels he possesses... humility, nobility... You see, his vision has died, so he wants to borrow yours. I thought that he would grow through contact with you, but it seems he has only become more confused. You understand that you must leave him. He must have a new vision."
    "I know," Aang drooped, "and part of it is my fault. I wanted to save him."
    "I understand, and that's a natural want to have. However, Zuko is not like your friends. His self-respect is immense, and he is often quick to pass judgement."

Description
    And the decor did soften, much. Hatefully decadent reds were either whitewashed or stripped away and replaced by airy blues and yellows. The two colors, according to everyone but perhaps Aang and Katara, did not marry well together. Zuko was only somewhat against showing cool tones in his palace--not enough to say anything about it. He fantasized briefly about suggesting to Aang, "Technically, fire is mostly warm colors," but he had already concoted a flimsy version of Aang's imaginable reply on his own, "Yeah, but the hottest part of the flame is blue!" When Zuko wasn't racking his brain for great further argument, he was beating himself up about it until he regained the nerve to more thoroughly scrutinize and discriminate.
    Needless to be said, all of Azula's things were removed and relocated to a secondary dining hall. Sokka found himself drawn there by what he esteemed a righteous aggregation of stuff. Never before had he witnessed such an intimidating multitude of weapons and cosmetics in one uninterrupted space. It was basically a frighteningly expensive version of the hut he and Katara shared back home.
    At Sokka's request, a man employed by the palace was called to appraise most of her possessions. He was youngish, slouched, cleanly and sweet-looking but altogether too aware of himself, and always behaved as if he felt rushed by his company. Iroh dearly wanted to sit him down and feed him, but Zuko and Katara worked together to restrain him with infinitely numerous threats, then pleas. The stranger didn't appear to notice, or was too humble to show that he did, and he spent the length of a cool day taking notes and counting them. Sokka trailed him through the duration of his visit, enticed by the practicality of the work. Toward the evening's end, the two began to form a mutual affection wrought by an attraction to constructive productivity, and they ultimately enjoyed a lively exchange that pertained to rudimentary mathematics, as Sokka's knowledge in the field was self-taught and wanting and the stranger's passion for them was always unfaltering. Katara and Zuko kept watch from the adjacent tea room that Zuko would never drink tea in. Toph was with them, but she wasn't keeping watch. Whenever Aang and Sokka (the usual "fun-bringers," according the latter person) were occupied, there was little else to do but talk.
    "I love it when he's driven like this," Katara began, "but the appraisal should have been done with hours ago. I'm hungry."
    "I'm not." Zuko put in awkwardly.
    "Neither am I, actually." Toph covered him. "In any case, what's the point of finding out how much all her stuff is worth? Azula's going to be mad when she comes back to find that you sold all of it."
    "She's not coming back." Zuko promised. "So it doesn't matter what we do with it."
    "There's no "we," here. Leave me out of this."
    "Fine," he recoiled, "what your friend is doing." Katara moaned, covered her ears and lowered her head to rest on the table.
    "Please, don't fight." Her eyes moved to Zuko. "Besides, how can you be certain that she won't? We all know she's a menace."
    "I just know." He said lamely. She rolled her eyes, wondering when he would cease to be so predictable, said goodbye, and went to join Sokka where he lounged in the hall. The room was set in a lazy yellow-orange state where polished gold complemented the color of candlelight, and its effect was to make all who absorbed it not want to do anything at all. Sokka and the servant were doing just that: nothing. They were doing it on an elongated sofa. Katara carelessly perched on an armrest.
    "Katara," Sokka burst ecstatically, "did you know that there are actually books of formulas people use to remember how to multiply huge numbers? THINK of what we could remember if we just wrote stuff down!"
    "That is interesting. But I want to know what you two discovered as the value of all this stuff that, fortunately, doesn't belong to you."
    "We're not finished yet!" The stranger squeaked. "But so far, I've estimated less than half of Princess Azula's things to be worth... at least five-hundred-thousand gold pieces."
    "She was way spoiled, am I right?" Sokka drawled smugly. His pat on the back didn't come, but when had it ever?
    "Oh, probably, but that shouldn't matter to us. What you're doing with her things is far worse than what she's ever done to you.
    "She tried to kill me--"
    "I meant directly." Katara stood, donning a deceptively warm smile as she did.
    "Now, come on, both of you. Let's all sit down together, have dinner, and then calmly return to where we're supposed to be."
    "Meaning, us: here, you: ... anywhere else." Wagered Sokka.
    "More like, us: bed, him: home." Replied Katara.
    "I've never eaten anything in the palace before," the servant whispered timorously, but was ignored.

- - -

    Meanwhile fire rained on the posterior lawn in a splendid array of real shapes and bubbling, cheery little stars. Aang drifted down among them with air full in his tunic until he felt grass beneath his toes, then the soles of his feet. He smiled at Iroh and waited once rested, needing feedback to feel sated.
    "You were right," he said, "that was better!"
    "Firebending is always most impressive in the dark." Iroh nodded.
    "Just like airbending is in the sky, and waterbending in the ocean."
    "Isolating the element gives you an opportunity to study it... And when you've found the environment that most favors your element, you may begin to bond with it in a deeper way." Said Iroh wistfully.
    "I'm glad that I'll finally have time to refine my bending. When I fought Ozai, I really felt like I wasn't ready."
    "Indeed. And you might not have been, but providence was definitely on your side. Karma exists, my young friend, and it neither forgets nor overlooks anything. You made all the wise decisions... I only regret that you needed to grow so much in so little time, but I believe that it has been to your benefit entirely."
    "Stop it, you're making me blush--!"
    "Seriously. I am very proud of you, Avatar Aang."
    Aang, who wanted to play off his gratitude, instead accepted his title and responded with deep bow against the wind, which Iroh returned.
    "Zuko doesn't know that I'm leaving soon."
    "Perhaps that is best at the moment." Iroh frowned and eased himself to sit in the grass; Aang lept in a flawless arc to land beside him, where he sat cross-legged.
    "Zuko thinks that, by relying on your strength, he can ignore his own unhappiness. He used to have this blue mask that changed him and elevated his sense of disgust for himself by magnifying his darker qualities, but you are like its opposite. By being with you he may focus on the better qualities that he no longer feels he possesses... humility, nobility... You see, his vision has died, so he wants to borrow yours. I thought that he would grow through contact with you, but it seems he has only become more confused. You understand that you must leave him. He must have a new vision."
    "I know," Aang drooped, "and part of it is my fault. I wanted to save him."
    "I understand, and that's a natural want to have. However, Zuko is not like your friends. His self-respect is immense, and he is often quick to pass judgement."