Zuko
Firebender
The Firelord[M:0]
Posts: 4
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Post by Zuko on Jul 15, 2012 14:21:01 GMT -5
Zuko sighed and brought hand to his brow, letting the papers he held scatter on his desk. He had covered all the most pressing problems in the past year, but each solution brought a new issue with it. There were so many problems that needed his immediate attention... soldiers home from war that needed jobs to support their families, food stores that needed bulking up to support a population triple the size before, historical textbooks that needed to be rewritten to no longer glorify the war or his defeated father, an entire country that needed to be turned around from its way of the previous hundred years, yet without tarnishing the honor of those who had fought valiantly.
And all this he was having to do through missives, because he was needed in Republic City as well. The United Republic was no longer a series of Fire Nation colonies, but their existence made the Earth Kingdom wary, and the more Zuko appeared to assist with the autonomy of the new republic the less he felt the possibility they might begin a second war. This of course meant a second stack of papers, and more pressing problems. It seemed endless.
He stood up and made his way to the tea tray, unimpressed to find it cold. A servant had brought it in this morning, before he had asked to not be disturbed- that was three hours ago. Zuko's stomach made an ugly noise. It was nearly lunch time now. Zuko heated the pot until steam rose once more from the spout, then poured himself a cup, which he nursed gradually by the far window. Outside, the metal skeleton of a new building was gradually taking shape, one of those new designs called a sky scraper. It was not the building itself that interested Zuko, but the people working on it. Earthbenders were using their talents to put the heavy metal bars in place, then firebenders would climb the grid work to weld the new piece in place. Two separate teams, never directly interacting, but absolutely necessary to get the work done quickly. There was something important there, the way these people interacted, but Zuko couldn't quite put his finger on it.
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Aang
The Avatar
Air Nomad[M:0]
Posts: 33
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Post by Aang on Jul 17, 2012 19:32:55 GMT -5
The servant was busy telling him that Fire Lord Zuko was not to be disturbed at all today or until further notice. Ever since he’d become the fire lord, Aang’s poor friend had been piled high with work… work… and more work. But Aang was here now, at his doorstep, to pull him away from his duties! All paperwork and no fun would only serve to make Zuko into a sullen camel-trout. The teenager couldn’t let that happen; even the fire lord needed a break every now and then.
And since they were so insistent at the door that no one was allowed entry, it was through the window that the airbender spied where he decided he would make his entrance. He flipped open his glider, bending the air into it as he flew up to the firebender’s window. To say that he noticed Zuko standing by the window beforehand would have been a lie… And to say that he didn’t nearly crash into the older male as he flew through the opening would also be a lie.
“Good day to you, oh great Fire Lord Zuko,” the boy joked as he landed in the middle of the room and gave a mock bow toward his friend. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed the scattered papers on the desk somewhere behind him. It was just as he’d thought; all the papers and the work that it signified needing to get done. Just thinking about how boring it must have been was making him tired. Meaning, they both had to get out of there, soon. “Wow, that looks awful,” he paused, wondering then if Zuko hated this kind of thing as much as he did. Who knows, for all he knew, the crazy firebender could actually like that stuff.
“You're not actually busy though, are you? Good, I didn't think so!" whatever his response, Aang still moved closer to Zuko and attempted to tug on his arm, hoping to guide him out of the building.
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Zuko
Firebender
The Firelord[M:0]
Posts: 4
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Post by Zuko on Jul 17, 2012 20:29:32 GMT -5
"-Oof!" Zuko hit the floor, the nimble airbender had landed right on top of him, sending him flailing to the ground in a flurry of red robes. He had been busy watching the people below, and certainly hadn't noticed anyone coming in from above.
“Good day to you, oh great Fire Lord Zuko,”
Zuko grimaced and picked himself up off the ground, trying to tug his robes back into some sort of order. "Hi Aang. You look like you're in a good mood."
“Wow, that looks awful,”
Zuko followed his friend's gaze to the pile of papers on his desk. ...Which were now scattered all over the table. Great.
"Yeah, not exactly my favorite thing to do, but being FireLord isn't exactly easy." Zuko shook his head. He was beginning to understand now, his father and grandfather had had much more time on their hands because they were simply continuing a war that had already begun before them, and so they just had to keep track of it. Their nations were already mobilized in their favor. Now Zuko was having to bring it all to a screeching halt and turn everyone around.
“You're not actually busy though, are you? Good, I didn't think so!"
"Whoawhoawhoa!" It took all Zuko's strength to keep the airbender from pulling him out of the room. "Actually, I'm really-" He was going to say busy, but instead his stomach interrupted. "...hungry." he finished lamely.
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Aang
The Avatar
Air Nomad[M:0]
Posts: 33
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Post by Aang on Jul 18, 2012 19:45:17 GMT -5
Zuko was definitely about to be roped into this one, and that was whether he wanted it or not. He heard his friend commenting something about how being the Fire Lord wasn’t easy work, a sentiment which Aang totally understood as far as he was concerned. The Avatar… The Fire Lord… They were both big jobs that neither one had truly asked for, but the both of them had to live with their respective fates. That meant hard work.
But… they could also shirk their duties every now and then.
“Come on!” he whined. Zuko was being as sturdy as an earthbender right now and Aang didn’t like it. He couldn’t get the guy to budge far enough to get him through the door. He folded his arms across his chest as though he had been defeated, watching Zuko for an explanation.
Turns out, the firebender was hungry. Probably busy too but, hey, whatever. Getting him away from it all was the point. “Oh, you’re hungry? That’s great! I’ve seen a bunch of little places just starting out not far from here. I bet we could grab some food at one of them,” getting Zuko out of this room with the promise of food was about the peak of Aang’s devious mind. He couldn’t help but feel that this would be a plan better used on Sokka, but hey, at least it was working.
Before giving Zuko the chance to change his mind – had he consented to this? No? Whatever – Aang tightened his grip on his glider once again. No door this time though, since he couldn’t get the Fire Lord out through that way, this would have to be the way it was done. Glider in one hand… Zuko’s wrist in the other… Yeah, this would definitely work out. Aang leapt clear out of the window, hopefully bringing the firebender along with him in the process. Provided that he had succeeded, he created a cushion of air many feet below to provide a safe fall for them both. He would have liked to glide to their destination, but Zuko was too heavy for him to be able to hold onto in that way and fly at the same time.
“The best place to eat is definitely in this direction,” Aang said after he landed, pointing in the direction immediately ahead.
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Zuko
Firebender
The Firelord[M:0]
Posts: 4
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Post by Zuko on Jul 18, 2012 22:14:58 GMT -5
“Oh, you’re hungry? That’s great! I’ve seen a bunch of little places just starting out not far from here. I bet we could grab some food at one of them,”
"Well... that would be alright I suppose..." technically Zuko could just call someone from the hallway to bring food into them, but he was going stir crazy locking himself up in the Fire Nation embassy.
"Let me change though. I get all sorts of weird looks if I go around town in the traditional Fire Lord robes." Zuko sighed. It wasn't hard to understand why. There was still an undercurrent of fear all across the Earth Kingdom, and the republic were no exception. Dressing in the same robes as his father seemed to bring up bad memories for everyone. Zuko pulled his robes over his head and dropped them in a bundle on the chair he'd just been sitting in. He already had his pants and boots on, and he kept a spare shirt in the lower drawer of his desk for when the weather got cold and he needed an extra layer.
"Ok, let's g-AHHHH! AANG!" The Fire Lord would have shouted more at the airbender but currently he was occupied with avoiding being run through by various laundry poles and other asundry sharp objects outside. Finally he landed awkwardly on a cushion of air Aang had created for the two of them. "AANG. Thank you, but.. Don't ever do that again. Really." Zuko managed to get up, dusting himself off. "I'm perfectly capable of climbing out of a window, remember?" Back when he had been the Blue Spirit, Zuko had been climbing sheer walls without any difficulty.
“The best place to eat is definitely in this direction,” Aang pointed.
"Lead the way then! Though... how about we walk this time?"
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Aang
The Avatar
Air Nomad[M:0]
Posts: 33
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Post by Aang on Jul 23, 2012 19:21:57 GMT -5
“Oh—Yeah! Sorry about that…” The goal had been to get Zuko out of that room whether he wanted to leave it or not so, in the end, Aang’s actions had worked out. So Zuko could have climbed out the window completely fine on his own, yeah, he was pretty darn good at that kind of thing too, but Aang had been too excited to consider the option and besides, he had been unsure of whether or not the firebender would go along peacefully.
The air nomad began to wander in the direction where his finger was pointing. There had to be something around here. There were plenty enough places springing up all over and down the streets, one of them was bound to be a restaurant of some sort. “Right. It’s um…” he continued to look back and forth at the various buildings along the street, his eyes scanning back and forth and back again.
“Well, I’m sure we’ll find it soon! Anyway, how’ve you been Your Fireness? I haven’t seen your uncle in a while, is he doing good?”
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Zuko
Firebender
The Firelord[M:0]
Posts: 4
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Post by Zuko on Jul 23, 2012 22:15:44 GMT -5
"Anyway, how’ve you been Your Fireness? I haven’t seen your uncle in a while, is he doing good?”
Zuko took out his top knot as they walked, careful to place to the FireLord's diadem in his pocket. He had to shake his head a little bit for the hair to fall back where it naturally did.
"I feel like there's work around every corner, Aang! Oh, I really cannot wait until city hall is finished and the republic can start counseling itself. They need me back in the Fire Nation, but I want to make sure the work here is done properly before I go." It would be terrible for the republic to be put together shoddily and then have the entire dream blow up in their faces.
"Uncle Iroh went back to his tea shop in Ba Seng Se." Zuko bit his lip. He could really use his uncle's advice with dealing with the many pressures involved with being FireLord, but then, he was sure his uncle had a reason for letting him do this on his own. "He seems happy there, though he said he might come back to visit in the spring. What about you, Aang? How are things with Sokka and Toph? ...Katara?" Zuko knew there had been something between those two at one point, but then the pressures of battle brought lots of people together that simply weren't meant to be in the long run. Just look at him and Mai, for instance. But then, Zuko was much older than Aang (or at least more mature) so he wasn't sure if his airbender friend understood such things.
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