Nathan woke up to chirping birds and someone knocking on his door. He got up and stretched his body, groaning in relief. Despite sleeping for what felt like five hours at most, he felt incredibly refreshed.
'I haven't slept that well in years.' He'd almost always have his phone alarm set to wake him up at six in the morning, and because of how much of a deep sleeper he was, the alarm would be one of the loudest and irritating tones he could find.
Looking outside, the sun hadn't even shown itself. Or perhaps it was behind the tall cliffs that surrounded the Fire Nation Capital from all sides. 'I should find a comprehensive map of the Fire Nation when I have the opportunity.'
Another set of knocks hit the door.
"I'm awake! Just a moment!" he answered.
Slipping on the sandals on the floor, Nathan rushed towards the door and opened it, only to be greeted by an annoyed man in what he guessed were servant robes.
"Lady Ursa has sent me to request your presence at the dining table," the man said. Though, from his tone, it didn't really sound like a request to Nathan.
"Oh." Nathan rubbed his neck nervously. Being invited to eat with them wasn't something he had anticipated. "I'll, uh, I'll gladly join them."
Curtly, the man nodded, turned around, and started walking. "Please follow me."
Nathan promptly caught up to the man and quietly followed him through the halls. His eyes roamed every corner of their estate. It was the fanciest place he'd ever been in, and it was quite the experience.
Just like his room, shades of red and gold could be found wherever you looked. Expensive furniture such as vases with intricate designs and numerous paintings dotted the halls, and the whole place was quite spotless.
'I wonder how valuable everything is? Must be worth whatever counts as tens of thousands of dollars on Earth.'
Distracted as he was by the "fancyschmanciness" of the estate, he almost jumped when he finally noticed the imperial firebender following behind him.
'They're really not going to take their eyes off of me, are they? Wait a minute. This guy's a bit shorter than the one I saw last night. Huh… They must've switched posts mid-shift.'
"We have arrived," the guide said, grabbing his attention.
The man gracefully bowed before opening the door, revealing a large room where Ursa, Azula, and Zuko were currently eating at a rectangular table that could fit two families. An assortment of large slabs of meat, soups, and other expensive-looking dishes were on the table.
"Ah, you're here. How are you doing? Did you have a good night's rest?" Ursa said, giving him a smile.
Nathan returned the smile with a shy grin. "I did. It was the best sleep I've had in a while. The bed was really soft, too. Thanks for letting me stay the night, Ursa."
"I'm glad to know you slept well. Why don't you join us for breakfast? You can sit next to me," she said before returning to her meal.
With a nod, Nathan approached the seat to Ursa's right. But before he could pull the chair, one of the female servants did it for him.
"Allow me, dear guest," she politely said.
Nathan lightly took hold of her hand and smiled. "You didn't have to do that, but thank you. I appreciate it."
Inwardly, Nathan was surprised that he managed to not stutter mid-sentence like he sometimes would when talking to strangers, and he attributed it to the serum or one of his perks. But before he could pat himself on the back, the now red-faced girl had pulled her hand, stepped back, and bowed ninety degrees, the tips of her ears as red as cherries.
'Wha–?'
"N-No problem, dear guest," the servant stammered as she performed a perfect one-eighty degree turn and rushed off. "Pardon me!"
For a second that felt like an hour, Nathan stood like a statue frozen in place. His mind blanked out as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. He couldn't understand why she reacted that way. Aside from lightly holding her hand, everything he said was perfectly normal.
Not a moment later, a pair of half-suppressed giggles broke the silence and Nathan's neck snapped towards the source. However, when he set his sights on the offenders, Azula already looked as if she was just eating normally.
He wasn't fooled in the slightest.
Zuko, on the other hand, had a coughing fit as he tried to hide his laughter by drinking some water. It spilled from his cup and burst from his nose onto the table.
"Zuko! What did I tell you about drinking your water properly?" Ursa said in a reprimanding tone as she stood from her chair to help Zuko clean up his mess, unaware of what had just transpired.
Nathan sat in his chair, staring at the table. While completely expressionless, his cheeks were slightly tinged red.
'Should've just said thanks and sat down. But what the hell did I even do wrong?'
If doing so wouldn't just bring himself more embarrassment, he would have already slammed his face on the table.
'At least it was only the two siblings, a few servants, and the Imperial Firebender that saw it,' he thought with some relief. 'I can feel the Imperial Firebender's gaze on me. I don't think he even once looked away from me since I left my room. What's up with him?'
A plate and utensils were placed on the table by a different servant, while Nathan shoved the embarrassing memory in the back of his mind. This time, he just wordlessly nodded as his thanks and started placing food on his plate. Not knowing what the meals were or what ingredients were used, he went for the safe options and grabbed what looked like normal meat, fruits, and vegetables, along with rice.
"Sorry about that, Nathan. Now where were we?" Ursa asked as she returned to her seat. "Let me introduce you to my two children. The one on the left is my daughter, Azula. The one on the right is my son, Zuko. Children, this is Nathan. Do you remember the boy from last night?"
"How could I forget, mom? His arrival shook the entire house." With practiced grace, Azula put down her utensils and greeted him with the fire nation salute and a smile. "Greetings, Nathan."
With slightly rosy cheeks, Zuko did the same. It seemed like he was embarrassed by his display of rudimentary waterbending.
"Hello, Nathan. S-Sorry about that."
With a strained smile, Nathan returned their greetings, pretending as if it was the first time he'd met them.
Ursa didn't seem to notice the strange atmosphere between her children and Nathan, continuing on as normal.
"Wonderful. But we can continue our conversation later. Let us enjoy the food for now."
Ten minutes later, Nathan wiped off the food stains from his mouth with a napkin while everyone else gaped at him. He couldn't blame them. He'd be shocked too if someone finished food enough for five people. The food was honestly too good and he couldn't stop eating until he had finished the meat to the point that only the bones were left.
"That was the best meal I've ever had," Nathan said, groaning and slumped into his seat before coming to a realisation. Acting like this in front of his hosts–royal hosts, especially–was quite rude. "Whoops. Sorry."
'Now that I come to think of it–most people who are guests of the royal family would probably be on their best behavior, especially if Ozai was present…' He mentally shrugged. 'Eh. I don't really care about decorum that much, anyway.'
"You have quite an appetite. We'd usually have some food left on the table," Ursa said, amused. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now that we're done eating, do you want to continue our discussion from before in your room?"
Nathan nodded. "Sure. Are your kids tagging along?"
"Unfortunately, they can't. Azula and Zuko are required to attend their classes at their academies." Ursa gave Zuko and Azula a look that Nathan could recognise immediately. It was the strict look his mother had given him.. "Go on, you two. You'll both be late if you don't leave now."
Nathan's eyes widened as he recalled a bit of lore. 'That's right… Azula went to the Fire Nation's Royal Academy for Girls. And if there's one for girls, there's probably one for boys, too.'
"Yes, mooom," the siblings said simultaneously. The chairs creaked as they pushed away from the table, and Azula sprinted away immediately, leaving Zuko behind.
Azula grinned. "I'll race you to the gate!"
"Wha–Hey! That's cheating!" Zuko shouted before rushing off.
As they got further and further away, their rambunctious shouts gradually disappeared.
"Your kids are really… rowdy." Nathan said with a dry chuckle, and Ursa chuckled along.
"They are, but I wouldn't trade them for the world."
Ursa looked at where they left with a smile full of love and affection.
"Shall we go, Nathan?"
"After you, Ursa."
-=-
As soon as they opened the door to his room, Nathan immediately saw a familiar pile of clothes and objects on his bed.
"My stuff!"
He ran to get his things and began checking each one's condition.
"It's good that you recognise them. I had one of the servants retrieve them while we were eating. Do you remember anything else after seeing your belongings?" Ursa asked.
'My clothes, knuckle dusters, sunglasses, and phone are perfectly fine.' Nathan checked his phone last. 'Its battery is completely drained. They don't have chargers here, so unless I figure out how to generate electricity, I won't be able to use this. Well, at least it isn't broken.'
He felt a light touch on his shoulder.
"Nathan? Everything okay?"
"O-Oh. Sorry. I just got a bit engrossed and zoned out," he said.
"No worries. So, do you remember anything? Is seeing your things jogging your memory?"
Nathan shook his head. "Um, no. Not really. I remember having held these before and I have a good feeling that these are all mine, but aside from that, I don't recall much else."
"How unfortunate…" Ursa looked down with pity. "But you've at least made progress, and that's enough. We'll take this one step at a time until you can remember everything."
"Right."
"Do you know how to use those objects you have?"
"I think so…" Nathan nodded. He wondered how someone who truly was experiencing amnesia could act and speak if they were in his position, and tried using that as a template. "I think this one is used like this."
He picked up the knuckle dusters and tried fitting them into his hand, but the size of his fingers was too big.
Surprised, Nathan chuckled uneasily. "I don't think these fit me anymore…"
'Just how bigger did I get? This thing didn't even feel tight on my fingers before. And I'm still thirteen. I'll no doubt grow more and more until adulthood.'
"That's a shame." Ursa gave the knuckle dusters a curious look and held out her hand. "May I?"
"Yeah, sure. Knock yourself out." Nathan gave it to her as she raised an eyebrow in reply to his words.
"Thank you. It's my first time seeing one of these." She held out her hand and her smaller hands fit perfectly fine into the weapon. "I see… This must be a weapon used by bare-handed fighters in order to deal more damage."
'That's a bit of an understatement.'
Nathan had gone into multiple unwanted street fights with that knuckle duster, and it definitely helped him brutalise the other guys he fought with. Even though he took beatings himself because they'd usually outnumber him, he dealt more damage in return, making most of them change their minds mid-fight. Knuckle duster punches could easily cause cuts, bone fractures, and concussions. Death can also happen, but he had been mindful to not hit anyone's head, face, or chest while using them.
Aside from those two areas, he'd go ham on everywhere else. Limbs especially. They were usually free real estate for his punches and kicks.
"While I've seen soldiers use spears, swords, and maces before, I've never seen one of these."
Giving the knuckle dusters back to him, she looked at the phone he held. "What about that black object you have in your hand?"
The phone was a flagship android 2023 model that he only got because he pestered his dad for a new phone for his birthday a few weeks ago. It fit more snugly in his now larger hand compared to before.
"Oh, this...? I don't really know. I think it's just a mirror. It has weird things protruding from its sides that I can press, but they don't do anything." He pressed them to prove his point, making almost inaudible clicks with each press.
"I see… And you truly can't remember anything else after seeing these?"
He shook his head, causing a frown to form on her face.
"How peculiar. These are supposed to be your belongings, so they should have triggered something, at least."
"What if my memories won't come back? What if it's permanent?" Nathan questioned, looking down at the floor.
"If that is the case, then I'm not sure there's anything else I can do to help you regain them," she said in pity.
"...I'll have to go, then. Wouldn't I?"
"What do you mean?" Ursa asked.
"I can't just stay here as a guest for free," he said, awkwardly smiling. "I already feel bad for sleeping overnight and eating a meal with literal royalty."
"Royalty...? Wait. How did you figure out our family's status?" Ursa said, surprised.
"Whoops," Nathan covered his mouth. He scratched the side of his face with an awkward smile. "I guess the cat's out of the bag. I met your kids after you left last night."
Realisation dawned on Ursa and she held her forehead, sighing. "I see... I'm going to give those two a good scolding when they come back. But back to the matter at hand. Where would you go?"
Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. I'll see if I can find some work at an inn or some other place. I'm a fast learner, so I doubt it'll take too long for me to find a job."
It'll also allow him to explore the heart of the Fire Nation. To see what it was like to be a "citizen" of the nation with quite literally the most firepower among the four nations.
However, mid-way through his sentence, Ursa's eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands. "That's it!"
He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What is it?"
Clearing her throat, Ursa regained her calm and smiled. "I just had an idea. Why not consider working for our family instead of getting a job elsewhere?"
His eyes widened at her words. He had considered it. It would allow him to stick close to their family while also letting him have the opportunity to maybe help Zuko and Azula during their childhood. While his childhood wasn't sunshine and rainbows, he preferred it over having an emotionally abusive father and a heavily biased mother. However, there was one glaring problem.
"Are you sure I can work for you? What about your husband's decision?"
Ursa's enthusiastic smile dropped at the mention of Ozai. "That… may be an issue, but I'll do my best to convince him. He is not an unreasonable man, and I'm sure he's likely to agree."
"Okay… Let's say he agrees with letting me work for your family. What will I be doing? I'm not sure I can help much with cleaning or cooking, but I can learn the ropes," he said.
"Hmm." Ursa took a moment to think. "You did say you were a fighter, correct? A non-bender. How skilled are you, to be exact?"
"Let me think…" He closed his eyes, as if recalling a deep memory. "I don't remember all the details, but I'm good enough to win multiple tournaments and I can beat fighters older, bigger, and more experienced than me," Nathan listed out.
"Now, would you say you're capable of teaching your skills to my children?" she asked.
'Teaching? I haven't taught a single person in my life, but… It can't be that hard. Azula would probably learn quickly, and Zuko just needs the right push. I could even try Iroh's way of teaching.'
With those thoughts in mind, he eventually nodded. "I'm confident I can teach your children."
She smiled reassuringly. "Excellent! As soon as my husband arrives from his stay at the royal palace, I'll–"
They were interrupted by the loud crash of the door as it was forcefully opened. While they turned their heads, three Imperial Firebenders stepped inside and made way for an imposing man Nathan could immediately recognise.
The man possessed sharp facial features, long black hair, and amber gold eyes that could only belong to one person in the Fire Nation.
Nathan's body tensed involuntarily.
'Ozai!'
-=-
Author's Note: My apologies for the lack of uploads these past two weeks. I had to prioritise some personal stuff before I could continue writing. Things should be back to normal, and I'll be uploading daily chapters this week to make up for the lack of chapters in the previous two weeks.
I've also changed the main plot thread in chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5 after a discussion with a fellow writer friend of mine.